cycles of developement - pamela levin - transactional analysis

Cycles of Development

Pamela Levin

The cycles of

development theory

was developed by

Pamela Levin (1974;

1980) and is a model

of how we grow up.

Introduction• As we move through life from birth to

death, we respond to an internal developmental clock or organizational pattern that prescribes the tasks and skills we need to learn.

• Pam Levin describes these shared patterns of growth as part of the “primitive forms we carry deep in our ancestral memory.”

• Jean Illsley Clarke describes these developmental stages as “describable segments in growing up.”

• The overarching task in each stage is to find or create an age-appropriate answer to each of four questions: Who am I? Who are you? Who am I in relation to others? How do I get what I need?

Tree analogy• One way to think about these ideas is to

visualize a tree. • A rare few of us are able to get all that we

need in each of the first six developmental stages so that we grow straight and tall. Most of us don’t grow up that way, however.

• When we don’t get what we need at each stage, or we aren’t able to accomplish the stage-appropriate developmental tasks, we end up with holes or knots or bends in our core or “trunk.” These gaps or twists may occur at one or more stages.

• The adult recycling of Stage Seven provides opportunities to repair the holes, fill in the gaps, unravel the knots, and unbend what isn’t “true.”

Analogy – Stack of pennies• Eric Berne gave us another metaphor for

growth. • Picture a stack of pennies. Each penny

represents a developmental task, starting with Stage 1 on the bottom and adding additional pennies for each of the tasks and stages in turn. When all the pennies are flush and even, the foundation of the stack is firm.

• You can add any number of pennies and they won’t topple over. If, however, one or more of the pennies that form the base of the stack is slightly bent, curved or irregular, then the stack becomes skewed or starts to zigzag.

• All the pennies stacked on top of the uneven one are less secure regardless of how “true” or even they are. The uneven pennies change the direction and balance of the stack. Recycling offers opportunities to make the bent pennies true and to redirect and rebalance our developmental “stacks.

Main assumptions

• Development is cyclical - as opposed to linear.

• It takes a lifetime to grow up.• It is the responsibility of the

entire community to raise its children – not just the parents/carers.

• Times of transition/change provide particularly potent times for the revisiting of developmental stages and tasks.

Affirmations• Affirmations are the messages

adults can convey to encourage the child/young person to attend to the tasks specific to that stage.

• These will be primarily communicated non-verbally. For example, as a baby is doted over and adults respond to her needs for food, clean nappies etc, she will be picking up the affirmations ‘You belong here’ and ‘What you need is important to us.’

• Similarly, to encourage a toddler’s need to experiment during the Doing stage, a sand pit area might be created or painting activities set up.

Cycles of development


Stage 0• Stage : Becoming.• Duration : 9 Months(prenatal).• Activity - he prenatal stage lays the

groundwork for all the stages to follow. During these nine months, if all goes well, the baby’s body is developing from the genetic gift of the egg and the sperm to a full-term infant with all life-supporting systems intact or ready to grow to full potential. Simultaneously, the new being is making life-shaping decisions in response to the environment of the womb and the relationship experiences of the mother with other people and with the baby.

Jean Illsley Clarke added this stage to Levin’s original developmental theory


Stage 0Stages and Key characteristics

Developmental tasks Affirmations

Becoming9 months (Prenatal)Is it safe for me to develop fully and be born?

1. To grow; to develop all body systems.

2. To accept nourishment, acceptance, reassurance and love.

3. To gain familiarity with the mother.

4. To make some deep decisions about trust.

5. To initiate and move through the birth process.

1. You can make healthy decisions about your experiences.

2. Your life is your own.3. Your needs and safety

are important


Stage 0Stages and Key characteristics

Recycling After birth, Becoming is significant

Becoming9 months (Prenatal)Is it safe for me to develop fully and be born?

When we revisit Becoming, we may feel more than we think, we may need time to “gestate,” to gather up our feelings and thoughts, and to be cared for and respected for what we are doing even though we may not be able to articulate it well. We may resort to being hurried.

• When pregnant.• When we know we are

going to experience a great change, especially one imposed from outside, without sufficient information to feel confident of ourselves.


Clues for returning to becoming• Feeling an unaccounted-for

incompleteness.• Lack of joyfulness. • Stuck, not able to get started and without

words to describe that feeling.• Any addiction or compulsive behaviour.• Believing you have to do everything

yourself; trying to start things and not finishing.

• Self-destructive behaviours, recklessness, extreme risk taking.

• Strong and intense reactions to minor disappointments.

