Psychosocial Development Theory

Psychosocial Development Theory

Introduction

This theory was developed by Erik Erikson who was a psychoanalyst and was born in Karlsruhe Germany on June 15th 1902. One of this famous works “Childhood and Society” helped in putting forth the theory of the life cycle. It is based on a belief that the failure and achievement s of the past have a strong influence on later stages of life, as later stages are just a modification and transformation of the earlier stages.

This case study analyses the theory of psychosocial development, that I very likely to occur during adulthood in reference to the counseling of mental health (Newton, 1998). This theory was introduced by Erik Erikson's and was based on the difference between integrity and despair. The theory makes it evident that through life every individual goes through eight major stages of development and on the accomplishment of each stage a sense of self worth is produced.

On the contrary any interruption in any of these stages can lead to a negative result. As this study is about a 68 year old Marie who is a retired business woman and is going through depression due to lack of confidence under the influence of various cultural and environmental factors.

Discussion

The main focal point of Erikson's theory is on the eight stages of development. As per the theory completion of all the eight stage will result in a positive outcome, where as failure to complete any stage will make it impossible for the individual to complete the remaining stages as these stages are directly related to each other (www. allpsych.com). Completion of each stage will increase self worth and will encourage social interactions with people around. Resolutions of the subsequent stages all play an essential role (Krauss et.al, 1992). In the case of Marie, her retirement has led to feelings of purposelessness and this reflects physiological crisis between integrity and despair. On the basis of the theory individuals who become old and are close to retirement often judge their accomplishments on the basis of success levels achieved by them. If the past is considered as a failure is likely to increase the feelings of hopelessness and despair.

While counseling Marie, along with the mental capacity many other factors will have to be considered because she is also experiencing memory loss, depression and feelings of anxiety. The counselor will also have to consider Mari's family and its history. Other external issues that cause internal problems for example depression, frustration and denial may also limit the ability to find the need for help (www.psychcentral.com). It is very certain to say that Marie's knee replacement surgery and her dependency on physical therapy has aggravated the feelings of hopelessness, as this would increase the feelings of her becoming more dependent on her daughters. Furthermore her denial to take prescription drugs to lessen the pain will also result in creating feelings of dependency.

The psychological crisis surrounding Marie is mainly integrity versus despair, which includes life review, self evaluation and ...