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We focus
on solutions not problems....a Human Givens approach. The
World Health Organisation, back in 1948, defined “health” as ‘A state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. Having good mental health is perhaps the most vital of all our needs. Stress, anxiety, depression
and trauma are the most common ill health problems that affect so many people with major increases in our young people. Community First Coaching sees people as
having the innate capabilities to generate solutions, become healthier and create better self resilience. When people are
not having their needs met this will have an impact on their health and wellbeing. Our emotional needs include: security (stable home life, privacy and a safe territory to live in); the need for attention (to
give and receive it); connection to others through friendship, fun, love, intimacy; a sense of autonomy and control; being
part of a wider social community, which satisfies our need to belong; the need for status; a sense of self- competence (that
comes through maturity, learning and the application of skills) and a drive for meaning and purpose. Our resources include: curiosity; longterm memory; imagination
(which allows us to focus our attention away from our emotions in order to problem solve more objectively); a dreaming brain;
the ability to understand the world and other people and extract deeper meaning through metaphor - pattern matching; an observing
self; the ability to empathise and connect with others; a rational mind to check out emotions.
It is these needs and resources, which are built into our biology, that,
together, make up the human givens.
It is now widely observed that most problem behaviour and psychological distress can be traced to innate physical
and emotional needs not being met, for whatever reason, or to the misuse of a particular innate resource (such as imagination,
when it generates worrying, envy, or excessive greed). When they work closely in alignment with the 'givens' of human
nature, rather than with techniques derived from limited ideologies.
Depression: People sink into a depressed mood when their innate physical or emotional needs
are not being met and, instead of dealing with this situation, they begin to worry about it. All depressed people
worry. Soon they start to wake up feeling tired and unmotivated. This is makes them worry even more as they feel that, "something
is wrong with me". Depression is a human vulnerability. Suppose we have a setback or suffer some traumatic event that interferes with
getting our innate needs met. This arouses negative expectations in the autonomic nervous system — feelings of frustration,
being 'stressed', anxious, angry, guilty etc. — but, instead of taking action to bring the arousal down, which
is what the autonomic nervous system is designed to help us do, we start to worry even more, going over and over what's
troubling us: 'Why did I lose that job?'…"Why do they treat me like this?"… 'What is going
to happen to me?'… 'How am I going to pay my bills?' — on and on creating a mountain of negative
expectations. This over-stimulates the autonomic arousal system which is why depression is such a strong emotion. All strong emotions focus and lock attention and, with depression, attention stays focused
on all the bad things that seem to be happening to us, whether real or illusory. Exhaustion on waking
and lack of motivation are features common to all depressed people. Because our normal sense that life is meaningful comes
from the actions we take, when our motivation levels are low, life quickly comes to seem meaningless. The natural delight
we take in being alive and doing things drains away.
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