Therapy Rationale:

The Human Givens therapeutic approach is the result of several years' research in the UK examining why current treatments are failing to contain the depression epidemic.

The researchers, Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell, set out to examine why the number of people suffering depression and the prescription rates of anti-depression medication are both going up at the same time. They proposed that depression was not properly understood, and that medication is not as effective as commonly believed. Griffin and Tyrrell also examined the several hundred therapeutic approaches to depression and concluded that many were unable to show by practice-based evidence, consistent effective improvement in people suffering depression.

Inspired by recent brain research and new insights made possible by sophisticated imaging equipment, Griffin and Tyrrell decided it was time to build a new framework of ideas. They incorporated scientific findings from disciplines outside psychology. They included, for example, biological laws or 'givens' of organic life; what living things need from their environment to flourish. Similarly, from sociology they examined bedrock truths that apply to humans in every culture -- both developed ones with increasing numbers of depressed people, and so-called primitive societies with none. The term 'human givens' has stuck, and now represents a better understanding of what it means to be psychologically well, and what to do when things go wrong. In the words of Dr Alex McGlaughlin at the Nottingham Trent university (now offering a Master's degree in the approach):

I have come to regard 'HG', as it is often referred to, as the best organising idea in the mental health field today, largely because it both accounts for why people become mentally ill, and gives us a reliable way to go about doing something about it.

Introduction to An idea in practice: using the human givens approach, edited by Griffin & Tyrrell, 2007. (Short listed Mind UK book of the year award 2008.)

NB: Whilst Human Givens in Australia courses and training are based on the framework and organising ideas taught by Human Givens College in the UK, Human Givens in Australia has no direct association with Human Givens College and the professional association Human Givens Institute holds no accountability for any activities related to this site.