Synthesizing the Five Chronological Areas of Development

Now that you have an overview of five of the areas of development, let us put them together side by side to get a snapshot of how clients typically view the world at various ages by seeing the developmental tasks grouped together. A full understanding of these tasks will inform your active listening and how you reflect the information the client is giving you. The stage names and chronology are cited from The Unfolding Life: Counseling Across the Lifespan (Horton-Parker & Brown, 2002). The following tables summarize the developmental theories side by side and chronologically for your quick comparison.

Identity Development

There are many models of specific identity development that are helpful in grasping how people proceed with understanding who they are, and we encourage you to learn from them. Like the previous stage models of development, each stage in identity development builds on the previous one, but unlike the previous models, these are not associated with chronological age. Like all stage models, progress is presented in a linear fashion, but higher levels are not better, just more developed. This is an entire field of study itself, so this section will be an over-simplification of identity development that focuses on process only, not the content of the development. We strongly encourage further reading in this area.

Similar patterns exist, regardless of the identity that is being developed that can be conceptualized through stage models. It may be ego identity, personal identity or social identity (McLean & Syed, 2015).

Table 5.1 Infancy Stage

We offer a simplified version of identity development that can be informative with a variety of difficult labels: child of divorce, alcoholic, rape survivor, epileptic, infertile, parent who lost a child, single again, natural disaster survivor, cancer (or other medical diagnosis) patient, abused, failure, etc. Hammack (2015) described it this way (p. 11), “Identity is the anchoring concept for thinking about difference and sameness in our time.” However the client identifies as the same or different is identity. The client may phrase these descriptors differently, but often work is around accepting an unwanted label, such as victim, addict or depressed. Keep in mind that anger described below may not be traditional anger, and clients may express these stages in a variety of ways. Below you will find how we conceptualize identity development stages.

Stage 1: Unawareness

At this stage, people are unaware of or unaffected by the identity or labels. They may not even know this identity exists. If they do, it is so removed from them that they do not know (or know they know) anyone directly with the identity.

Stage 2: Denial

Awareness is dawning and the person suspects or knows that the identity might be true, but it is a secret. Subtle or overt attempts to deny or mask the identity occur.

Stage 3: Revealing

This stage includes an internal, but not yet external, resignation to the identity. The person knows that this is their identity, but is reluctant to publicly admit it. At some point, however, what has previously been hidden is now revealed. It could be by choice to a few trusted individuals. Or, it may not by choice, for example through a court decree, arrest, scandal, or being found out.

Stage 4: Anger and Declaration

This stage is often marked by growing anger and perhaps an at times off- putting declaration of the identity. After living with and possibly fighting the secret identity, the person now may need to vocalize it, join groups around the identity, and begin to advocate. They may want to educate themselves and seek help with the identity.

Stage 5: Identity Internalized

General Identity Development

Stage 1: Unawareness Stage 2: Denial Stage 3: Revealing Stage 4: Anger and Declaration Stage 5: Identity

Internalized

At this point people firmly understand that the identity is part of who they are, but it does not define them. They have an acceptance of the identity, and they can be accepting of those who are in other stages regarding identity development, including unawareness.

While this model may not perfectly fit every client, it will help you conceptualize how to work with your clients, boosting your unconditional positive regard. Working on acceptance of the identity is not something that a client in Stage 2 is ready to do. Insensitive opinions may be expressed by the client when in Stage 1. Understanding that you may not see anger as an emotion until stages 3 or 4 will help you trust that your client knows what is needed.

Putting All Areas of Development Together

Our thesis throughout this chapter is that understanding your client increases empathy and unconditional positive regard. In this chapter, we have attempted to explain how to understand client development - physical, social, cognitive, moral and spiritual - by looking at slices of time with the five types of development for the client, rather than looking at isolated types of development (i.e. cognitive) across a life. By having this holistic understanding, the therapist can hone in on the present, and at chronological points where a disruption occurred.

What we have referred to as identity development - which could be anything from being Southern to being gay ... or both - is not linked with physical age. It happens in linear process, too, though. Figure 5.1 shows the five types of development across slices of time with the identity process of development happening underneath it all.

Figure 5.1 Development Map

Creative Application: Timeline

Create a timeline of five significant events in your own life. Now identify in what stage of development those events took place. Plot the events on the development map above. Consider your developmental tasks. How do they relate to your identified core issues?

Summary

Development can be conceptualized through stage models for physical, social, cognitive, moral and spiritual development. The life stages are Infancy, Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Adolescence, Young Adult, Middle Adult and Older Adult, and each stage has specific tasks. This provides a framework for understanding when your client faced challenges in the past, what challenges they may be facing currently, and which challenges are inherent or out of step in development. Layering identity development helps you facilitate acceptance of an unwanted or undesired label. As you understand development, you also increase your understanding of the rationale behind why a client tries to meet unmet core needs in unhelpful ways based on their development. Most importantly, when you understand child, adolescent and adult development, you gain higher levels of empathy for the client.

References

Erwin, T. M. (2001). Encouraging the spiritual development of counseling students and supervisees using fowler’s stages of faith development. In P. Hammack. (2015), Theoretical foundations of identity, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 11-31.

Hammack, P. L. (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Identity Development. (McLean, К. C., & Syed, M. U., Eds.). Oxford University Press, pp. 11-30.

Horton-Parker, R. J„ & Brown, N. W. (2002). The unfolding life: Counseling across the lifespan. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

Kohlberg, L., & Wasserman, E. R. (1980). The cognitive developmental approach and the practicing counselor: An opportunity for counselors to rethink their roles. The Personnel and Guidance Journal, 58(9), 602-605.

McCormick, С. M„ Kuo, S. L-С., 8C Masten, A. S. (2010). Developmental tasks across the lifespan. In K. L. Fingerman, C. A. Berg, J. Smith, &T.C. Antonucci (Eds.), Handbook of life-span development, New York: Springer Publishing Company, pp. 117-140.

McLean, K. C., & Syed, M. U. (2015). The field of identity development needs an identity: An introduction to the Oxford handbook of identity development. In К. C. McLean, & M. U. Syed (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of identity development, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 1-10.

Olson-Morrison, D. (2017). Integrative play therapy with adults with complex trauma: A developmentally-informed approach. International Journal of Play Therapy, 26(3), 172- 183. doi:10.1037/pla0000036.

Parker, S. (2010). Research in Fowler's faith development theory: A review article. Review of Religious Research, 51(3), 233. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=edsjsr&:AN=edsjsr.20697343&site=eds-live& scope=site&custid=s8863735

Ray, D. C. (2011). Advanced play therapy: Essential conditions, knowledge and skills for child practice. New York: Routledge.

Schoeppe, A., Haggard, E. A., & Havighurst, R. J. (1953). Some factors affecting sixteen- year-olds' success in five developmental tasks. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48(1), 42-52. doi:10.1037/h0054913.

Vozzola, E. C. (2014). Moral development: Theotyand applications. New York, NY: Routledge.