The Needs and Desires Deck

Aug 04, 2021

The Needs and Desires deck, like the others, may stand alone or work in tandem with the others: identifying, naming, and validating needs and desires that may have been effectively suppressed, belittled, or ignored for a lifetime. Engaging these cards enables the practitioner to have a meaningful discussion around the client’s forgotten or repressed needs, while also distinguishing between simply valuing the need itself, and implementing a helpful strategy to meet it. This is a powerful tool to help clients such as at-risk youth, individuals with social anxiety, or those suffering from abuse or addictions, identify how they want to be treated and what it might look and feel like for them to have specific needs met in gentle, healthy, loving ways.

Needs & Desires Deck - We all have needs and desires that are constantly seeking expression. When we become aware of them, we can learn to satisfy, release or transform them. The Needs and Desires cards provide an effective way to identify our needs and desires. These cards help you to:
  • Recognize and acknowledge your needs, naming them in a non-judgmental way
  • Accept your needs so that you can find ways to meet them
  • Learn to communicate your needs and desires in a direct and clear way
  • Enjoy your daily life more as core needs are met
 
How to Use the Needs & Desires Deck
Many of our feelings that are uncomfortable and create tension in the body are a result of not having one or more of our needs met.
Lay out your Feelings cards and then use the Needs and Desires cards to see what would help you to shift those feelings. After going through the whole deck, select 1-7 cards that feel most pressing. Brainstorm strategies to meet those needs. What can you ask yourself, and what can you ask of others, to help you meet those needs.