- Maslow’s theory of psychological health is wrong
- Anorexia is not necessarily evidence of mental illness
- The amygdala is the only part of the brain that is fully formed in infants
- The most dramatic and influential period of our development were the hours, days and months after our umbilical chord was cut.
This podcast (see link below) is with Andrew Thomas, he of the Rainbow Map, who has developed a new adjunct for integrative therapists called Avoidance Theory. Avoidance Theory is grounded in neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. Accompanying slides to the podcast can be accessed here.
Avoidance Theory connects with and supports Bowlby’s Attachment Theory by offering a holistic neurobiological and physiological model for how and why our behaviours form and change. This supports the increasing focus of many therapists, inspired by pioneers such as van de Kolk, Porges and Ogden to integrate the whole human system into the work they are doing with their clients (Embodied Therapy).
Andrew claims that avoidance of the extreme discomfort experienced in the first days and months of life motivates and shapes all subsequent human behaviour. This differs to how the medical model and other approaches in therapy typically views mental illness. For example, anorexia is rational when viewed through the lens of Avoidance Theory but deemed to be highly irrational when viewed from the perspective of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, in terms of upper third (self actualisation). Andrew takes issue with a lot of Maslow’s assumptions and points to Maslow’s writings in his original 1943 paper: “The present theory then must be considered to be a suggested program or framework for future research and must stand or fall, not so much on facts available, or evidence presented, as upon researches to be, researches suggested perhaps, by the question raised in this paper.”
Andrew maintains that now that we are almost 80 years later we have vast amounts of additional knowledge about the human physical and neurobiological system which has made it more possible to pose predictions made as a result of Avoidance Theory and discover whether answers already exist.
These ideas may prove challenging for some, as surely playing music, painting a picture, meditating, telling a joke, experiencing love must be driven by something more than discomfort optimisation. It would be good to hear your disagreements, objections and questions, especially if you are a therapist yourself. There is a comment section at the bottom of the article.
In the interview Andrew controversially challenges a lot of the theoretical foundations that are commonly found in therapy school teachings. For example, Andrew disputes the notion that we have a self actualising innate need. Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who was perhaps best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. Maslow’s bottom third and middle section is perfectly fair but his upper third of his hierarchy is a social construct.
As a prior history student I am always intrigued about what was happening in wider society when psychotherapeutic ideas and approaches were being formed. Interestingly, Maslow was the oldest of seven children, and I am sure Alfred Adler would have had lots to say about his birth order. He was brought up in the slums of Brooklyn. His parents were first-generation Jewish immigrants from Kyiv, then part of the Russian Empire. They had fled from Czarist persecution in the early 20th century. Writing at a time of the emergence of the so-called great economy in the USA, with increased consumerism and affluence and the move to suburbia, Maslow could perhaps be considered a democratic socialist in that he wanted to see individual growth resonate in a better society. The great economy era, however, whilst a time of optimism and confidence, also witnessed McCarthyism, when suspected communists had their lives and careers ruined during a period in the United States in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread communist subversion. That era also had institutional racism with segregation still in existence as well as oppression of gay people with the Lavender Scare and Executive Order 10450 (which set security standards for federal employment and barred homosexuals from working in the federal government). That order was only recinded in 1995 when President Bill Clinton rescinded the order and put in place the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for admittance of gays into the military.
Andrew maintains that Avoidance Theory holds no special message in terms of how an individual should live their life. It varies according to your genetics and the resources you have access to or can modify/generate.
Do you agree or disagree with the ideas outlined in Avoidance Theory? Let Andrew know your views either by commenting here, on the Youtube channel link.
Noel Bell is a UKCP accredited psychotherapist based in London and can be contacted on 07852407140.
