I am currently in the process of teaching the four psychological needs to my social skills classes. To begin, we have identified the the needs and I have defined them as follows:

Fun--laughing and enjoying life,i.e., listening to jokes, looking at cloud formations.

Power--affecting our appearance, health, knowledge, learning (ability to), activities done well, i.e., ironing clothes, exercising, teaching, listening and watching carefully, drawing.

Freedom--choosing ________; making decisions, i.e., clothes to buy/wear, where to vacation.

Love & Belonging--showing care and concern for others; receiving care and concern from others; belonging to a group, i.e., greeting others in the morning, accepting compliments, being on an athletic team, church affiliation.

To enable them to identify Quality World items, I have incorporated Barnes Boffey's Have's and Do's, but not Be's. As we are currently identifying our Quality World Fun items, I have said, "Visualize yourself laughing using a thing. What thing are are you using?" or "Visualize yourself laughing while doing an activity. In what activity are you participating?" At this point, my students are either listing and/or illustrating Fun items. We'll continue this activity until we cover the four psychological needs.

The question. . . . . Would you like to add to the parameters for the above needs? Can you think of other areas affecting our Power need other than appearance, health, etc.? If so, get back. TD

-- Ted Donato (tdonato@toppenish.wednet.edu), October 03, 2002

Answers

When I try to explain the Power Need to my students, I usually frame it in terms of "self-worth" and "achievement." Then we discuss areas of activity that students feel gives them recognition: sports is most common to boys, but also music, part-time jobs, helping out at home, whatever subject (if any) thay may excel at, etc. Sometimes as part of this activity, it helps them to think of other labels to use to describe themselves other than "boy", "girl" or "kid". Alternatives: Athlete, babysitter, cyclist, jogger, musician, friend, student, son, daughter etc. Many kids are unaware of these aspects of themselves, and learn to see themselves and each other in a somewhat different light. I will sometimes point out how some people satisfy this power need by identifying with a socially-negative skill that they are still "good at" such as bullying, attention-seeking etc. As my class is in a behavior treatment centre, these often hit home, but I would be careful about using them in a class where they could result in singling out one kid. However, I have seen this discussion lead to an "aha" type experience for some students, who see themselves in a new light.

-- David Law (davidrlaw@rogers.com), October 03, 2002.

I think Glasser's 'three levels of power fulfillment' is helpful for all ages in offering an understanding of his vision of power. He says that if someone just listens to us we experience the first 'step' of power. The second step will come if that someone says "You are right in what you say" The third step comes if someone says: "You are right in what you say and I am going to do it your way" As I see it power comes when we feel we are impacting on those around us and particularly when we are impacting on those that really matter to us.

-- ken lyons (kenlyon@gofree.indigo.ie), October 04, 2002.

In a final comment on your answer I think I am aware of some of the difficulties in reaching students of the type you describe yet I can never forget the effectiveness of what must have been one of the earliest of the old listening exercises. In this, you were not allowed to answer any comment with an idea of your own unless you had first taken in, summarised and fed back one of the thoughts or ideas of the person who had just spoken to you.It was a fool proof way of ensuring peopole listened. I dont know if your students could be taught even a simplified version of this? Ken

-- ken lyons (kenlyon@gofree.indigio.ie), October 04, 2002.

No answer, but a comment. I have adjusted the parameters for our Need for Power as taught to my Choice Theory classes. I will accommodate the idea of roles, as when we are able to rightfully attain a role, i.e., athlete, we do so with the recognition and acceptance of our peers. Good athletes are chosen first during recess pick-up games. Even in our adult basketball games during the week, when we shoot for teams, I feel good when I am on a team with athletes. I exude an "I don't care who wins" facade, but I must admit I want to win.

Secondly, I will be adding the concept of "Quality experiences." When investigating our Fun need, some of our students and I put our favorite junk foods on our page,i.e., Tim's Potato Chips, Snickers candy bar,etc. These foods are Fun, but in no way should they be on the Power page. "Quality experiences" would encompass the best meals, best hotel accommodations, best vacation spots, best mountain view during a hike, think SUPERLATIVES. Later, TD

-- Ted Donato (tdonato@toppenish.wednet.edu), October 09, 2002.

Today, as we were winding down our study of Quality World, we reviewed our Power Need--Things and Activities that affected our Appearance, Health, Knowledge, Learning, Activities done well, Roles, and Quality experiences. As we were developing a collective Quality World list, students were offering various Quality World items. When we came to Power, one student offered "Fairness." This year, as I was writing the parameters of our Power Need, I felt that I was leaving something out. As soon as he offered this item, I realized that I left-out Character as another Power area. People of character have Power, as they are held in high esteem by others. Character development is a result of choosing specific behaviors. OUR POWER NEED CAN BE AFFECTED BY APPEARANCE, HEALTH, KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, ACTIVITIES DONE WELL, QUALITY EXPERIENCES, ROLES, AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Thanks, TD.

-- Ted Donato (tdonato@toppenish.wednet.edu), October 21, 2002.

