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Chapter 444 - 437: Erikson’s Personality Development Theory

Chapter 444: Chapter 437: Erikson’s Personality Development Theory

"It’s the same when I try to sleep at night. I want to sleep by myself. But whenever I bring it up, she becomes so dejected. Seeing her like that makes me feel bad as well..."

After saying this, the visitor immersed herself briefly in her emotions.

But the next moment, she abruptly pulled herself out of it, as if trying to defend, clarify, or explain something.

"But Teacher Nan, my mom has really had a tough life. She didn’t have much education, she lacks strong opinions, and back in those days, she raised me alone after the divorce, you could even say she gave up having a social life for my sake."

"I’ve always felt sorry for her, which is why I didn’t want to leave her when I went to university, and now I still take care of her."

The visitor raised her voice a bit: "She’s not a bad mother. She never hit me, hardly ever spoke harshly to me, she never showed any preference for boys over girls, nor did she say I must spend money to support her. I know she came to Beidu because she was worried about me, she wanted to take care of me..."

"So, sometimes I wonder..."

Her voice gradually lowered: "Teacher Nan, are these... not-so-good feelings I have towards my mom, are they too ’unfilial’?"

"Thinking this way, is it really reasonable?"

"Is it really... okay?"

...

It is reasonable, it is okay.

Nan Zhubin thought to himself.

But he didn’t say it right away, such a level of Support would be too wasteful here.

Regarding the visitor’s current thoughts, any psychology enthusiast who has read about a million words of psychology-related books, even novels, should be able to see it.

——This is a cognition issue.

So, how should this visitor’s cognition issue be addressed?

Nan Zhubin straightened his posture.

Different visitors require different methods.

The Lin Xi in front of him, although used some terms that didn’t quite match her age when describing her story just now.

But objectively speaking, she is a visitor with a high level of education and knowledge.

Nan Zhubin preferred visitors like this.

In the face of a visitor with a certain knowledge base, Nan Zhubin could directly offer analysis and some viewpoints without having to find ways to express himself in a way the visitor could understand.

He could even directly use specific psychological theories to communicate with the visitor.

Nan Zhubin’s pupils slightly unfocused for a moment, and with the addition of Flow state, he completed the permutation of the visitor’s information in less than two seconds, simultaneously planning the stage goals for the consultation in his mind.

He glanced inconspicuously at the clock on the wall.

A lot of time had passed.

The task for today is to help the visitor clarify the current issues, accept her emotions, and provide some motivation to change herself.

That would be considered successful.

There is no need to rush. Although high-knowledge groups can quickly understand knowledge, they also have a fairly solid recognition system.

It should be impacted, but not too aggressively all at once.

Otherwise, it might break down directly.

Fortunately, the visitor in front of him is only around thirty, and she came seeking help of her own volition.

You can start by inputting a little new information, new knowledge, gradually permeating it, letting her absorb and change.

This visitor is also here for consultation for the first time, it’s uncertain whether this can develop into a long-term case.

Although Nan Zhubin is confident in keeping her coming back, he approaches each consultation as if it were the last, ensuring a complete consultation experience—this itself is an important professional principle that a consultant should possess.

...

Determined internally.

Nan Zhubin found the most suitable theoretical basis for the current application from his reserve.

Looking at the visitor who had let down her defenses, her eyes no longer held any Avoidance or Defense to disguise her yearning.

Nan Zhubin organized his words: "Teacher Lin, before seeking Psychological Consultation, did you try to understand some relevant psychological knowledge on your own?"

Sure enough, the visitor nodded: "Yes... I was thinking earlier if I could regulate myself a bit by reading books or something."

This is the typical first reaction of groups adept at self-learning.

"But the things I found were mostly about hypnosis, meditation, and the like, kind of mystical stuff."

The visitor frowned: "Then there were some things similar to ’chicken soup for the soul’, or words very empty and impractical... that’s why I came for consultation."

Hmm, these are the usual online methods of using psychological themes to mislead people.

Hypnosis and meditation are not mystical—but it’s certain that Nan Zhubin would not debate this aspect with the visitor at this moment.

Looking into the visitor’s eyes, Nan Zhubin said: "Have you ever seen Erikson’s ’Personality Development Eight Stages Theory’?"

"’Personality Development Eight Stages Theory’?" The visitor looked confused.

Then shook her head.

Erik Homburger Erikson is one of the representative figures of the Psychoanalytic School.

Deeply influenced by Freud, the founder of the Psychoanalytic School, he made many innovations on its theoretical basis, among which the most well-known is the ’Personality Development Theory’. Because this theory divides a person’s life personality development into eight stages, it is also called the ’Personality Development Eight Stages Theory’.

In this theory, Erikson believes a person must go through eight specific developmental stages throughout life, each stage having a pair of primary psychological conflicts to overcome. The individual must achieve a balance between these conflicts to develop specific ’basic qualities’ or ’virtues’ to smoothly enter the next stage.

Successfully resolving a crisis can lead to a healthy personality and positive qualities for the individual; failing to resolve a crisis may lead to maladaptation and negative outcomes affecting future life development.

Each stage is divided according to age—

The first stage, infancy. In this stage, the individual needs to overcome ’mistrust’ to gain ’trust’, needing validation of the world’s reliability and the dependability of loved ones; if this trust issue cannot be resolved, the individual may lack a sense of security in future development, often falling into Fear and anxiety.

The second stage, early childhood. In this stage, the individual needs to gain ’autonomy’, overcoming ’shame and doubt’, learning independence and self-control. If this stage does not achieve this autonomous will, future development may often fall into excessive dependence on others, frequently self-doubting.

The third stage, preschool years. In this stage, the individual needs to gain initiative, able to independently explore, set goals, and learn responsibility. Failure may lead to fear of trying and exploring in the future.

The fourth stage, school age. In this stage, the individual needs to gain a sense of industriousness, improving abilities in work and learning and gaining a sense of accomplishment in task completion. Failure may lead to frequent feelings of inferiority and incompetence.

Nan Zhubin explained them one by one to the visitor.

"For now, let’s not discuss the processes of these four stages. Your main issue lies in the fifth stage—"

Lin Xi swallowed, looking at Nan Zhubin.

"The fifth stage, adolescence, roughly ages 12 to 18. At this stage, the individual must gain what is called [self-identity], needing to clarify their [role], starting to have a general plan for the future. If successful, they can achieve clear and stable self-recognition."

The consultant and the visitor looked at each other: "And if it fails—the most typical issues are [role confusion] and [bewilderment]."

(PS: When looking at pictures, make sure to see the annotations inside the [author’s words].)