basic needs

1. beliefs behaviours self needs basic needs adapted from: Greenberg, L. Emotion-Focused Therapy. Washington: APA, 2001 and: McCullough, L. et al. Treating Affect Phobia. New York: Guilford Press, 2003. infants and young people have basic needs for safety, feeling valued and cared for, having their ‘rights’ & opinions respected, belonging, being able to grieve & move on, friendship & later for intimacy, sexuality & independence adaptive primary emotions – which may involve affection, anxiety, interest & enjoyment, peace & contentment, anger, sexuality, sadness & grief, etc – can provide the direction and drive to satisfy crucial basic human needs

2. beliefs behaviours self needs toxic beliefs important individuals (adults or other children) from early in our lives may have been unable to respond adequately to us when we were trying to get our needs met; they may even have frightened, shamed, been emotionally absent or treated us badly in other ways children tend to blame them- selves for how they are treated, so eventually we may have learned to respond to our own healthy primary emotions and needs with inner secondary emotional beliefs of worthlessness, guilt, shame, fear, hopelessness & other under-standable but self-damaging ‘brainwashing’ as adults we are likely to carry these toxic secondary emotional beliefs about ourselves, others and the world as self-critical and pessimistic internalized feelings or ‘voices’ which are very difficult to challenge at a purely rational level