Today, another area was added to allow individuals to meet their need for Power--Physical comfort level. So we are now using appearance, health, knowledge, learning, activities done well, character, roles we can assume, quality experiences, and, now, physical comfort. Any comments?

-- Ted Donato (tdonato@toppenish.wednet.edu), December 17, 2002.

It probably is impossible at times to separate some of the needs because they often come so close they almost overlap. The survival need, which encompasses everything we do consciously or unconsciously to exist and thrive, would certainly produce a picture of a comfort level that just suit us. Yet the ability to constantly achieve such a comfort level would certainly seem to do wonders for our need for power. It probably is helpful to keep in mind that Glasser argues that what is really inportant is the specifics. The exact picture that we havein our Quality world is the vital thing that drives our behaviour. Which of the needs the picture came from is ultimately not nearly as important as the driving power of the picture itself. Having said that I do acknowledge and appreciate that to teach the theory, particularly to younger individuals, it is necessary to be able to tease out all the areas that they delight in delving so deeply into.

-- ken lyons (kenlyon@gofree.indigio.ie), December 17, 2002.

dear brian i thot this may interest you...holiday.cheers---- julian. see letter below this for the origional message

Dear dr Boshra thank you for your thought provoking letter.I am sorry for the delay i have been in the hospital for a dangerous disease and i could not read my e-mail there.So, may i call you Sam? or would you prefer dr.?In order to help you ,i need more information---(1)-do you use a translator? -or do you speak english? this is most important.as translators are unreliable and i will have to use completely different words to get my meaning across.Also this not THE BEST WAY TO END DEPRESSION;THE BEST WAY TO END DEPRESSION IS TO GIVE THE STUDENT A COUPLE BOOKS THE MOST IMPORTANT IS A BOOK BY DR AlBERT ELLIS-----[HOW TO REFUSE TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE ABOUt ANYTHING ,YES,ANYTHING...... BUT WE ARE SPEAKING GLASSER... -That i have tried to explain what i do ....It is different every time depending on the cause of the depression--- -because there is always a problem--A problem that causes the depression. In my view, usually- if there are no other possibilitys; then it can beFIRST first surmized that students, no longer are at home getting the small amount of vitamins from their parentS, made for them in those home meals,and not many parents fix great nutritious foodin america-it is all convenience and quickness so here is where i start them. ---And so i first try all my patients on a strict mental health vitamin regimen.Then i get my little component cards- and explain what we are to do with them. they are" REALITY THERAPY components WRITTEN ON CARDS[ FOR EASE OF REARRAINGING] so far- the cards are as follows.HUMAN MOTIVATIONS THEY ARE [5] =s=survival,p=power,f=fun,fr=freedom,l=love,andbelonging..-----5 cards---------- ;/////--then the components of total behavior[4]//PHYSIOLOGY OF THE ACTION or body=B,THIS CARD HAS A BIG "B"B FOR BODY;T=TOUGHTS E=EMOTIONS ;AND -A- FOR THE PHYSICAL ACTION= WHICH MAY BE BITTING FINGER-NAILS ABSENTLY OR ANY THOT OR FEELING THEY...THESE BEHAVIOR CARDS=4-CARDS ;ARE USED ALLWAYS AS A WHOLE, AS NO ACTION CAN CONTAIN LESS THAN ALL FOUR ELEMENTS/// .....so i turned the components OR ELEMENTS into symbols that were easy to work with/ and WE play with them to see what we can uncover ......./.the patients[+91%] of all my DEPRESSION patients---have a good time with them. showing an ability to identify with the card represented concepts;as well as a desire for an intimate understanding of sickness and mental problems-- -AS WELL AS THE DESIRE TO PARTICIPATE in learning how their mindworks ...it seems that some just need to be understood ,they need to say that which they have never dared to say-or even think.... ONCE TAUGHT HOW TO USE THESE components they love it-- it becomes suddenly a game and a treasure hunt ----i do not try to change this attitude for them -letter- #2 JULIAN PORTER!sorryNOT A DOCTER! zinaroo@hotmail.com

-- ian porter (zinaroo@yahoo.com), December 21, 2002.

EVEN THO I BELIEVE IN THE GLASSER WAY- THEN TO ANSWER PART OF THE ORIGIONAL QUESTION-WAIT! HOW DID WE GO FROM "5" NEEDS OR DRIVES TO "4 "NEEDS SUDDENLY? ------ ESSPECIALLY WHEN I BELIEVE THAT "LOVE AND BELONGING" EQUALS TWO NEEDS!COUNT UM LOVE AND BELONGING =TWO THAT SEEM TO BE BUNCHED TOGETHER WHEN THEY ARE CLEARLY QUITE DIFFERENT; HOWEVER I AM A PURIST, SO I DONT CARE- 5 IT IS! POWER - SURVIVAL -FREEDOM- FUN-AND ,[LOVE AND BELONGING[TWO THINGS- LOVE =1 BELONGING =2..SO..ACTUALLY 6!!!!! ]BUT CLEARLY 5 TO GLASSER AND PURISTS LIKE ME.. THANK YOU !ZINAROO

-- JULIAN PORTER (zinaroo@yahoo.com), March 13, 2003.