Psychology Essays – Developmental Psychology

Psychosynthesis Essay – Ego Development and the Self

Write a paper demoing your apprehension of the rudimentss of developmental psychological science from a psycho-spiritual point of position.

When sing developmental psychological science many inquiries come to mind when seeking to explicate human development. Adulthood can organize many pretenses – in the signifier of physical, societal, psychological and cognitive alterations within the person. Are these developments independent of one another or is the patterned advance of adulthood inter-linked? In effort to reply these inquiries one must see if development is a witting or unconscious procedure. A great organic structure of grounds suggests that both degrees of consciousness are present throughout human life. Whether these alterations are physical, societal, psychological and cognitive, these alterations may stand for witting or unconscious growing. An component of understanding one ‘s ain personal growing is to hold an consciousness of how the ‘Self ‘ is perceived and developed. The ego is indispensable to the representation of one ‘s personality – for illustration how one subjectively sees themselves in relation to the universe around them. The ego is built up of unconscious and witting elements – the Id, the Ego and the Superego ( Freud ) . The Id represents the ego ‘s unprompted and unconscious portion to personality. The Superego is besides unconscious and plays the opposing function of the Idaho, with high ethical motives to command the person ‘s unprompted behavior. It is the self-importance that plays the witting portion of personality and acts as a mediated version between the Idaho and superego ‘s demands. The self-importance is what is presented to the outside universe. Therefore, a good apprehension of self-importance development is indispensable for any psychosynthesis counselor to hold, in the presence of a client that is fighting with issues or concerns impacting or act uponing the perceptual experience of themselves in relation to others. A psychosynthesis counselor may see clients with self-esteem issues, low assurance or personality upset traits. An apprehension of how these fortunes may hold arrived is critical to understanding how the professional can assist decide the client ‘s concerns. This essay will discourse the development of the self-importance, its maps and the formation of the ego. In add-on, the treatment will be lead into an rating of how positive and negative influences from the household and other societal milieus can hold an impact on self-importance development. It is intended by the stopping point of the essay that a better apprehension will be gained as to how these theories can be applied to the existent universe and practiced in a psycho-spiritual clinical scene.

The self-importance is the footing of how the single expresses their personality. This witting component of personality is referred to as the ‘Self ‘ . The ego is considered to be partial, temporary and mutable. Therefore, this implies that external universe can act upon and impact its place. However, the ego is besides believed to be whole, lasting and absolute. However, we must be careful non to presume that the self-importance is merely a incorporate aggregation of perceptual experiences, knowledges and effects instead it is an organized bunch or forms of what are referred to as self-importance provinces ( Federn, 1952 ) . The contrast in provinces is caused by the being of witting and unconscious elements.

The importance of the self-importance – is that it represents the witting portion of an person ‘s personality. Therefore, the self-importance represents a vehicle for the ego to attest in the societal universe. Mentioning back to the impression of self-importance provinces – Erickson ( 1950 ) argues that there are eight phases of psychosocial growing in the normal human being. An extension of Freud ‘s psycho-sexual phases – Erickson believes that alternatively of the human being motivated by sexual impulses, we are motivated and influenced by societal state of affairss that affect our psychological wellbeing. Like Freud, Erickson believes that we progress through these eight phases from childhood to adulthood- and if we get frustrated or fails to finish a peculiar phase, we will acquire fixated and stuck in that phase, therefore unable to travel through to the following phase.

