In this seminal book, the authors exquisitely describe one of the most important psychological insights of our age: how we all come into the world with a partially formed mind containing a genetic treasure-house of innate knowledge patterns: the ‘human givens’. We all experience these givens as physical and emotional needs, powerful forces that must be satisfactorily met in our environment if our minds and lives are to unfold and develop to their fullest potential. How these innate patterns connect up with the world, and unfold in it, determine our own and our family’s emotional health and happiness – as well as the maturity and humanity of the society we create around us.
Human Givens also explores the dangers that arise when we squander this inheritance. By ignoring the requirements of nature, our educational and health services degrade, organisations degenerate, working lives suffer, politics becomes ever more ridiculous and our personal lives more prone to anxiety disorders, depression, psychosis and addictions.

This book is uplifting and practical because it brings hope in these troubled times by clearly spelling out what each child and adult needs in order to develop well, how to help those who aren’t and who are suffering severe mental distress, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress.

First published over 20 years ago, it is still ground-breaking in how it sets out and explains its practical, imaginative, solution-focused and fast-acting methods for understanding and reversing mental ill health, and its common-sense, foolproof blueprint for enabling healthy living and working environments. Even diplomats working to bring about concord across the world are starting to take notice…