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Infancy
Alyssa is three months old. She woke up crying in the middle of the night because she was hungry. Margret, Alyssa's mother, responded swiftly and proceeded to breastfeed her daughter. During the feeding, Margret gently rocked and sang to Alyssa. Alyssa is in the first stage Erickson's psychological theory, trust versus mistrust. In this initial stage, infants develop a sense of security and comfort knowing their primary caregiver will respond to and meet all of their needs. -
Early Childhood
Alyssa is now four years old. At preschool her teachers encourage her to ride a bike. After falling down several times, she is able to ride along with the other kids. At this age Alyssa is in the third stage of Erickson's theory, initiative versus guilt. Alyssa displayed resilience and showed her commitment to riding a bike by getting up and trying again. This stage is about developing perseverance rather than feeling upset and quitting when something initially goes wrong. -
Early Adulthood
Alyssa is now 23 years old. She has been in a relationship for 6 months. Her boyfriend just asked her to move in. Even though she was nervous about the seriousness of this step, she said yes. She is in the intimacy versus isolation stage of Erickson's theory. During this stage, she has to decide whether or not to take a leap of faith and trust her feelings. This could mean trust her feelings to move in or trust her feelings about waiting to move in. It's about being open to intimacy or not.
