Erik and Joan Eriksons’ Approach to Human Development in CounselingMichael J. Karcher and Kristine Benne

Presented by : Sehar Mangi (B.Ed VI)

Sukkur IBA

Content• BackgroundBiographyHistory

• IntroductionEight stagesAssumptions

• Usage of theory in counsellingCase Study

• Conclusion

BIOGRAPHY(Erik Erikson (1902-1994))

• Father Valdemar Isidor Salomonsen • Mother Karla Abrahamsen• His parents were Danish descent but separated before Erik was born. • Born June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.• Karla trained to be a nurse and moved to Karlsruhe. • In 1905 she married Erik's Jewish pediatrician, Theodor Homburger. • In 1908, Erik Salomonsen's name was changed to Erik Homberger.

BIOGRAPHY(Erik Erikson (1902-1994))

• A tall, blond, blue-eyed boy, Erik was raised in the Jewish religion.

• At temple school, the kids teased him for being a Nordic

• At grammar school, they teased him for being Jewish.

• Interested in human relationships (parent and child).

• Erik became a wondering artist, traveled across Europe.• At age of 25, his friend Peter Blos asked Erik to come to Vienna to teach at the

Hietzing School. • He met the Sigmud Freud family ,began training in child psychoanalysis under

Anna Freud. • He focused on becoming a psychoanalyst, eventually graduating from the

Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute.

BIOGRAPHY(Erik Erikson (1902-1994))

• 1930, married to Joan MowatSerson• During their marriage Erikson converted to

Christianity“In this whole collection there does not seem to be one bit of good writing that was not shared by Joan

in thought as well as in formulation”. -A Way of Looking at Things (Schlein, S., 1987)

BIOGRAPHY(Erik Erikson (1902-1994))

• In 1933, when Hitler took power in Germany, the Erikson family migrated to the United States

• Leaving Vienna marked a geographical separation from Freud that allowed the Eriksons more autonomy to expand the psychoanalytic theory beyond its focus on biological drives.

History of Psychosocial Theory

• Identity Development seems to have been one of Erikson's greatest concerns in his own life as well as in his theory.

• As an older adult, he wrote about his adolescent “identity confusion”

• Erikson’s daughter writes that her father’s “real psychoanalytic identity” was not established until he “replaced his

stepfather’s surname (Homburger) with a name of his own invention (Erikson).

History of Psychosocial Theory

• There were two psychoanalyst who had developed famous psychosocial theories: Freud, and Erikson.

• For Freud it is biology or more specifically the biological instincts of life which defines our behavior.

• For Erikson’s the most important force driving human behavior and the development of personality is social interaction.

•

History of Psychosocial Theory

• The biology of Freud’s drive psychology served as the initial impetus for the model.

• The biological dimension of the Erikson theory, drawn in part from Freud’s model.

History of Psychosocial Theory

• Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory attempts to explain relationship between psychological, biological, and societal development and its connection with a person's relationship to their own society .

• Initially, it was bio-psycho-social theory of human development .

• According to h theory when conflicts arise people have the opportunity to grow or fail equally.

Introduction

Erikson’s Theory of Development

• A theory charts 8 stage-wise progression in the social, emotional, and cognitive skills that individuals use in their relationships with significant others across the lifespan.

• The stages describing how the individual develops through individuation, through separation, connectedness and increasing distinctiveness.

Eight Stages

Underlying Assumptions of the Theory

1. The rates of progression through the eight stages will vary depending on individuals’ internal and external factors.

2. Prior crisis resolutions provide the foundation for current developmental crises.

3. Each stage should not be looked at as a success or failure but as a process which has virtues and strengths

4. Initial crisis resolution does not mean that the issues just overcome will not arise again later.

5. Each crisis also reflects the need to establish a balance toward connectedness or individuation.

Underlying Assumptions of the Theory

The Role of the Theory of Human Development in Counseling

• It is a lens for examining the developing individual’s life in relative isolation in terms of individual achievements.

• Joan Erikson (1988) suggests “if any intervention can break the dullness of the graying pattern, it will be the experience of an intimate relationship.

• Intimate relationship between the counselor and client varies according to intervention structure and goals

Case Study

• Sharon

Case Study

• In her graduate studies in school counseling, she wrote her thesis on how teachers’ developmental crises may interact with their students’ crises and how she could use the Eriksons’ model to help facilitate teacher–student relationships.

Kerry is a mentor of Sam. Case Study

• Using the Hemingway Measure of Adolescent Connectedness

Case Study

Identity Confusion

Case Study

A savior role in Sam’s life

Case Study

• Sam seems to be the most significant person in her life

Case Study

• Loyola Generativity Scale and the Measures of Psychosocial Development which provide an assessment of dimensions of generativity and levels of successful crisis resolution for each stage

Case Study

In Kerry’s case

Case Study

• She must do to be “a good mentor.”

Case Study

• Kerry was less able to see how her identity crisis resolution occurred

Case Study

• Sharon helped Kerry see her self-imposed isolation and deep desire for intimacy

Case Study

• Kerry became clearer about how she was trying to meet multiple developmental needs of her own in her work with Sam.

Case Study

Conclusion

• We can apply the theory in situations where an individual seems stuck between stages, or searching to move to earlier or later stages out of sequence.

• If choices have not been fully made, a return to those stages may

be predicted.