• Irrational fears or chronic anxiety not otherwise accounted for.

• Chronic depression; thoughts of suicide.

“All things in this world come from being”Lao Tsu


Stage 1• Stage : Being.• Duration : 0-6 Months.• Activity - Being involves

just experiencing the world. A baby will need to eat, drink, sleep, be comfortable and have affection at this stage.


Stage 1


Stage 1Compromise Recycling After six months, Stage 1 is

significant

If we don’t get enough of what we need in this first stage, we may have difficulties focused on our right to exist.

When we reenter Being, we may stop doing things, stop thinking and simply exist. We may want to eat more frequently and sleep more. We may have difficulty concentrating; we seek recognition for simply being who we are and not for what we do. We may have heightened needs for touching and being touched and for renewing or developing close relationships with others

• When we are tired, hurt, vulnerable, ill or under stress.

• During periods of rapid change or growth.

• When suffering a personal loss.

• When taking care of an infant or when pregnant and

• In the beginning of a new process


Clues for returning to being• Feeling we have “run out of gas”

emotionally.• Questioning our adequacy, feeling helpless,

and questioning whether others can be trusted.

• Wanting others to know what we need without our asking; not knowing what we need; not needing anything; feeling numb.

• Believing others’ needs are more important.

• Not wanting to be touched, or compulsive touching, or joyless sexual touching.

• Unwillingness to disclose information about ourselves, especially negative information.

Summary of being stage

• Ego state : Natural Child.• Activity : Needs and feelings.• Functional Metaphor : Generator.• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Early Oral.• Needs : Feeding and stroking, immediate response to

crying signal. • Problem solving procedure : Peek –a – boo.• Games : NIGYSOB (Now I got you, you SOB), addict,

Chain smoker, Indigent. • Mechanism : Denial.• Injunctions : Don’t be, Don’t feel, Don’t have needs.

“Knowledge must come through action.”Sophocles


Stage 2• Stage : Doing.• Duration : 6 – 18 Months.• Activity - Here a child will want

to be active. They are exploring the world they live in with their hands, their eyes and mouths. As the child becomes more mobile she will need to stray away from her carer to test, through experience, where boundaries exist.


Stage 2


Stage 2Compromise Recycling After eighteen months,

Stage 2 is significant

If we are thwarted in our explorations during this stage by inconsistent care giving or overprotection, we may become perpetual explorers or we may be reluctant to enter into new situations.

When we reenter Doing, we may have a short attention span and have difficulty setting goals. Our need to be mobile and active becomes paramount. As in our first experience of this stage, our curiosity is heightened as well as our intuitiveness. We may recycle this stage by frequently changing homes, jobs and cars and by choosing action or adventure-type activities for leisure or vacation time. Or we may be scared to do any of these. We may not care about finishing tasks

• After being nurtured for awhile.

• In any new physical setting.

• As part of the creative process.

• As a prelude to establishing a new level of independence and

• When taking care of a toddler.


Clues for returning to Doing• “Doing” issues become prominent.• Not knowing when to initiate and when to

be inactive; reluctance to initiate.• Conflicts about whether to be goal-directed

or not have any goals for a while.• Boredom; seeking or developing new

motivations in life.• Avoiding doing things unless you can do

them perfectly.• Not knowing what you know.• Thinking it is okay not to be safe,

supported, protected.• Trouble finishing tasks

Summary of doing stage

• Ego state : Little Professor.• Activity : Behavior.• Functional Metaphor : Radar.• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Oral Exploratory.• Needs : Exploring and doing things, two yeses for every

no. • Problem solving procedure : You will never get away.• Games : Do me something, Cavalier, Sweetheart,

Harried. • Mechanism : Projection. • Injunctions : Don’t bother, Don’t initiate, Don’t do things.

“The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.”

Albert Einstein


Stage 3• Stage : Thinking.• Duration : 18 Months – 3 years.• Activity - During this stage a child

develops their thinking capacity. They will want to reason things out for themselves and make their own decisions. Our future ability to think depends on how we develop in this stage. An overly controlled child for instance, where adults make most decisions for them, may have difficulty in making decisions for themselves when they are older.


Stage 3


Stage 3Compromise Recycling After three years, Stage 3 is

significant

If we are not allowed to develop our thinking and problem solving skills, we may find it hard to form our own opinions or solve our own problems later in life. This distrust of our thinking is often expressed as “I don’t know.”

As in our first experience of this stage, our curiosity is heightened as well as our intuitiveness. We feel a need to establish a new level of independence and individuality—our separateness.

