Alchemy of Virtues
AVAILABLE ONLY IN PORTUGUESE
English translation coming soon.
Cover of The Guide to the 51 Human Needs (Portuguese edition), by Isabella Becker and Euller Manoel
Book · 864 pages · for everyone

The Guide to the
51 Human Needs

Much of what looks like an emotional problem is a need out of place.

Sleep, food, touch, a corner of your own, someone to talk to, a reason to get up in the morning. When one of these things is missing for too long, it drags the others down with it. This book explains the 51 human needs, one by one, in the language of people who never studied psychology, and shows what to do about each one.

AVAILABLE ONLY IN PORTUGUESE
English translation coming soon.
PDF book in Portuguese · 864 pages · 51 profiles · 124 figures · stories and exercises · instant delivery
Before giving it a name

Not all sadness is depression.
Not all irritability is anxiety.

Vicente is forty-two. He sleeps badly, has lost his patience with his children, and says his work no longer makes sense. His wife thinks it is depression. Eight months ago, his mother moved in with the family, and his home office became her bedroom. Vicente no longer has a single corner in the house, he does not move his body, and he does not have one minute of leisure. The question of meaning came to a man with no rest.

You have slept badly for months and think it is just the way your body is.
You lose your patience with the people you love and then blame yourself for the outburst.
You work, eat, shop, or scroll too much and do not know what it is covering up.
Life seems to have lost its meaning and you do not know where to start again.

What is in excess usually covers what is missing. Almost always, it is another need asking for attention.

The idea of the book

The foundation comes first

Before looking for the flaw in you, it is worth looking at what is missing in your life.

“Without this foundation, the system abandons every other priority to restore vital parameters.”Dr. Eduardo Casarotto

Think of a tank. Every need that is met puts fuel in it. Every need that goes unmet takes fuel out. When the level drops, you read the world differently. A small criticism sounds like an attack. A simple task becomes a mountain.

The 51 needs fall into five groups, from the ground up. First, what keeps you alive and protected. Then pleasure, comfort, and bonds. Then growing and asserting yourself. Then meaning. At the top, feeling part of something greater. When the ground is missing, everything else becomes hard, and not for lack of willpower.

Each need gets a score from 0 to 10 and has its own clock. Sleep responds in days. Touch and fun, in weeks. Bonds, in months. The meaning of life, in years.

The body of the book

Four parts, one path

From what a need is to the plan for the next four weeks.

Part I

What a need is

The score from 0 to 10, how long each need can go unmet, and the five groups. And why the brain's fatigue also runs through the body.

Part II

The 51 needs

One profile for each, across the five groups, always with the same design. You learn to read one and you read the others the same way.

Part III

One need affects another

Where the lack flows, the excess that blocks, the mask, what addictions inflate, and nine constellations to recognize yourself in.

Part IV

Caring for your needs

Making your map, starting from the foundation, reaching the virtues, knowing when to seek help, each stage of life, and a four-week plan.

The profile of each need

All 51 with the same design

Each profile answers the same questions, in the same order, with a story at the end.

What it isand what it is not, so you do not confuse it with its neighbors
Where it lives in the bodywhat the body does when it is missing
How to notice it in yourselfsimple questions to look at yourself
How long it can hold outthe clock of each need
When it is lackinghow the lack shows up in daily life
When it is in excessthe excess and what it usually covers
Which needs it talks tothe other needs it drags along
Concrete carewhat to do first, in real life
To practiceexercises from authors who studied habit change
Then, the virtueswhat to train on the inside, always with what comes before
A storysomeone like you, from beginning to end
If you have childrenand when it is someone you love
Part III

No need lives alone

This is the part that changes the way you look at yourself. When one need moves out of place, the others feel it.

Cascade

The lack of one knocks down another.

Compensation

The excess of one tries to cover the lack of another.

Blocking

The excess of one keeps the other from happening.

Mask

What shows hides what is missing, even from you.

Rising together

Two rise together, pulled by the same alarm.

Then come nine constellations, the patterns that show up most often in people's lives:

anxietyprideburnoutloneliness in companythe body without touchthe void of meaninglife on pausegrief left unlivedpurchased worth
Straight from the book

Some of the 124 figures

The book was designed to be understood the first time. The figures show what the text explains.

Figure: the five groups of needs
The five groups, from the ground up, and the question each one asks.
Figure: the needs scale, from 0 to 10
The score from 0 to 10. Below 4, it is lacking. Above 7, it is in excess.
Figure: when to seek help
When you can start on your own, when it is worth talking to a therapist, and when to seek help now.
Part IV

From the map to daily life

Seven chapters to move from reading to changing.

Making your map

A score for each need

How to score yourself without fooling yourself, and what to do with the pattern that appears.

