Trust vs. Mistrust is the first psychosocial stage created by Erik Erickson along with his wife Joan Erickson. Erikson was influenced by Freud. This in itself is a cautionary tale! This theory was developed in the 1950's, the early burgeoning years of PSYCHOLOGY!
Trust vs. Mistrust is stage 1 when a person is an infant, up to one year. The virtue of HOPE is the goal. The mother is the most significant relationship. The "existential question" is 'Can I trust the world?" And the events during this stage are feeding and/or abandonment.
A lot of pressure on BABY, that's for sure.
There are many problems with this theory:
must it be accomplished before moving to the next stage?
no consideration is made whether baby is a boy or girl, tempermant, delivery stressors, sleep patterns, feeding issues and a whole host of other variables
no consideration is made for mother - is it her first child, how did the delivery go? is the relationship with father healthy? is she getting any sleep? personality, education, age. Again, every mother has unqiue variables.
what about dad? Who are the other family members and helpers?
Age of the parents, education, urban, rural, financial state, health etc. ALL important factors!
NO ONE remembers their infancy. Stories (or no stories) told by others might impact later impressions of our babyhood. Anything one thinks they remember is a "repressed memory" and not crebible.
Maybe a more helpful exploration of birth order, family constellation, family values would help form a story about infancy, but honestly, most of us don't even know much about our BIRTH - let alone our first year of life! There are lots of details that we will never personally know because we CAN'T remember! We might form a story about our infancy, but these are assumptions based on a constellation of stories told to us, old photos, sibling memories - a whole variety of tales told to us - good or bad.
For me, I might have a memory of stepping on a teddy bear I didn't like (the curly beige one with the wide set eyes and stiff nose), but then again, is that my imagination? Uh oh, I can't trust anyone because I was given a bear I didn't like and tried to crush it!
In therapy, be very wary and push back on any stock given to infant memories as a reflection of your current life circumstances.
Instead, 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your path.' Prov. 3: 5-6.
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