everywomanshero
Master Don Juan
- Joined
- May 2, 2005
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No single theory can ever account for all the experiences a human might have, but I think this one can be helpful for understanding why someone (perhaps yourself even) is struggling in life. The basic premise of psychodynamic theories is that development is determined largely by the resolution of conflicts at certain stages of life. Specifically, in psychosocial theory, a unique crisis needs to be solved at each stage, and successful resolution of one challenge makes the next crisis easier to conquer as well.
In other words, if you started off poorly by not handling early crisis well, then you were fairly handicapped and it's little wonder that things snowballed from there. Psychosocial theorists do not encourage a victim mentality and believe even with a bad start people can and should overcome later crisis, just with more effort.
How does this look? Well, for instance at Adolescence a big challenge is to form a sense of self. Then as young adults to form loving relationships. People who fail at developing a sense of self often try to define themselves through the relationship, which causes problems. From about 6 through adolescence, one needs to develop basic skills and work well with others. If one fails to learn how to work with others, they are more likely to have problems forming a sense of self or to form a negative sense of self and see themselves as outsides, not fitting in, etc.
This goes back to a theme I am going to hammer down on this forum over and over, that life tends to have a snowball effect where small gains accumulate over time and led to more positive experiences. By gradually introducing oneself to positive experiences, I believe it often increases success in totally unrelated areas, and sometimes in non-obvious ways.
In other words, if you started off poorly by not handling early crisis well, then you were fairly handicapped and it's little wonder that things snowballed from there. Psychosocial theorists do not encourage a victim mentality and believe even with a bad start people can and should overcome later crisis, just with more effort.
How does this look? Well, for instance at Adolescence a big challenge is to form a sense of self. Then as young adults to form loving relationships. People who fail at developing a sense of self often try to define themselves through the relationship, which causes problems. From about 6 through adolescence, one needs to develop basic skills and work well with others. If one fails to learn how to work with others, they are more likely to have problems forming a sense of self or to form a negative sense of self and see themselves as outsides, not fitting in, etc.
This goes back to a theme I am going to hammer down on this forum over and over, that life tends to have a snowball effect where small gains accumulate over time and led to more positive experiences. By gradually introducing oneself to positive experiences, I believe it often increases success in totally unrelated areas, and sometimes in non-obvious ways.