• When breaking out of a dependency relationship (with a lover, spouse, mentor, employer or friend).

• When learning new information.

• When developing a new personal position or taking a stand.

• When changing agreements and

• When parenting a toddler.


Clues for returning to Thinking• Feeling angry about everything in general;

inappropriate rebelliousness (chip on shoulder).

• Fear of anger in self and others; indirect expressions of anger through behaviours.

• Wanting to establish what is “mine” and what is “yours.”

• Lots of questions about separateness, responsibility and thinking (especially resistance, contrariness, forgetfulness, discounting/accounting, stubbornness, procrastination and greed).

• Rather be right than successful.• Think the world revolves around us.• Scared to say yes or no without thinking.

Summary of Thinking stage

• Ego state : Adult.• Activity : Thinking.• Functional Metaphor : Computer.• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Anal.• Needs : Time and information, reasons, limits, affection. • Problem solving procedure : Try and make me.• Games : Schlemiel, Stupid, balance sheet. • Mechanism : Discounting. • Injunctions : Don’t think, Don’t have needs separate

from me.

“Talks of mysteries! Think of our life in nature...

Who are we?” Thoreau


Stage 4• Stage : Identity.• Duration : 3 – 6 years.• Activity - Here children make the

decisions as to what sort of person they will be. The grownups they come into contact with both in real life and in fiction offer them a range of role models to choose from. Using the limited resources we have at this age we write a fitting story. A story that will enable us to survive the environment and culture we find ourselves in. By the time we are six we have written our script, the story line we will try to fit our life to.


Stage 4


Stage 4Compromise Recycling After six years, Stage 4 is

significant

Without appropriate guidance and support at this stage, we may grow up to be unsure of our role in life, or with rigid views that limit our potential development.

Returning to this identity stage brings up questions and issues related to power and gender: potency and impotency, magic, creating or destroying, hurting and healing. Adults recycling this stage may change their appearance, lifestyle or work

• After renegotiating a social contract;

• When carrying out a new role;

• When seeking a new relationship to family, job, or culture; and

• When caring for preschool children.


Clues for returning to identity• Having to be in a position of power; being afraid

of or reluctant to use power.

• Unsure of personal adequacy.

• Frequently comparing oneself to others and

needing to come off better.

• Identity confusion—needing to define oneself

by a job or a relationship.

• Feeling driven to achieve.

• Overuse of outlandish dress or behaviour.

• Wanting or expecting magical solutions or

effects.

Summary of identity stage

• Ego state : Super natural child.• Activity : Transforming energy.• Functional Metaphor : Transformer.• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Genital.• Needs : Adequate external supply lines maintained while

testing power. • Problem solving procedure : Let’s pretend.• Games : Mine is bigger than yours, lets you and him fight. • Mechanism : Conversion. • Injunctions : Eat your heart our, Don’t be sane, Don’t be

powerful.

“For all things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by

doing them.” Aristotle


Stage5• Stage : Skills.• Duration : 6 – 12 years.• Activity - During this period a child will be

developing the skills they think they will need in life and that fit their identity. From grownups in our life we gain options as to how we will structure our world. The decisions made in this stage are based on the decisions made in the early stage and so the skills and structure they develop are the ones the child sees relevant for their identity. Observing children at this stage we notice that at times they are alternatively helpful and compliant and at others testing. In fact they are testing their identity against the structures in their life to prove the validity of their decisions.


Stage5


Stage 5Compromise Recycling After twelve years, Stage 5

is significant

Failure to acquire significant skills or values will limit us as adults. For example, lack of a family structure, or clear family values, or good role models.

Returning to this stage is about updating internal structures, questioning, and relearning how to do things. We explore new values, ideas and behaviours. We may try on new social roles as we let go of old ones; making mistakes and feeling awkward or clumsy is part of this. We may seek contact with people outside our usual circle of family or friends: peer groups and same sex relationships are major themes. We are concerned with defining reality, dealing with authority, arguing and judging, and rethinking what is appropriate for our gender.

• After updating our identity.

• When learning new skills.

• When changing cultures and

• When caring for a six to twelve-year-old.


Clues for returning to Skills• Needing to be part of a “gang” or group—or

only functioning well as a loner.• Needing to be king or queen of the hill.• Not understanding the relevance of rules;

not understanding the freedom that rules can bestow.

• Unwillingness to examine personal values or morals.

• Trusting the thinking of the group more than one’s own thinking and intuition.

• Expecting to have to do things without knowing how, finding out, or being taught how.

