SYNOPSIS
The aim of this paper is to develop the construct of wants as a core concept for Humanistic Psychology and the broader psychotherapeutic field. Drawing from existential and phenomenological thinking, the paper argues that ‘wants’ convey a greater sense of subjective agency than ‘needs’, and are more encompassing of immediate desires than ‘goals’. Wants can be understood as existing in a hierarchy: with lower-order wants established as a means of achieving higher-order wants. Wants can also be seen as synergetic, dysergetic and independent of each other; and either effective or ineffective means of achieving higher-order wants. As a fundamentally socio-cultural concept, wants can be seen as forming a potential bridge between psychological and social understandings.
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Notes on contributors
Mick Cooper
Mick Cooper is a Professor of Counselling Psychology, University of Roehampton, and a chartered counselling psychologist. Author and editor of texts on person-centred, existential and relational approaches to therapy, including Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (with Dave Mearns) and The Handbook of Person-centred Psychotherapy and Counselling (with Maureen O'Hara, Art Bohart and Peter Schmid). His most recent book is Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling: Contributions to a Pluralistic Practice (Sage, 2015). Mick has led a range of research studies exploring humanistic counselling with young people, and is author of Essential Research Findings in Counselling and Psychotherapy: The Facts Are Friendly (Sage, 2008). He lives in Brighton with his partner and four children.