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Abraham Maslow And The Holistic-Dynamic Theory Of Abraham Maslow

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It’s human nature for us to be fixated on our own flaws and weaknesses. Ever since I was younger, I have always been a victim of my own self-worth, one characterized by a crippling fear of incapability of doing anything, which further developed to an excessive inadequacy to feel like I was going to amount to anything. This wasn’t helped by the constant bullying and harassment that I’ve received as a child, which has molded into the person I am today. I was simply a person going through the rote motions of society. Although what it would seem to be very Adler-like in practice, I, unlike what Adler had proposed, was not in this struggle to achieve or be better in anything. It’s difficult and, admittedly, is something I still face up to this …show more content…

Ultimately, the theory of Maslow puts a major emphasis on the concept of needs. He posits that humans are continually motivated by one need or another, and it is with these needs that ultimately shape the way we act, the way we do things, and the way we are. Humans, faced with these needs, are now in this journey of achieving the highest need there is: self-actualization, which could be roughly defined as the achievement of one’s full potential. However, one does not necessarily achieve self-actualization alone, as he or she must pass through certain needs in order to achieve this. Here were are presented with a critical point in Maslow’s theory: the ever-so popular hierarchy of needs. Here we are posited with the idea that there are certain stages of needs that we must attend to first in this continuous journey for self-actualization. These earlier stages have a prepotency to the later ones, and they must be satisfied in order to achieve the “higher” needs as mentioned in Maslow’s …show more content…

These needs cover everyday recurring human processes that help us function physically. Under physiological needs is our need to eat, drink, sleep, breathe and in other sources, sex. Unlike other needs, our physiological needs are the only kind of needs that can be over-satisfied (e.g. over-eating). Once we satisfy our physiological needs, we now can attend our need for safety, which covers every sense of the word. What I mean by “every sense of the word” is that safety is not limited to physical safety from external factors such natural disasters or terrorism. Safety can also take in the form of stability in one’s occupation, one’s resources in providing for one’s self, and even one’s need to be away from fear. With this satisfaction of such needs, we are now faced with the need for love. Unlike the first two needs, the need for love is far more dependent on abstract factors such as affection and belongingness and tends to stray away from mundane entities such as food and money. The need for love is our need to be in intimate relationships with others whatever the nature of relationship this may be. Once we have achieved love, Maslow postulates that humans will now work on achieving one’s self-esteem. Self-esteem needs cover self-confidence and the recognition of a positive reputation. Lastly, we are now faced with the highest need on Maslow’s hierarchy: self-actualization. Albeit unlike the previously

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