Berie's Personality Theory

Berie 's personality did not change from the time she was a child to adulthood. Strongly influenced by what Sigmund Freud refers to as the phallic stage, a shift in personality is simply impossible. Freud defined five psychosexual stages of development, phallic being the third (Freud, 1905). During development, Berie went through what is called the Electra complex; the only way to resolve this complex is to adopt feminine characteristics, so she mimicked her mother (Freud, 1913). While growing up, Berie did not get the affection or attention that she yearned for, and every child should rightfully receive. Carl Jung would argue that The Mother archetype was unfulfilled and became a complex (Jung, 1947). The complex manifests itself as a fixation,

(Freud, 1905) Berie is stuck in the phallic stage due to her abnormal family set-up/unusual relationship with both her mother and father. When stuck in this phase, Freud says that the adult personality can contain the following traits: vanity, sexual anxiety, inadequacy, and inferiority. Even as a fifteen year old, Berie exhibited all of the possible traits, which were later exaggerated when her own husband treated her the same way that her emotionally-vacant father did. During her teenage summer, Berie felt like she was not as desirable as the other girls, and often hid in the corners of bars as the other girls danced the night away. Berie was ignored at home, around friends, at work, and most importantly by her best friend Sils, whenever there was a boy around. "The words "developed" and "undeveloped" filled me with dread and loathing," (Moore, 1994, 13) Placing worth in how others viewed her body, Berie spent many years feeling inferior to everyone around her; this timidness followed her through her adult life, permeating every area, including her