Family, Business, The Human Givens

The Human Givens approach says that each of us has both essential physical and emotional needs, and if healthy all the resources within to meet them, no matter our race, background or culture.

These needs and abilities are what make us human. They have evolved over eons and are incorporated into our anatomy, which in part determines how we relate to the world. This is why they are referred to as 'Givens'.

When our innate needs are met we feel valued, happy and fulfilled, but when unmet, or we are using our resources inappropriately we distress ourselves and those around us.

Most of us would agree that our emotional needs are for:

Security and safety, including a home and family life that allows us to fully develop
The need to receive and give attention
The ability to freely choose who we are, what we do, and how to live our lives
To connect to another emotionally, as well as physically and for personal gain
To belong to an identified community such as a family, a business, a country, or a social network
To receive unconditional acceptance for being from a number or sources, even when our actions are not as good as our innate qualities
A means to retire, reflect, consolidate our experiences in private
A sense of who we are perceived in relation to others
The ability to recognize our achievements, and for others to recognize our competencies
Challenges to provide us with a sense of meaning and purpose

Biologically and mindfully we are given the ability to meet these needs for example each of us, when healthy, possesses:

A memory within which we can remember distant events and re-author our stories and history
Communication patterns with which to build a language and relate to others
A logical mind and imagination with which to build concepts and solve problems
The ability to recognize patterns and to create metaphors with which to solve problems, and also communicate concepts
The ability to see ourselves through the 'third person' position and thus correct some of our behaviours
The gift of nightly dreams, which subtly re-program our minds from one day to the next whilst adjusting our endocrine system by meeting unresolved expectations from the immediate past

The Human Givens Approach is rooted in the very latest understandings from psychobiology, as well as some ancient wisdom and inspiration.

The Human Givens Approach is described by many as 'the missing heart of positive psychology'. By adopting it we become inclusive in our approach to family and business matters, and offer ourselves freely to people from all races and cultures, whilst also learning from them.