Theories of Development
Development theories rest upon the assumption that humans are motivated to
adapt to their environment in order to move toward an increased psychological maturation and growth (Hayes & Aubrey, 1988). When applied to the field of counselling , the major developmental theories fall into two primary categories:
- psychosocial development
- cognitive-structural development
Psychosocial Development
Lifespan theories focus primarily on the psychosocial roles and tasks that individuals encounter across their lifespan. One of the major psychosocial theories that I have drawn from in my work with clients is that of Erickson's. According to Erikson, each individual passes through eight developmental stages which he coined as psychosocial stages. Each stage is characterized by a different psychological crisis that Erikson states that had to be resolved in order for the individual to move on to the next stage. However, if the crisis is coped with in a maladaptive, the outcome would be more struggles with that particular issue later in life. Erikson's theory resonated to me because it provides me with he theoretical framework necessary to understand my clients' earlier years so that I could help them transition from one stage to another successfully.
Cognitive Development
Piaget postulates that learning consists in adapting our thought schemas to new information from the real world. According to him, this adaptation can occur by either assimilation or accommodation.
Piaget postulates that learning consists in adapting our thought schemas to new information from the real world. According to him, this adaptation can occur by either assimilation or accommodation.
Piaget viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation to the world that happens through assimilation, adaptation and equilibration.
The influence of Piaget’s ideas in counselling has been enormous as he changed how professionals viewed the child’s world and increased their understanding of children's cognitive development.
- Assimilation– Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation. For example, a girl who is with his father sees a man with long hair and shouts “Mommy's, mommy's“.
- Accommodation– This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation. For example, the father explained to the girl that that person is not her mother because although he has long hair, he is not a woman and not her mother. With this new knowledge, the girl was able to change her schema of “long hair” and make this idea fit better to a standard concept of “long hair”.
- Equilibration– Piaget believed that cognitive development progresses in leaps and bounds and occurs when a child's schemas can assimilate most of the new information. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas.
The influence of Piaget’s ideas in counselling has been enormous as he changed how professionals viewed the child’s world and increased their understanding of children's cognitive development.
Source: McLeod, S. A. (2009). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
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