Developmental Psychology, Life's Stages & Jung's Individuation Process

Developmental Psychology traces the maturation process from infancy to adulthood and beyond.

Freud thought in terms of psychosexual development. Adler focussed on the need to address feelings of inferiority. Klein and Bowlby explored the connection between the infant and the mother. Kohut outlined the process by which we establish our ‘self’. Winnicott advised how we must nurture a child. Building upon the earlier stages, Erickson outlined a development developmental model that extended through to old age.

For these theorists, the child was considered a tabula rasa – a blank sheet upon which the personality would be inscribed. In this view, we are the product of how we are raised and shaped throughout our lives.

In contrast, Jung appeared to display little interest in a set of prescribed developmental stages, and spoke only in terms of the first and second stages of life, as well as a general pattern of integrating the shadow, then anima or animus, then the Self.

For Jung, the child was no tabula rasa, but was endowed with a unique personality, a spirit or daimon, which must be realised through a process of individuation – the process by which our potential is made manifest.

A third perspective is that of Self-Oriented psychology, where multiple archetypal energies seek expression and evolution through the individual.

In this session we will look at all three perspectives, the set pathways, the unique path, and archetypally driven developmental processes, as well as how these pathways interrelate.

Come prepared to discuss what you feel to be your calling, and other demands that appear to impress themselves upon you from within.