• Being reluctant to learn new things or be productive.

Summary of Skill stage

• Ego state : Parent.• Activity : Structuring, developing skills.• Functional Metaphor : Regulator.• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Latency.• Needs : Experience in doing things, independence. • Problem solving procedure : Dress up.• Games : Court room, Aint it awful, Blemish. • Mechanism : Exclusion. • Injunctions : Don’t think, Just do it, Don’t structure.

“The omnipresent process of sex, as it is woven into the whole texture of a man’s or woman’s body, is the pattern of all the

process of our lives.”Havelock Ellis


Stage6 • Stage : Regeneration .• Duration : 12 – 18 years.• Activity - Here the young person will

recycle through all the previous stages again, only this time they go at twice the speed. So there will be a new period of 'being' aged 13, when they will spend time resting, eating and thinking about sex. This is followed by a further period of 'doing' where our young person has the opportunity to re-explore the world with a better understanding of her environment. At about 14 our developing adult revisits the stage of 'thinking'. Here previous decisions are reviewed and revised. So in the ensuing stage of 'identity' the early decision about who we will be are updated in order to fit in with the grownup world we now know better. This is followed by a further period of 'skill' development. In a way making sense of and structuring the world as we experience it, so as to prepare for our 'friendly divorce' from our carers.


Stage6


Stage 6Compromise Recycling After eighteen years, Stage

6 is significant

Failure to achieve this integration will leave us somewhat fragmented, as if somehow we have not quite finished growing up

As grownups revisit Stage 6 we explore many of the same themes: sex and its importance and integration into our lives, how our relationships fit with and support our adult identities and values, our personal philosophies and positions, and how we relate to the world. We may also have higher sleep needs, explore music and drugs, experiment sexually, or speak of “acting like a teenager.” We may break out of mentor relationships and enjoy the freedom of standing on our own.

• After developing new morals or skills.

• When preparing to leave a relationship, job, home or locality.

• When ending any process and

• When parenting teenagers.


Clues for returning to Regeneration• Preoccupation with sex, body, clothes,

appearance, friends or our sex role.• Unsure of our own values; vulnerable to

peer pressure.• Problems with starting and ending jobs,

roles and relationships.• Overdependence on or alienation from

family and others.• Irresponsibility; difficulty making and

keeping commitments.• Looking to others for a definition of who

we are.• Confusion between sex and nurturing.• Unsure of maleness, femaleness or

lovableness.

Summary of Regeneration stage

• Ego state : Recycling through previous stages.• Activity : Unifying previous activities. • Functional Metaphor : Integrator.• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Puberty.• Needs : Work through previous unresolved

problems. • Problem solving procedure : Primary game from

each previous stage exaggerated.• Mechanism : Unification. • Injunctions : Don’t make it, Don’t growup.

The wheel has come full circle. Shakespeare


Stage 7• Stage : Recycling.• Duration : Rest of our lives.• Activity - During our 18th year we begin our

second cycle in this spiral of development. We then continue to re-visit these stages through the rest of our lives. You can, for instance, work out what stage you are currently at by dividing your age by 19 and comparing the remainder to the age and related stages of development described above. For example, if you were 43, this is how you would work out which stage you were currently recycling; 43 divided by 19 = 2 remainder 5. Five years puts you at the end of the identity stage and about to start the skills stage.


Clues for returning to Recycling• Any or all of the clues relating to Stages 1

through 6.• Overdependence; fear of dependence, or being

independent to the exclusion of interdependence.

• Difficulty making and keeping commitments.• Role inflexibility.• Fear of growing old.• Unwillingness to say hello and good-bye;

unwillingness to grieve and then move on with life.

• Living in the past; living in the future.• Living through others.• Not knowing or getting what you need.• Denial and discounting.


Stage 8• Stage : Towards death.• Duration : Last part of our lives.

• Activity - Dying is part of living and this stage of life could properly be called “Living Until You Die.” No matter what our circumstances, this can be a time of being in charge in a new way. We can be in charge of how we see ourselves and the world. We can be in charge of what we make of every day, to the greatest degree we are able. We sum up what we have learned from life’s experiences. We sharpen our observations and come to accept life as it is without thinking it must be changed to suit us. We prepare to relinquish certain responsibilities to those we have mentored. We understand that just about everything has a light and a dark side.


Stage 8Stages and Key characteristics]

Developmental tasks Affirmations

DeathLast part of our lives

• To prepare for death• To explore connections with

humankind and connections with a higher power.

