Eric Erickson did much to help us understand the specific problems and challenges that face us at different stages in our life, whether it be early childhood, adolescence, middle adulthood, or older adulthood.
Often people get “stuck” and are unable to move beyond their current position. Helping them to do so is an important part of my work, for it is in progressing through the demands of the various stages in our life that we are ultimately able to achieve true wisdom.
Change and Growth
The immediate concerns of an adolescent are obviously much different than those of an older adult. Nonetheless, all life stages pose issues that need to be resolved to move forward. Change and growth are required at each step. In many cases. clients are resistant to taking the risks that may be required to grow. It is in framing the problems that they face in a way that they can see a path through them that is crucial to helping then get out of stuck places. In that regard, Motivational Interviewing is a particularly useful strategy to help clients overcome the barriers to change.
At each step along the way, people may be at different points in terms of their willingness to make the required changes. Recognizing where the clients are with respect to their commitment to change and helping them to address their fears and reluctance to take action helps open the door for further growth.