Life Changes

Therapists study developmental stages and integrate it into their work because it helps us to gain a better understanding of client's life experience based on where they are in their life. This can help people personally understand what childhood events shaped their adulthood. Talking about your life cycle changes can help understand and contextualize the ups and downs of life. May you're right where you're supposed to be after all. It can help make the self-discovery process easier.

Erikson's Developmental Stages

Adolescence: Identity vs. Role Confusion

The adolescent stage is where the term “identity crisis” originated, and for good reason. Adolescence is all about:

Developing a sense of self
Identifying who they are
Developing stronger goals
Understanding self on a deeper level (self-knowledge)
Breaking free of their parents’ or friends’ influences
Finding own interest

Adolescents who still deeply depend on their parents for social interaction and guidance may experience more role confusion than teenagers who pursue their own interests.

Young Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation

In young adulthood, which begins roughly at age 20, people begin to:

Solidifying lifelong bonds (committed relationships or marriages and forming lifelong friendships)
Completing higher education and/or trades
Understanding roles of adults in society

People who can create and maintain these relationships reap the emotional benefits, while those who struggle to maintain relationships may suffer from isolation. A young adult who develops strong friendships in this stage may feel more intimacy than one who struggles to form and maintain close friendships.

Middle Adulthood: Generativity vs. Stagnation

In middle adulthood, people tend to:

Look for ways to contribute to society
Be busy raising children or pursuing careers
Look for a sense of fulfillment and purpose

Those who feel that they’re contributing experience generativity, which is the sense of leaving a legacy. On the other hand, those who don’t feel that their work or lives matter may experience feelings of stagnation. This is where the real "mid-life crisis" may be experienced.

Late Adulthood: Integrity vs. Despair

As adults reach the end of life, they usually:

Look back on their lives and reflect.
Measure their ego based on what they achieved in life.
Hope to face aging and dying with peace.

If older adults don’t feel that they’ve lived a good life, they risk falling into despair. Sometimes, this is where the real "life crisis" is experienced.

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