A brief description of Erickson ‘s eight psycho-social phases of human development will assist to understand how the single advancements through life and why the self-importance is of import in this procedure of patterned advance. Knowledge of these phases will besides supply a platform for the counselor to construe their clients behaviour or personality troubles. The first phase, get downing from construct to 6 months old is characterised by adhering activities-and the seeking of trust-vs.-mistrust and healthy co-dependence. Healthy rearing accomplishments show the kid that they can trust on their primary health professionals for a sense of worth and trust. This is what Jung ( 1959 ) refers to as Ego Inflation. However, if the parents fail to give healthy feedback or show boundaries and make bounds for the kid, this kid will turn into an grownup exhibiting negative self-importance rising prices. This is because a negative self-importance was formed in early childhood – characterised by feeling of unworthiness, guilt and ambiguity from the deficiency of healthy rearing they received. Naturally, parents will get down to selectively react and reject to the kid ‘s demands. This is healthy parenting and leads us into phase 2 of development: Exploration. In this phase the kid is in a practising stage – whereby they are able to research the universe – but have a apprehension that even though they are separated from their primary attention giver, that attention, protection, ever-presence and power is ever within range. Of class these elements are taken for granted, but healthy development of the self-importance allows the kid to make so. Phase 3, involves the demand for separation. However, this phase frequently carries with it confusion – with the kid desiring to make distance from their health professional to research, yet besides holding a desire for familiarity. Therefore, this phase is characterised by the demand for Separation and Individuation. Separation, defined by Mahler as an intrapsychic accomplishment. This is non to be confused with physical separation, but instead referred to as the interior ideas of accomplishment and ability act independent from their parent or health professional. Individualization refers to the kid ‘s premise of his or her ain single features – for illustration, consciousness that their ain actions can hold an impact on the universe around them. Therefore, healthy development focuses on making a separate individuality, believing and job resolution for themselves and making a sense of liberty vs. shame and uncertainty. Problems occur if the parent/caregiver reacts severely to the kid dividing from them. If the parent feels abandoned when the kid ‘leaves ‘ – this instils a sense of shame, which leads to the kid non being able to develop proper independency, personal power and trust in other relationships. A major job with Erickson ‘s psycho-social phases is it seldom takes into history other civilizations and cultural differences in child-rearing, for illustration, games that involve badgering or menaces of forsaking are suggested to be common parenting manners for Aboriginal misss in Canada to travel through. It is argued that these methods of kid raising that are designed to develop the child ‘s autonomy and independency ( Briggs, 1982 ) . However, from a western position, they may be considered rough in western society – and in footings of this essay – such techniques are believed to be associated with a dysfunctional self-importance development. Therefore, an consciousness of different civilizations and how different households or folks rear their immature is utile to take into history when measuring psychological development.

To go on, besides in this phase of separation, the kid realises that the health professional ‘s presence or competency can non be guaranteed. The kid therefore realises they are non the Centre of the existence and therefore the self-importance is bruised – and experiences disaffection. However, to battle any durable or destructive affects – a loving environment keeps the self-importance from being damaged in the procedure. The ego infact dis-identifies from the ego – but remain connected. However, if the kid is in an engulfing or estranging environment ( e.g. the kid is rewarded for clinginess and non geographic expedition ) the self-importance ‘s connexion to the ego is damaged – and disconnected from its beginnings and interior resources ( i.e. the ego ) . This leads to the person to non experiencing whole or integrated – and can take to serious personality upsets – such as Borderline Personality Disorder. This shows how the household can hold a damaging consequence on the person ‘s growing and healthy development. If the 3rd phase is successfully progressed through, the following phase focuses on socialization. This involves the single making a sense of individuality and external power in the universe around them. This can be characterised by a sense of enterprise or guilt and belonging. For illustration, if people do non acquire the blessing they need in order to develop a healthy self-importance, they become starved for blessing. This may ensue in them scarifies their power or moving the victim to have the blessing they so much what. Therefore, the self-importance becomes adaptative to the state of affairs as a scheme for acquiring blessing and a sense of belonging. Alternatively, the self-importance may show self-importance defense mechanism mechanisms – such as repression. This is when the person represses their feeling of choler or solitariness and displaces it with the opposing feelings of togetherness and composure. On the outside the person may look content with their household state of affairs, nevertheless, their interior emotions display much different. Often, these existent emotions are said to show themselves in dreams. Freud argues that dreams are filled with latent content, which refers to the content that displays one ‘s existent emotions – which they are excessively frightened to uncover in existent life.

As the kid grows, the self-importance strengths – in the following two phases Latency and Adolescence the self-importance is concerned with learning external and internal constructions of how the universe and persons within it run. The Latency phase focuses on developing concrete cognition of how the society is structured and the effects of interrupting social regulations. Rotational latency is besides concerned with being able to differ with others and yet still experience recognized and loved. Therefore a big portion of the Latency phase is about co-operation within society and happening out where one can suit in. Adolescence is similar to Latency, although it is more focussed on the self-importance seeking to work out its internal forces and motives. This phase is characterised by individuality vs. function confusion. Again, like the phase 2, the person goes through a procedure of rehearsing different functions to make up one’s mind which fits best. Adolescence has been described as a 2nd individualization stage ( Blos, 1968 ) . This phase is about happening the right self-importance individuality to experience safe and accepted by themselves and by others – yet it is frequently a disruptive clip for the person to travel through the procedure of interior find. This individuality is so tested in Stage 7 – by seeing if the self-importance is strong plenty to defy fright and loss through familiarity. If done so, the successful edifice of new relationships completes the procedure of separation from the parent/caregiver begun in phase 2. The attempt to make and keep an individuality becomes a less negative experience than in adolescence and becomes a more positive pursuit for happening a fulfilling function in society. Finally, by the 8th phase of development/adulthood, the self-importance has its best hope of wining at making a solid individuality for itself. The 8th phase is when the person is more focussed on religious and emotional balance. For illustration, making significance in one ‘s life through relationships, part to the community, self-actualization and spiritualty. Problems occur if we develop emotionally but non spiritually, we may go stuck in the necessity to ‘meet one ‘s demands ‘ and isolate from the peace that surpasses all understanding – i.e. acquiring the occupation done, does non needfully intend that the occupation was understood. This construct goes for all of the phases described by Erickson. Although, Erickson argues that development is about wining through many undertakings, without an apprehension or facet of larning from these experiences – the person will neglect to make a happy and healthy individuality. They will be plagued by insecurities and uncertainness.

