CLIENT’S TWO LEVELS OF NEED

When it comes to working to satisfy the lower needs, the needs related to surviving, being safe, having a social life and feeling like you count among peers—we call this “coping with our basic needs.” Here are things that have to be done, necessities that you must take care of, if you don’t, you will suffer from deprivation and when you are deficient of the necessary needs—you become stressed, distressed, and you don’t thrive. Such “coping” usually requires a lot of effort and it can, at times, be exhausting. So when you complete coping with your basic needs, you are ready to get away from all of this. When you finish it, you’re ready to move on.

Now, of course, if you change your attitude about the necessities of life, the requirements of the lower needs, and interpret them as values—as the foundation of your biological and neurological well-being, then you transform this coping into something far much more acceptable, even enjoyable. That’s right. If you’re really good at managing your meanings, it can even become fun.