Back to Basics

Remember Maslow - and his hierarchy of needs? Well, if you don't, I'll give you a quick run-down. He believed that one's basic needs had to be met before we could start with the more intellectual needs. So, for example, someone who only has time to work, eat and sleep, may have no inclination at all to study further - it just does not enter her head! When your entire life revolves around ensuring that you are safe (from bombing, violent crime, or anything else which threatens the safety of your world), then you are also unlikely to spend time enlightening yourself, philosophizing or theorizing. I remember when a friend of mine wondering about her marriage. She had been rather insecure in the years before her marriage, but was now in a situation where her marriage had taken away her insecurity. Once we had talked about this fact - and the possibility that if her security was again taken away, she might not have the needs she was feeling now, she had a big rethink about her circumstances. Fifteen years later she is still married to the same man. Another example includes a research I remember reading about in my undergraduate year. It involved Mexicans who had come as family units to the United States. The husbands had good jobs and settled in well, but the wives, holed up in dreadful tenements, could not adapt. That is, they did not adapt too well until a therapist organized telephones for the women. In this way, they were only a telephone call away from their support systems, and their lives improved dramatically. So, sometimes, instead of linking our clients needs to some abstract theory propounded by one of our favorite Guru's, we need to return to basics, and see if there is no way to sort out the everyday, fundamental links of the chain - and make sure they are running smoothly. I have come across an interesting web-site, which offers all sorts of everyday hints useful to any number of people with problems. Recently he gave advice on how to save on telephone calls (see www.dialpad.com - USA, www.MyFreeID.com - France, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, USA www.4ecalls.com - UK, Ireland, Australia, USA, Canada www.Go2Call.com - UK Ireland, German, USA, Canada www.HotTelephone.com - Australia, New Zealand, most of Europe, UK, USA etc). Apparently these sites were recommended by a person, Steve Sherman - www.livingmaths.co.za. He also gives other interesting advice - and often supplements his newsletter with true stories. Do have a look at his web-site - some of what he says might just hit the right note for one of your clients. Have a look at his site yourself - www.PetesPetesWeekly.co.za.

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