Music and Psychology

"Human personality in principle develops according to steps predetermined in the growing person's readiness to be driven toward, to be aware of and to interact with a widening social radius"(Erik Erikson).

How does an individual know when they have found their “true” self? How can one understand the many stages of learning? It took one man by the name of Erik Erikson to explain the psychological development that we, as human beings, undertake. Under Erikson’s theory, a person has to move through stages of development to meet your specific needs at that time. There are eight stages that individuals travel though as they grow older and in order to move on the next stage, one needs to be psychologically ready.

Erik Erikson was born in 1902 to Danish parents who had separated before his birth. His mother and the German pediatrician she had married, raised Erikson near Frankfort, Germany. In school Erikson’s main interests were history, art, and many different languages rather than the science courses. In his eagerness to be on his own, Erikson decided against college and happily traveled around Europe. About a year later, Erikson settled back in Germany where he began engaging in art classes. Several years later he began teaching art and other subjects to American children who had arrived in Vienna to study Freud’s theories of psychology. Anna, Sigmund Freud’s daughter, had created a school for analyzing the growing minds of children. Along with Anna Freud, Erikson continued work in Vienna for six years.

In 1933 Erikson and his wife moved to the United States and set up a practice, becoming one of the first child analysts in the Boston area.

Erikson spent his years researching and studying under the idea of Sigmund Freud’s theories. Erikson acknowledged the basics of Freud’s ideas, however, he believed that Freud underestimated the magnitude of human development. Erikson believed that an individual develops throughout their lifetime, while Freud said that a human’s personality is shape by the age of five. Erikson developed eight stages that humans encounter during their lives. He shows how as person grows older they must endure more challenging crises in order to mature.

Ages 0-1…Stage One: “Is my world predictable and supportive?” In stage one the infant must surmount the crisis of Trust vs. Mistrust. In the early stages of life, infants depend on their parents and surrounding adults for nourishment, love, and warmth. They must be able to trust