In this report I’m going to describe the five stages of the life cycle and the anticipated development processes in which occur throughout each stage. I will also look at a service user whom I have cared for in the past and describe the needs associated with their own development. I will also describe how my knowledge and understanding of TWO contrasting psychological perspectives will inform my practice in the workplace.
The human life cycle is the various points along an individual’s life when their growth and development on both physical and emotional levels change as they mature in age. There are five stages of the life cycle these are,
Infancy (0-2): At this stage the child is solely dependent on their parents for their safety
I found it very difficult to communicate with Mary, when I spoke or tried to interact with Mary she would not respond. After a few months of me caring for Mary she started to show small signs of building a relationship with myself. She started to respond to me when I spoke and starting making slight facial expressions like smiling which she never done in the first few weeks. Mary should be in the Adulthood stage of the life cycle but because of her disabilities her mental stage is in still in the Childhood stage.
Erikson’s suggested that personality developing as a person goes through the eight stages (SEE APPENDIX A). These stages were called “crisis” as it’s seen to be a source of conflict between the individual experiencing them. Each individual’s sense of identity is formed in the resolution to these crises. Crises are spells of vulnerability and also potential and therefore play an important role forming a personality. According to (Keegan, 2009…pg6) “The psychodynamic approach states that thoughts, feelings and behaviours we have are the result of unconscious mental processes formed by early childhood experiences”. By using the psychodynamic approach it helped me to understand the way in which Marys past experience’s influences her current behaviour. As Mary was mentally and physically abused as a child by her father, I feel this is why she finds it hard to trust and build relationships with