Erik Erikson, a different psychoanalyst

Erik Erikson was a German psychoanalyst who made great contributions to the understanding of the mind. human. He was born in Frankfurt in 1902. He died almost a century later, in 1994, in Massachusetts (United States). His name is one of the most renowned in the sciences of the mind.

Erik Erikson’s main contribution was in terms of evolutionary psychology. He postulated the existence of eight ages in man, each of which has its own characteristics, achievements and losses. Although he trained and worked as a psychoanalyst, his approaches have been taken up by the so-called humanistic psychology.

As often happens in the lives of great psychologists and psychoanalysts, the childhood by Erik Erikson was not without problems. His father abandoned his mother just when he was born. Erikson’s mother was a young Danish woman who raised her son alone during the first years of her life, until she later married a pediatrician of Jewish origin.

The Younger Years of Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson’s mother hid from her son that his father had abandoned her. Maybe that’s why she grew up being something of a rebel without a cause. He was scattered and had no objectives clear for your life. Although he was a good student, he did not stand out much and everyone thought he was distracted and restless at the same time.

When he finished high school, he decided he wanted to be an artist. Thus, she began a period marked by instability. He went to classes and alternated that activity with trips to different places in Europe to learn about the artistic manifestations of the continent. Sometimes I walked like a wanderer and slept under the bridges.

Much later, Erik Erikson wrote a work called Autobiographical notes on the identity crisis. In it he refers to those years in which he did not know exactly what direction to take.

The initial training

When Erikson turned 25, he wanted to settle down. A friend of his advised him to take an available place in an experimental school.. This was directed by Dorothy Burlingham, who, in turn, was a close friend of Anna Freud. It was there that he began to find himself and formulate a life project.

He became interested in pedagogy and thus obtained a certificate in “Montessori Education”. Later, and thanks to the influence of Anna Freud, He carried out studies in child psychoanalysis at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute. Later he decided to become an analyst and it was Anna Freud herself who performed psychoanalysis on him, a condition required to begin his practice as a therapist.

Erik Erikson later marries a dancer and years later had to face the rigors of World War II. This caused him to emigrate to the United States, where he soon became a teacher at Harvard University.. There he made some friends that nourished him significantly. He later worked at Yale University and California University.

Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development

Although Erik Erikson worked on a wide range of topics, It was his theory of psychosocial development that led him to occupy his own place in the world of psychology.. In it he integrated his knowledge of pedagogy, psychoanalysis and cultural anthropology.

That said, the characteristics of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development can be summarized as follows:

He emphasized the understanding of I. Erikson took over I as an intense force capable of reconciling syntonic and dystonic forces. Furthermore, it has the ability to resolve crises derived from the genetic, cultural and historical environment of each individual.It integrated the social dimension and psychosocial development to Freud’s stages of psychosexual development. He proposed a broader personality development, which spans from childhood to adulthood.Addressed the impact of culture, society and history in personality development.

Thus, postulated that in each of the stages of life certain specific skills are acquired, which determine subsequent evolution. Such competencies are basically psychosocial in nature and imply a conflict between the previous state and the new one. Let’s see in detail what these stages are.

The 8 psychosocial stages

According to Erikson, human beings go through the following stages of development:

1. Basic trust vs. distrust (birth – 18 months)

This stage is based on the physical sensation of confidence. The baby receives the heat of the mother’s body and her loving care. Their presence or absence will significantly influence the child’s psychosocial development: if the parents do not satisfy their basic needs, they will grow up amid feelings of frustration and without expecting anything from others.

2. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (18 months – 3 years)

This stage is linked to muscle development and control of body eliminations. (feces, urine). This development is slow and progressive and is not always consistent and stable; In fact, it is a process with a lot of trial and error.

Therefore, In the face of achievements, children will be able to develop feelings of autonomy; while, in the face of failure, you will experience feelings of doubt.

In addition, the child begins to experience his or her own autonomy, expressing itself in behaviors that range between cooperation and stubbornness. In this sense, the parents’ attitudes and their own feeling of autonomy are fundamental in the development of the child’s autonomy.

3. Initiative vs. guilt (3 years- 5 years)

It occurs at the age of play and first social contacts. The development of imagination plays a key role, as does the move to action. The child has the ability to implement the motor plans that allow him to enter space. So, The great curiosity to explore and the uncertainty lead him to develop initiative or guilt behaviors.

During this stage, interest in developing socially and contacting other children grows. If these interactions with parents and peers do not have a positive response, the balance will tip towards guilt.

4. Industriousness vs. inferiority (5 years – 13 years)

It is the stage in which the child begins his preschool and school education. And he is usually eager to do things together with others. Here there is already a wealth of experiences that allow you to develop in an environment with rules. Both socialization and exchange with peers will enhance the overcoming of circumstances through proactivity or withdrawal..

During this stage, The child becomes dissatisfied and dissatisfied with the feeling of not being able to do things or not doing them well. Furthermore, they may develop a feeling of inferiority due to aspects of their identity, such as their economic-social situation or their “racial” condition. Precisely for this reason, the school must ensure the establishment of the feeling of industriousness.

5. Identity search vs. identity diffusion (13 years -21 years)

In this stage, the subject goes through both the search for an identity and various crises marked by resignification of the conflicts of each previous stage. Likewise, the exploration of one’s own limits and possibilities occurs at this stage, marking various milestones in the consolidation of the adolescent’s identity.

6. Privacy vs. isolation (21 years – 40 years)

Intimacy involves the possibility of being close to others, since the subject has a feeling of security about who he is and is not afraid of “losing” himself. Antagonistically, the persistence of adolescent conflicts and insecurity causes isolation and deficiency in social ties.

7. Generativity vs. stagnation (40 years-60 years).

Period generally dedicated to raising children, so one’s own needs tend to be left aside. The fundamental task of this stage is to achieve an appropriate balance between productivity and stagnation..

Productivity refers to love for the future and has to do with a concern about the next generation and all future generations.. Furthermore, it is related to carrying out any activity that fills that “old need to be needed.” Such as, for example: carrying out tasks related to teaching, inventiveness, science, social activism, writing, etc.

Instead, stagnation, is “self-absorption”: taking care of no one. However, some people try to be so productive during this stage that there comes a time when they can’t afford any time for themselves to relax and unwind. In the end, these individuals also fail to contribute anything to society.

8. Integrity vs. Hopelessness (60 years and older)

Old age is characterized by a struggle between integrity and despair. This is the last stage, where the sorrows of life along with physical wear and tear accumulate. According to Erikson, The great objective is to maintain physical and emotional integrity, without falling into hopelessness.

To conclude, we emphasize that Erik Erikson’s theory had an important impact on North American psychology and later throughout the world.. Today he continues to exert a strong influence on research and the therapeutic field. This is an interesting, deeply human and hopeful approach.

You might be interested…