Psychological Development
M. McDonnell
Running head: THE EFFECTS PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND COUNSELING
The Effects of Psychological
Development and Counseling
Meredith Hatchett McDonnell
Bridgewater State University
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Overview: Psychological Development
There are many different areas of lifespan development which include physical
development, cognitive development, personality development, and social development; the four
types of development help shape a human’s overall psychological development. Theorists have
their own lifespan development interpretations that range from: Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic
theory, Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory, John Watson’s classical/operant conditioning, Albert
Bandura’s social-cognitive learning theory, Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Carl
Roger’s humanistic perspective, and Lev Semenovich Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. The
major perspectives of lifespan development: psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic,
contextual, and evolutionary all look at development differently. We should not look at these
theorists/theories to determine which one is better; instead we should look at them all differently,
because each theory approaches development in a diverse way. According to Feldman (2011),
some lifespan developmentalists use as eclectic approach, which uses several perspectives
simultaneously, which means that counselors have the choice to pick and choose from several
lifespan development perspectives to develop their own personal counseling style.
Case Study
A therapist has been working with Brad (*names have been changed to protect the
identity of client) for a little over a year. Most of the events from his early childhood the
therapist learned from reading Brad’s records. Brad is a fourteen year old African American
male who currently lives with a Foster Family in East Bridgewater. According to Jose Scott,
“children in foster care are at heightened risk for a range of poor psychosocial outcomes
including emotional and interpersonal difficulties.” From sessions with Brad, it is evident that
Brad has experienced some poor emotional and interpersonal difficulties, which could cause
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great effect to his ability to create positive, healthy relationships in the future. At age five, Brad
and his brother were removed from his biological family and placed in foster care. From Brad’s
records the therapist discovered that Brad got into trouble when he was in elementary school for
threatening to kill his teacher and burn down the school. The reasons why Brad and his brother
were removed from the home are not exactly clear. However, when Brad explained the situation
in his own words he alleged that “his parents could not take care of him anymore.” His charts
also questioned the possibility of sexual abuse by a family member. After two years, Brad’s
brother moved back in with his biological family while Brad remained with the foster family.
Through counseling sessions with Brad, the counselor learned that Brad felt that he did not have
any emotional connections to his foster family. He stated that he was miserable living there and
he was just trying to “be good” and do whatever he had to do so that he could move back home.
Brad’s main goal was to be able to move back home with his biological family. According to
Jose Scott, “sixty-two percent of children being looked after by the state or in a foster home have
experienced neglect or abuse in the course of the inability to provide good enough care.” On
several occasions, Brad would state that he was unhappy living with his foster parents and that is
was “un-fair,” Brad believed that his living situation was un-fair because he “knew” (thought)
that his foster parent’s biological children were getting more attention and support than he was.
Brad was feeling neglected, not only from his biological parents but also from his foster parents
because he was clearly seeing signs of preferential treatment to his foster brothers and sisters.
Brad was “seeing” and feeling that he was not special and unimportant. These neglectful feelings
greatly altered his psychological development negatively. Research has shown that being
separated from ones’ family can create feelings of resentment, anger, and distrust in adults and
future relationships.
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Sessions with Brad were unpredictable; sometimes he would act exceptionally mature
and have systematic conversations about what he needs to do or how he needs to act in order to
go home. On the other hand, occasionally in sessions Brad was extremely unfocused, acted out,
and was silly and acting like a five year old. Brad made it very clear that he was upset that he
was the only sibling not living at home with his biological family. In one sentence he would
condemn his family and then in the next sentence he would praise them by explaining what his
family used to do for him or used to do with him. Occasionally, Brad was allowed to spend a
night or the weekend with his mother or father, who was separated. After visits with his family,
Brad would either be very high or very low emotionally. When he described his visits he would
obsess over the materialistic things that he go to do or play with. For example, his father would
give him money to go to the store, or his mother would let him stay up all night playing video
games or watching television. When Brad described his visits he never said “my mom/dad and I
went here or my mom/dad and I did this.” His visits appeared that he was not spending any
quality time with his family, yet he appeared happy just to be able to go to an environment where
he was allowed to go places and do things. After a year of therapy, the client came to one of the
last sessions and explained that he was moving home to live with his biological family. The
therapist tried to follow up with his foster father in regards to his placement and finding a new
therapist, but unfortunately the therapist never received a response from Brad’s foster family.
Examination of Case Study
Brad’s life has clearly been affected and shaped by his psychological development. This
section will explain some of the different theories that have affected his psychological
development and how it has impacted Brad’s life.
