Reaching Self-Actualization by Maslow’s Eight Steps, Essay Example

The implication of self actualization is achievement of a situation that an individual is able to live to his or her true potential. This term was the brainchild of Abraham Maslow during the writing of ‘hierarchy of needs’ in 1954. The hierarchy of needs’ postulates the different levels associated with growth that individuals go through. At the bottom of them all are the biological/physiological needs while the top of the needs involve ‘safety’, belonging, love, and self-esteem. The final stage involves self actualization. This paper posits to identify the proper role of the therapist in promoting self-actualization among his or her clients according to Maslow follows 8 steps of self-actualization.

Maslow expressed meticulous focus on self-actualization and projected that approximately only one percent of the people are likely to achieve this level. Those people who are able to achieve self-actualization are associated with distinctive qualities such as the potentials of a clear perception of life and giving priority to the interest of other people before their own. Their sense of humor is quirky and well developed and they possess a distinct admiration of solitude, spontaneity as well as elevated echelons of personal acceptance as well as accepting other people. Maslow therefore postulated some effective approaches for achieving self actualization as follows.

1. Experiencing life fully as well as vividly. The starting point in self actualization involves a complete immersion of self in individual experiences thus living fully, vividly as well as selflessly
2. Becoming honest in individual choices: life should be perceived as a sequence of choices that follow each other in a series. A person must therefore be truthful in making choices in order to become self actualized.
3. Awareness of individual uniqueness: realization of uniqueness in an individual leads to learning the methods of truthfully expressing individual feelings instead of reflecting on the opinions of other people.
4. Actions with integrity: having successfully made the right choice, it is prudent to work in the most honest as well as true manner that nature can dictate. It is also prudent to take responsibility of actions deemed appropriate in order to achieve self actualization.
5. Becoming courageous: prudence in exercising courage in expression of individual likes as well as dislikes and speaking out against the actions that cause displeasure is a positive route to self actualization.
6. Self development: achievement of self actualization has never been an end-state but it is a process that Maslow describes as the process through which a person ‘is working towards doing well the thing that one intends to do’.
7. Peak experience: these were considered as transient moments that are associated with self actualization. These involve the epochs that an individual is accurately in harmony and at peace with the universe as well as the environment and marked by euphoria as well as deep joy.
8. Absence of ego defense: this stage is associated with finding out one who is, what he is, what he doesn’t like, what is good and what is bad for him; and opening oneself up to himself- means the exposure to psychopathology. This means avoiding troublesome defense mechanisms that are applicable in self protection.