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Infancy
A baby named Sarah is born. Both parents have time consuming jobs, and are often busy checking emails and taking phone calls. They are either too distracted or too stressed to give Sarah proper and consistent love and care. Sarah is in Erikson's first stage of psychosocial theory of human development- trust vs. mistrust- where the crisis is between creating a bond with your caretaker that leads to having trust in the world and people you meet or fearing the world and not trusting others. -
Early Childhood
Sarah (4 y/o) wants to play with her parents since they are always busy. She tries to invite them to her tea parties and ask for movie nights, but they get angry with her for trying to play when they are so busy. She feels bad and stops asking. Sarah has reached the 3rd stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory, initiative vs. guilt. The crisis here is between successfully creating and initiating plans with others, and running into mistakes or setbacks while making plans that discourage doing so. -
Adolescence
Sarah's 14 years old. It has been hard for her to make friends, so she started taking art classes in school. Sarah finds out she is great at painting. Painting becomes something she loves and enjoys, so she works on her skill to someday sell her art. Sarah is in the 5th stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory of human development, identity vs. identity confusion. The crisis is between having a solid idea of ones purpose and abilities, and having a lack thereof.