• To adjust to and grieve the loss of any physical and mental capabilities.

• To be willing to share our wisdom

• To refine the arts of greeting, leaving and grieving.

• You can grow your whole life through.

• You can make your preparations for leaving and die when you are ready.

• You can celebrate the gifts you have received and the gifts you have given.

• You can share your wisdom in your way.

Spirals within spirals

• Pamela Levin suggests that when we encounter any change in our life, at whichever point we are within our own spiral we start a new one. The new one is a small cycle taking place within our larger life one. This spiral may last seconds, minutes, hours or years. How we have completed the developmental stages in our earlier life will affect the way we manage this smaller spiral around these particular changes or transitions in our life. It is as if our life spiral is a river flowing swiftly through a landscape of life. Change acts like boulders or snags in the flow. As the waters reach the snag eddies and ripples breakout across the smooth flow.

Competence Curve


Stage 1• Stage : Being.• Competence : Immobilization• Activity - During a change there will be a

period where we feel "frozen" or "locked up"; for a while we are almost in a state of shock, unable or unwilling to make decisions. In a change like having a new job we may just want to be - to sit at our desk or just be around work colleagues. This would be a time to consider past successes. It might be useful to spend some time pampering ourselves doing things where we can just be. It is useful to plan ways to look after yourself.


Stage 2• Stage : Doing.• Competence : Denial.• Activity - During this stage we may appear to be

very active as we look to be busily occupied doing things. In a new job we may find that we do what we used to do. We fall back on the old and tried and tested techniques that worked in the past. If things have changed however, these activities are likely to be unhelpful or unnecessary or even unwanted in the new situation we are in. We might feel better because we are active and doing something. Our managers, on the other hand, may experience frustration as it appears that we are not doing the job that we were taken on for. During this stage it is useful to have someone that we trust who will give us feedback on our behaviour, to help us grasp the new reality we are in and yet at the same time understanding the need to be active.


Stage 3• Stage : Thinking.• Competence : Frustration.• Activity - Eventually it dawns on us that

what we are doing is not actually what is required. This is a period where, through feedback or our own insights, we stop denying the change and its effect. We start to question our abilities and so appear less confident and less competent, and this is how we feel too. Things are just not working out and so there is a feeling of frustration. At this stage we are thinking about the change. During this stage it is useful to recognise that we may feel angry and make arrangements in our life to let off steam safely.


Stage 4• Stage : Identity.• Competence : Acceptance.• Activity - The identity stage would

suggest that here we are becoming clear about our new role. It is the period where we discover how we should be in order to fit in with the new circumstances we find ourselves in. In the new job, for example, we are discovering our role and understanding better what is expected of us and what we expect of ourselves. It is helpful now to look back at where we were least effective in the past in order to decide how to develop in the future.


Stage5• Stage : Skills.• Competence : Development.• Activity - Now we are ready to learn

to cope with the new situation and make sense of our new identity, or our new identification with our part in our new situation. Everything is in place for us to start a learning curve and to develop. In the example of a job we would start thinking about courses and plan to develop learning activities that would develop skills and knowledge to do the job that we are in. Now is the time for managers to help the worker make these learning plans, planning not just for courses but other activities that will promote development.


Stage6 • Stage : Integration.• Competence : Application.• Activity - Here we apply our skills in the

new situation appropriately. We feel more engaged and confident, and it is a time when we can usefully use previous behaviour, knowledge and skills integrated and compatible with our new identity. In the work setting we will be seen to have "got the job under our belt". We would be able to incorporate old skills and knowledge in a way that is congruent with the new expectations of us. During this stage it is helpful to review `old` skills and review what worked in the past whilst asking the question; is this appropriate here and now?


Stage 7• Stage : Recycling.• Competence : Completion.• Activity - At this stage we are

completely at ease with the new situation. It is almost as if there has not been a change. In the work setting we feel on top of the job and may be looking for fresh challenges, either by expanding our present job or by looking for a new one. At this stage do congratulate yourself for having completed the transition.

Physis

• The spiral of development is a metaphor to describe a complex system and like all metaphors fails in its description when pushed too far. Having said this I would like to suggest that recycling should not be seen as going round in circles, rather the spiral should be seen as moving upward, powered by the life force we all have to continue developing. Eric Berne called this life force Physis (1971).

References

Prepared by

Manu Melwin JoyResearch Scholar

SMS, CUSAT, KeralaPhone – 9744551114

Mail – [email protected]

cycles of developement - pamela levin - transactional analysis

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cycles of development

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