My Journey Through Mental Health Education

WE were asked to review major issues studied by psychologists and I did, my way. I think it's great that my instructor finds some humor in what I say. I think life is too damn serious, to begin with. IF we can't talk lightly on tough subjects then we will never truly talk about them, will we?

Three Major Issues Studied by Developmental Psychologists

“Nature vs. Nurture” is one of the oldest. Is it our genes that primarily determine how we will act and who we will be? Or does our immediate environment at each stage of life determine that? Based on the chapter, it seems to me that it is still inconclusive. It is my understanding that they work together and against each other simultaneously while creating this individual. Either side can weigh in heavier than the other but one will never completely control anything. There are some aspects that come naturally equipped biologically but the interactions in this world are what make you who you are. I liked it best put by our textbook when it said that we arrive like a coloring book with all the outlined pages of what may be, but what it becomes is based on the details in the colors of our experiences. Actually, I just came up with that based on the book. The brain is an amazing thing.

“Earlier vs. Later”, meaning that some things should be experienced sooner and others later. Well, I could agree with that based on my life alone. Not to include the hundreds of children and youth I have worked with over the years. Now Freud claims that our personality is completely developed by 5 years old but I do not agree with that based on over 25years of my own observations. And thankfully that belief has evolved into the truth which is that early childhood trauma CAN and WILL wreak havoc on the adolescent. And if gone unrecognized or just ignored, will absolutely affect their adult life.

“Continuity vs. Discontinuity”, is based on whether change happens smoothly or if it is actually preordained steps in life that are taken by everyone. Do you build skills over time? Or are there pinpoint positions in life that you attain them? Based on what I have read and understood, skills are learned over time and some learn faster than others. Maybe there are markers along the way that you should see development in by a certain time. But an individual is an individual and should not be limited by the scientific hypotheses of “when” and “how” someone should obtain certain skills. There are a few theories in dealing with this topic, psychoanalytical, learning, and cognitive. Psychoanalytical theories began with Freud and his hypothesis that our development goes through psychosexual stages. Personally, I think he was too focused on everything sexual but appreciate his contributions anyway. Then Erikson came along on Freud’s coattails and introduced his theory of psychosocial development, which stated that you develop through your interactions and struggles throughout your lifespan. Learning theories state that we develop through our interactions with our environment. This means you would develop by means of repetition, a rewards system, and social learning. Then we have Piaget’s cognitive learning theories that state we have four stages of early development that will plot the course and spread out over the lifespan while receiving further sculpting by our experiences.

My theory is that it takes all of this to understand how the human race becomes who they are and why. That we will never truly have and conclusive evidence to any of it because we are all individuals. We may have a 99% gene match-up that begins the same way for everyone, but our mind and spirit cannot be measured. What we have in all of these amazing individuals brave enough to figure out how is knowledge in possibilities with deeper understanding as to how things may have unfolded for any one person. I enjoy studying the theories of the past that led to the theories of today. That with each great scientist breaking through with more discoveries, there is one just like it close behind. It’s alive and everchanging because we are alive and everchanging. How we act today will not be how we act tomorrow. Evolution forces adaptation or extinction.