The above grounds provides a strong statement for the development of the ego and how human existences develop an individuality for themselves in relation to the remainder of society and the universe around them. These premises have been widely accepted in the academic and professional sphere. However, some argue that this position on development is simplistic and non an accurate premise of the development of the true ego. For illustration, Winnicott ( 1960 ) suggests that there is infact a true ego and a false ego. The false ego is described in Erickson ‘s history of human development above. Winnicott ( 1960 ) goes every bit far to state that “ the true ego does non go a living world except as a consequence of the female parent ‘s perennial success in run intoing the baby ‘s self-generated gesture or centripetal hallucination. ” Therefore, this suggests what we see before us and believe to be an image or creative activity of ego is infact illusional. Winnicott ( 1960 ) goes on to state that, “ The true ego comes from the animation of the organic structure tissues and the working of organic structure maps, including the bosom ‘s action and external respiration. It is closely linked with the thought of the primacy procedure, and is, at the beginning, basically non reactive to external stimulations, but primary. ” Therefore, the false ego that we project to society is a mold created by societal influences and controls, the true ego being our biological makeup. The true ego so could be referred to as “ the natural ego. ” The ego is truly a blend of single ego, societal ego, physical, emotional, mental, sociocultural, and religious facets. It is non ever the individual that one feels that they are sing – therefore may be something of an abstract entity. Therefore, it is of import for a psychosynthesis counselor to hold an consciousness of the development of the ego and impressions of true and false ego. For illustration, to work on jobs of the false ego – it may be necessary to mention back to the rudimentss of the true ego to derive a sense of position and foundation.

To reason, the above treatment has divulged into issues environing the subject of human development and development of the ego. The ego has been described as a development of the self-importance, a personality and rational abilities through a procedure of larning that occurs after birth. The constructs of true ego and false ego clarify that some psychologists believe that one ‘s true ego can merely be found when one looks at the biological underpinnings of the person ‘s features. The construct of false ego is believed to stand for the ego that is formed through socialization. Either manner both constructs of ego may overlap – and can non be seen in isolation from one another. Therefore, the counselor can non disregard either biological or societal facets from their client ‘s life when seeking to decide issues with the client. The descriptions of the development phases by Erickson do supply a platform on which to construe behaviors or personality jobs. This may so take onto re-learning facets of separation and individualization. However, from a psychosynthesis point of position returning back to one ‘s natural roots or rudimentss can assist reconstruct and re-focus one ‘s stepping. What is needed is a religious apprehension for how and why things happen and why one feels as such. Therefore, understanding impressions of the false ego can assist to construct upon and beef up the true ego.

Mentions

Books

Briggs, J. L. ( 1982 ) . Populating perilously: The contradictory foundations of value in Canadian Inuit society. In E. Leacock & A ; R. Lee ( Eds. ) , Politics and History in Band Societies ( pp. 109-131 ) . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Erikson, E. Childhood and Society, New York, Norton 1950

Federn, P. ( 1952 ) . Ego Psychology and the Psychoses. E. Weiss ( Ed. ) . New York: Basic Books.

Jung, C. G. ( 1959 ) . The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Mahler, M. S. ( 1965 ) Mother Child interaction during separation-individuation. In separation-individuation. Selected documents of Margaret Mahler ( Vol. II. Pp.35-48 ) . New Jersey: Jason Aronson.

Winnicott, D.W. ( 1960 ) . Ego deformation in footings of true and false ego. In ( 1965 ) The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment. Hogarth. London.

Diaries

Blos, P. ( 1968 ) . Character formation in adolescence. Psychoanalytical Study of the Child, 23, 245-263.

Goergen. ( 1982 ) Donald Goergen: Current Tendencies: Self-Love, Self-Knowledge, and True Humility. Spiritualty Today Summer, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 155-165.

Bibliography

Zimberoff, D and Hartman, D ( 2000 ) . The Ego inHeart-Centred TherapiesEgo Strengthening and Ego Surrender Journal of Heart Centred Therapies, Vol 3, No 2, pp3-66