Psychologist's Developmental Theories

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Developmental theories are often based on an age-related stages, or milestones, that signify meaningful changes in physical, cognitive, behavioral and social aspects within the human lifespan. One of the most well known developmental theories is Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual stages of development. Freud, like others after him, theorized that early childhood experiences play an important role in personality development. Although, contemporary developmental theories include adolescence, adulthood, and late adulthood, the theories early focus on childhood development makes this approach particularly useful when working with children. Erick Erickson created his theory of psychosocial stages of development based off of his interpretation of Freud’s psychosexual stages, and with added aspects of social development. Erickson describes nine, age related, stages in which a person faces conflicts that could have positive or negative outcomes. Successful development through a particular stage helps the person develop ego strength (competence) in that area of life. Assuming that all developmental stages can be successfully traversed then provides a framework of normal development that psychologists can use for, “understanding and intervening with clients whose development is not processing according to normal expectations” (Rubin, 2001, p.226). Erikson’s psychosocial stages generally occur with important age related events, presenting the individual with a conflict, or question to be answered. For example, the first stage (birth to two years of age) presents a crisis of trust vs. mistrust coinciding with the important event of feeding. In this stage a child develops a sense of competence (or lack of) over their ability to trust others. Th... ... middle of paper ... ...n’s second stage of development, autonomy vs. shame and doubt. References Fussell, M. (20011, June 20). The stages of artistic development. Retrieved from http://thevirtualinstructor.com/blog/the-stages-of-artistic-development Hinz, L. D. (2009). Expressive therapies continuum: A framework for useing art in therapy. New York: Routledge. Junge, M. B. (2010). The modern history of art therapy in the united states. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD. Kottler, J. A., & Montgomery, M. J. (2011). Theories of counseling and therapy: An experiential approach. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE publications, INC. Moon, C. H. (2010). Materials and media in art therapy: Critical understandings of diverse artistic vocabularies. New York: Routledge. Rubin, J. A. (2001). Approaches to art therapy: Theory and technique. (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

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