blogs Over begaafdheid, loopbaan en persoonlijke ontwikkeling
Why Maslow’s Pyramid Often Works in Reverse for the Gifted
Psychologist Abraham Maslow famously described human motivation as a hiërachy of needs, later to be simplified into a pyramid by others: first we take care of our physical needs, then safety, belonging, and status and only then do we focus on meaning, purpose, and self-actualization. For many gifted people, especially the highly and exceptionally gifted, this order does not match their lived reality. They often start at the top and seem to live by a reversed piramid.
The Four Roles that support Gifted Development
Working with the gifted can be many things but dull certainly isn’t one of them. They differ so much from each other with widely different biographies, while at the same time sharing certain giftedness specifics, that no two developmental trajectories are the same. The work is complex and I regularly find myself in different roles in relation to the client. This depends heavily on where the client is at a certain stage in the process and sometimes even within one sitting.
In this blog I delve into the roles I see as relevant when supporting gifted individuals in actively shaping their lives and careers and why as a practitioner it is useful to be aware of them.
Do You Have to Be Gifted to Work with the Gifted?
Working with gifted and highly gifted individuals is both a privilege and a challenge. Their minds move fast, their questions run deep, their intensity overwhelms and their sensitivity often extends into territories that many professionals have never had to navigate. And that makes working with these remarkable people a delicate and responsible job, especially when clients have had more than their share of negative experiences in life. But does that mean you have to be gifted yourself to effectively work with them?
A Shift in my Writing And What’s to Come
From long-reads to bite-sized building blocks for two upcoming books, from Dutch to English: this is the shift that this page will see.
I’m currently working on two books: one on The Philosophy of Your Evolving Self and one on the Gifted Hunter. This has my writing priority and so the blog page will shift accordingly.
Uitzonderlijk hoogbegaafd: marching to a different drum
Om goed met mensen te kunnen werken, moet je ze kunnen oppikken waar ze zijn. Je moet kunnen aansluiten bij hun innerlijke belevingswereld, voordat je kunt gaan werken aan het vormgeven van een (school)loopbaan die hen echt past. Het aansluiten bij de belevingswereld van uitzonderlijk hoogbegaafden is alleen niet eenvoudig.
In deze blog ga ik, zonder te pretenderen volledig te zijn, een paar zelfreflecties en observaties delen, die je helpen om het verschil tussen hoogbegaafd en uitzonderlijk hoogbegaafd beter te begrijpen.
The Predicament of the Gifted Hunter
A lof of gifted individuals are biologically and psychologically wired for short, high-intensity sprints, while their existential purpose unfolds across a marathon arc. Read more about this phenomenon and how to deal with it in this blog.