Trauma and Stress Impacts Motivation
Abraham Maslow
I love him! Actually, I do not know anything about him as a human being but I love his pyramid. Way back in 1943 he wrote a paper called “A Theory of Human Motivation” and it continues to make my life easier. I use it in a few sessions per week to help caregivers and teenagers understand how trauma impacts their functioning in other areas.
The theory is that, like with any structure, you need a solid foundation before building.
Biological Needs: like food, water, shelter, sex, air, etc. People do not desire to have positive family relationships if they do not have food or water. Pretty simple….right?
Safety and Security: We need to feel physically and emotionally safe and secure. People need to know that they are not in danger and their safety is not jeopardized. For example war, abuse, and domestic violence may contribute to an individual’s sense of safety.
Love and Belonging: On this level we are motivated towards feeling connected to our family, experience positive loving relationships, and have a sense of belonging to a group of people within the community.
Achievement: Now we can move towards building status, respect from others, and recognition. We are motivated towards accomplishing success in school and career in this stage. Maslow noted that at its highest level, we seek to respect ourselves rather than only desiring others to validate us.
Self-Actualization: This refers to a person realizing their full potential. Finding true comfort with who you are, self-assured, acceptance, confidence, etc.
It’s important to know that Maslow says you can have partial success depending on resilience and the level of “cracks” in the foundation layer beneath it. Like I have talked about in other posts, all of these concepts are fluid and flexible to your clients. These ideas are helpful to have a framework for helping to better understand how mental health and wellness works.
Maslow is a GO TO for me when I have a parent or caregiver who is focused on the school performance and social skills and does not want to address traumatic history, adverse experiences, or life stressors.
