6. Growth vs. Deficiency Needs
Growth Needs Deficiency Needs
Person feels a need to fulfill
personal potential
Also known as self-
actualization needs
Provide energy and
direction to become what
one is capable of becoming
States of wholeness,
aliveness, uniqueness,
truth, playfulness, and
meaning
Physiological disturbances
Needs for safety,
belongingness, and esteem
Like vitamins: without
them, growth and
development are inhibited
Deprivation= human
sickness (a failure to move
toward growth and
actualization)
7. Encouraging Growth
Table 15.1
Six Behaviors That Encourage Self-Actualization
1. Make Growth Choices
2. Be Honest
3. Situationally Position Yourself for Peak Experiences
4. Give Up Defensiveness
5. Let the Self Emerge
6. Be Open to Experience
Intimate and fulfilling relationships that support both autonomy and
openness
8. Actualizing Tendency
“The organism has one basic tendency and striving – to actualize, maintain,
and enhance the experiencing self.” (Rogers, 1951)
16. Outcomes
1. Fostering personal
growth and well-
being
2. Preventing human
sickness from ever
taking root within
the personality
Building Of
The Personal Strength
s
Positive Psychology & Growth
18. Positive Psychology Therapy
Gratitude visit
Write and deliver a letter (in person) of gratitude to someone
who has been kind to you
Three good things in life
Each day, write down three things that went well and identify
the cause of each
You at your best
Write about a time when you functioned at your best. Reflect on
the personal resources that made that possible
Identify signature strengths
Identify up to five personal signature strengths and find a way to
use each in a new way