We all have basic needs as human beings ranging from physical needs to psychological needs. Many theories of need exist from Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs ( Maslow, 1943) Glassers Basic Needs theory (1998) to Basic Psychological Needs theory (Ryan, 1995). Many of us as practitioners are working with people supporting them around meeting these needs in one way or another  and have a professional understanding of this.

However in reality, our own needs can be ignored at times, demoted and pushed further out to accommodate those around us both personally and professionally. It’s common to have blind spots in this area where we have no idea that such is the case and awareness of and attending to these basic fundamentals just doesn’t happen. As human beings this is problematic for wellbeing and balance. But as practitioners working with people, it’s even more fundamental to have a conscious awareness of this for the following reasons -

• When our own basic needs...