He needs understanding first, then treatment (7)
I believe the answer is:
kenneth
'he' is the definition.
'understanding first then treatment' is the wordplay.
'understanding' becomes 'ken' (I've seen this before).
'first then' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'treatment' becomes 'neth'.
'ken'+'neth'='KENNETH'
'needs' is the link.
(Other definitions for kenneth that I've seen before include "- Grahame, The Wind in the Willows author" , "Man's name" , "Boy's name" , "Boy" .)