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Attachment
Feldman (2011), described attachment as the positive emotional bond that develops
between a child and a particular person. When children feel attachment towards someone they
experience warm and fuzzy feelings that make them feel comfortable and secure within their
environment. If children do not experience feelings of being loved and attached to another
person it can affect their social capabilities as an adult. British psychiatrist John Bowlby, was
one of the highly influential people in the field of attachment, the basic idea underlying his
theory is that “children need a loving mother or mother substitute to develop into emotional
healthy adults, and that separation experiences (even minor ones) at an early age may jeopardize
this development” (Horst and Veer 2010). Brad was with his biological mother for five years
before he was removed from the home, however, from reports it did not sound like it was a
stable, loving environment. If this is true and Brad did not experience love, support, and warmth
during his first five years of life it will likely result in an attachment disorder. Brad did not have
anyone that he could attach to as his emotional role model. According to Horst and Veer (2010),
in 1939 Bowlby wrote in the Psycho-Analytical Society Journal that he believed that the early
environment is of vital importance and that in his treatment of children he made careful inquiries
into the history of the child’s relations to his mother and whether and in what circumstances
there have been separations between mother and child. In regards to Brad’s case there has clearly
been a separation between mother and child, not only was there the separation of mother and
child, but the fact that Brad knew his other siblings continued to live with his biological mother.
Brad felt angry, hurt, and confused by the fact that he no longer was allowed to live with his
biological parents yet his siblings were able to. These feelings severely affected his emotional
development; Brad did not associate with his foster family as anyone that cared for him and he
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showed no emotional ties to his foster family that he lived with for nine years. In result it is
likely that Brad will experience emotional difficulties with intimate relationships. After Brad was
removed from his biological home he was unable to create or allow trusting relationships with
his foster family out of fear that they too would be taken away from him. According to Jose
Scott, in regards to the basis of the attachment theory it may be argued that “any such disruption
has the potential to have a negative impact and research findings have influenced many
legislative moves over the years toward the recognition that children have emotional as well as
physical needs which, if not met, will substantially affect their development.” Brad’s lack of
attachment at a young age could possibly hinder his ability for him to make lasting intimate
relationships as an adult with his peers, friends, and family members.
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development
According to Feldman (2011), Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development considers
how individuals come to understand themselves and the meaning of others’ and their own
behavior. Erikson’s theory suggests that developmental change occurs throughout people’s lives
in eight stages. The stages are: trust-versus-mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative
vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role diffusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity
vs. stagnation, and ego integrity vs. despair. Most likely Brad experienced some difficulties with
each of these stages, for example; if Brad’s parents did not take care of his needs as an infant he
most likely did not develop a trusting relationship with his parents. “Erikson suggests that if
infants are able to develop trust, they experience a sense of hope, which permits them to feel they
can fulfill their needs successfully” (Feldman 2011). If Brad’s needs were not met, feelings of
uncertainty would force him to see the world as a tough and hostile place, and these feelings
could create problems in forming close connections with people later in his life. When Brad was
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removed from his biological family he was entering into Erikson’s third stage: industry-versusinferiority that usually lasts from age six to age twelve. This stage focuses on gaining proficiency
in meeting life’s challenges, for example pleasing parents and teachers, competing in sports
teams, or club activities. During this developmental stage children are trying to figure out who
they are and where they “fit” into the world. When children go through this stage successfully
they develop feelings of mastery and expertise and an increasing since of capabilities. Brad did
not go through this stage successfully, he did not excel and meet life’ challenges, he was not
supported by his family or peers. Therefore, Brad experienced feelings of failure and inadequacy,
he never thought he was good enough, good enough for someone to love and care about him,
good enough for someone to stick around and support him, and he never thought he was good
enough to succeed in school, to form relationships with his foster family, social groups, and he
had a very difficult time trusting adults. These feelings were due to the fact that there was no one
there for him as a positive role model in his life to challenge him yet support him in those
challenges. In result to an unsuccessful experience in this stage, Brad began to feel incompetent
and started to withdraw from his academics and from interactions (creating lasting relationships)
with his family and friends.
