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CYCLES OF DEVELOPMENT

This training hand-out describes two linked theories that explore the stages or phases people pass through when experiencing change. In the first theory these stages are related to developmental stages we accomplish on our journey from birth to becoming an adult (Levin 1974). To explore this idea further it is useful to briefly identify these developmental stages before examining the relation between developmental stages and experience of change. STAGE 1: BEING - 0-6 MONTHS Being involves just experiencing the world. A baby will need to eat, drink, sleep, be comfortable and have affection at this stage. B e in g R e c y c lin g D o in g T h in k in g In te g ra tio n

Id e n tity

S k ills

Figure 1 Cycles of Development STAGE 2: DOING - 6 MONTHS - 18 MONTHS 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 3: THINKING - 18 MONTHS - 3 YEARS During this stage a child develops their thinking capacity. They will want to reason things out for themselves and make their own decisions. Decisions like what clothes to wear, whether they want to go out with you, what time they want to go to bed and so on. Unsurprisingly parents often refer to this stage of development as the "terrible 2's". 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 4: IDENTITY - 3 YEARS - 6 YEARS 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. Will we be frivolous or serious, sensitive or tough? Will we be the cop, the robber, the hero, the heroine, the rescuer, and so on? By the time we are six we have written our script, the story line we will try to fit our life to. STAGE 5: SKILLS - 6-12 YEARS 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. STAGE 6: INTEGRATION - 12-18 YEARS This stage has also been descriptively called; 'Identity, Sexuality and Separation' (Clarke 1987). 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 (Levin 1974). STAGE 7: RECYCLING - THE REST OF OUR LIVES 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. One factor obscures the veracity of the stage we are currently recycling and that is the affects that change has on our feelings, thoughts and behaviour. 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. This depicted in figure 2.

Figure 2 Spirals within our life spiral are caused by change. CHANGE AND THE COMPETENCE CURVE For a long time now it has been recognised that during any change people go through certain stages. These stages, as they progress over time, change the way we are seen by others and how we feel about ourselves. These stages can be plotted on a graph known as the Change or Competence Curve. This is how the stages in the competence curve are matched against stages in the developmental cycle (Hay 1992).

Completion/ recycling Application/ integration Denial/doing Frustration/ thinking Immobilisation/ being Change Development/ skills Acceptance/ identity

IMMOBILISATION/BEING 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.

Competence/ esteem

Time

Figure 3 change curve linked with cycles of development

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. DENIAL/DOING 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. FRUSTRATION/THINKING 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. ACCEPTANCE/IDENTITY 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. DEVELOPMENT/SKILLS 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. APPLICATION/INTEGRATION 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? COMPLETION/RECYCLING 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. LAST WORDS 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) Bill Heasman References and Sources Julie Hay, Transactional Analysis for Trainers - Sherwood 1992 Pamela Levin, Becoming The Way We Are, Health Communications 1974 Pamela Levin - Cycles of Power: A User's Guide to the Seven Seasons of Life, Health Communications 1988 John Adams, Barry Hopson et al - Transitions: Understanding & Managing Personal Change, Martin Robertson, 1976 Jean Illsey-Clarke and Connie Dawson, Growing Up Again, Hazelden, 1989 Eric Berne, A layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis, Penguin, 1971 cycles3.sam/091195KL.BH revised 18.10.00
Physis

Fig ure 4 cycles of d evelopm ent seen from side elevation

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