Foundation first

Sleep, food, touch, home, company

Why to start at the bottom, and a small, concrete plan to do it.

From needs to virtues

What you train on the inside

Virtue as a muscle, one at a time, always with the ones that come before it.

When to seek help

The three signals

What you can do on your own, when to look for a therapist, and when help is needed now.

At each stage of life

From childhood to old age

What each age asks for, what is not a symptom, children, aging parents, and the woman's body: the cycle, pregnancy, the postpartum period, and menopause.

A four-week plan

One thing per week

People who try to change ten things on the same Monday usually change none of them by Friday.

Straight from the book

Excerpts

Alba had not lost her intelligence. She was studying on a low tank.
What is in excess usually covers what is missing. Almost always, it is another need asking for attention.
What changes the brain is not the big decision on Sunday night. It is the small, repeated practice, until the new response becomes your natural way.
The plan is small on purpose. Whoever changes one thing, and sustains it, makes room for the next.
Who it is for

Who reads this book

It is for you if

  • You want to understand what is missing in your life before concluding that the problem is you.
  • You are always tired, irritable, or adrift and do not know where to begin.
  • You care for children, parents, or a partner and want to understand what each one is asking for.
  • You like books that explain and also tell you what to do.

It may not be if

  • You are looking for a diagnosis. The book helps you understand and take care, but it does not replace a doctor or a therapist.
  • You are a therapist and want material to use in session. For that there is A Treatise on the 51 Human Needs.
  • You want a portrait of yourself alone. That is the work of The Soul Map.
Who wrote it

The authors

Isabella Becker

Isabella Becker

Human Development Advisor

Human Development Advisor, with certified training in Virtology, and founder of the PRM, the Personality Reconstruction Matrix. Creator of Alchemy of Virtues and author of A Treatise on the 22 Laws of Life, A Treatise on the 51 Human Needs, Stories That Shape the Soul, and They Love Us Unmasked.

For more than twenty-five years, her craft was translation: making a text say in another language exactly what it said in the first. In this book she did the same with human needs. She lives in Grainau, Bavaria, at the foot of the Alps.

@alquimiadasvirtudes on Instagram →
Euller Manoel

Euller Manoel

Psychologist, psychoanalyst, and Virtologist

Supervisor at the Instituto Virtudes. He says Virtology was, for him, a dividing line “of seas, not just of waters.” Through it he came to truly understand how human beings work, himself included, and it was there that the word need gained meaning.

“Without need, no virtue will take root, sprout, grow, and flourish. So need is about the human being. It is about life.”

In the book, he writes “Virtology Is Life,” about what the groups of needs changed in him as a therapist and as a person. He also sees clients, and the contact is through Instagram.

@euller8446 on Instagram →

The 51 needs, the five groups, and the virtues are part of Virtology, created by Dr. Eduardo Casarotto. This book tells Virtology to the general public.

The book

Eight hundred and sixty-four pages

The 51 profiles, the network between the needs, everyday care, the four-week plan, and the Map of the 51. Yours forever, to open at whichever need catches your attention.

Launch
R$ 97
≈ €16 · US$ 19
paid in full or in card installments
PDF book in Portuguese · 864 pages · instant delivery
AVAILABLE ONLY IN PORTUGUESE
English translation coming soon.
Buy the Portuguese edition →
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Frequently asked questions

Before you begin

Is the book in English?

Not yet. The book is currently available only in Portuguese. An English translation is coming soon. The purchase on this page is for the Portuguese edition.

How do I receive the book?

It is a PDF book with instant delivery. As soon as Hotmart confirms the purchase, you receive access and can read it on your phone, tablet, or computer, and print it if you like. The table of contents is clickable, so you can go straight to the need you are looking for.

Do I need to know psychology?

No. The book was written for people who never studied psychology. Each need is explained with a story, drawings, and simple questions.

Do I need to read it in order?

No. Part I is worth reading first, because it explains the score from 0 to 10 and the time frame of each need. After that, you can go straight to the profile that caught your attention in the table of contents.

Does the book replace therapy?

No. It helps you understand and take care of your own needs, and it has an entire chapter on when to seek help. Diagnosis and medication belong to the doctor.

How is it different from the Treatise on the 51?

A Treatise on the 51 Human Needs was written for therapists, with session questions, clinical cases, and use alongside various approaches. The Guide was written for you, who want to understand your own life.

What is Virtology?

It is the system created by Dr. Eduardo Casarotto, which brings together the 51 human needs, the 33 virtues, and the Laws of Life. The Guide tells the needs part in language for everyone.

Before looking for the flaw,
look for what is missing.

The 51 human needs, explained one by one, with what to do about each one.

AVAILABLE ONLY IN PORTUGUESE
English translation coming soon.
Buy the Portuguese edition · R$ 97 →
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