When I stopped seeing Brad he was in Erikson’s identity-versus-identity confusion stage,
during this stage adolescents “attempt to determine what is unique and distinctive about
themselves and the roles they will play in their future lives, they may explore different roles,
narrowing their choices and finding out who they really are.” Brad was torn between living with
his biological family and his foster family; he was not allowed the opportunity to explore who he
was as a person, male, brother, friend, son etc. Brad was not supported by his foster family or his
biological family. In result, he struggled and will continue to struggle throughout his life to form
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and maintain close relationships. Brad has not yet experienced the remaining stages of Erikson’s
psychosocial development, however it could be assumed that he would have difficulties with the
remaining stages and continue to struggle to form lasting social and intimate relationships. Brad
will most likely continue to question who he is and what role he plays in this world. Brad’s
development was greatly changed due to neglect, confusion from trusted adults, and lack of love
and support from his biological and foster families.
Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget believed that cognitive knowledge is from the product of direct motor
behavior. Piaget has identified four primary stages of development: sensorimotor,
preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The sensorimotor stage is the initial
major stage of cognitive development that consists of six sub-stages: simple reflexes, first habits
and primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of secondary circular
reactions, tertiary circular reactions, and beginnings of thought. All six of these stages occur
from the first month of a child’s life and continue to eighteen months to two years of age. There
is no documented evidence that can determine if Brad’s cognitive development was effected
during Piaget’s first or second stage. However, Brad was most likely affected by Piaget’s third
stage: the concrete operational stage which is categorized as the active, and appropriate, use of
logic. Throughout this stage children learn how to think logically, during this stage Brad was
experiencing anger, confusion, neglect, and overall a lack of support from his caregivers. During
this important developmental milestone Brad was not being challenged and support by his
caregivers or peers. In result, he most likely did not get the chance to properly develop
cognitively.
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The Importance of Understanding Developmental Theory
Brad has been through several developmental speed bumps and as his counselor it would
be imperative to meet the client where he is at and slowly begin to repair the damage that has
been done. Brad struggles with the concept of attachment; therefore it would be important for his
counselor to take their professional relationship very slow, at his pace. Brad is going to need
additional time and support to begin to start trusting a clinician or any other adult. To mend his
lack of attachment, it would be important to take things slow, meet him where he is at, follow his
lead, and create a positive, warm, and supportive atmosphere. Brad needs an environment, in
which he can begin to grow and feel comfortable in, an environment where he will be able to
learn how to trust adults again. This process can take some time and it will most likely not
happen overnight. To restore Brad’s connection to attachment the clinician might suggest the
possibility of Brad getting a mentor or becoming involved with the Big Sister/Big Brother
organization. The more ways that Brad can begin to connect positively with other people,
especially adults the better it increases his chances to be able to develop healthy adult
relationships.
Conclusion: Psychological Development and Future Clients
Psychological development occurs throughout the entire lifetime and consists of a variety
of changes; emotionally, physically, socially, cognitively, and within ones’ personality. Knowing
when and how these changes can affect a client is imperative to successful therapy. As a
clinician it is imperative to be aware of the effects of psychological development. Being
conscious of a client’s development can allow the counselor to develop a clearer picture of the
client as a whole and also enhance the work that can be done with a client. Often clinicians put
too much focus on a particular diagnosis, when sometimes they just need to be more aware of a
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client’s psychological development. For example, a very smart child is acting out at school and is
constantly getting in trouble and yelled at by his teacher. At first glance, clinicians might be very
quick to judge this student as ADHD or oppositional defiant, when in reality, if the clinician dug
deeper into his/her history, especially his/her developmental history they might realize that the
child is suffering from an attachment disorder or social learning and is only acting out to get
some sort of attention from his/her teacher and peers. There are so many elements that are
incorporated into a person’s psyche and knowing their developmental history can give the
clinician a clearer representation of the person as a whole and not the person just labeled as a
diagnosis. Understanding clients from a developmental perspective can help clinicians provide
more effective counseling services. It will also allow the clinician to meet the client where he/she
is at so that the clinician can meet their needs successfully. We need to keep in mind that we are
working for our clients and it is our jobs to figure out what each client needs and maybe what our
clients need is for us, as clinicians to understand their psychological development.
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References
Feldman, S. Robert. (2011). Life Span Development A Topical Approach. New Jersey: Prentice
Hall.
Horst, Frank C. P. van der & Veer, Rene´ van der. (2010). The Ontogeny Of An Idea: John
Bowlby and Contemporaries on Mother–Child Separation. History of Psychology
Journal: American Psychological Association, 2010, Vol. 13, No. 1, 25–45.
Scott, Jose. The impact of disrupted attachment on the emotional and interpersonal development
of looked after children. Educational & Child Psychology, Vol. 28 No. 3, 31-43.