MAHLER'S PHASES OF

NORMAL DEVELOPMENT

MAHLER'S PHASES OF NORMAL

DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPED BY MARGARET MAHLER (1897 - 1985)

Normal Autism
Normal Symbiosis
Separationindividuation phase

Differentiation
Early Practicing
Practicing
Rapprochement
Beginnings of Object Constancy

NORMAL AUTISM
This stage occurs from birth to 1 month of age. During his
stage, the baby focuses on their inner physiological state.

This is a time where the baby is primarily concerned with its

own needs such as hunger and sleep.

NORMAL SYMBIOSIS
This stage occurs from one month to five months of age.
At this point, the baby responds more to outside stimuli but is
under the illusion that he/she and the mother are one. (No
sense of individuality)

This response is typically noted in the development of the

social smile.

SEPARATIONINDIVIDUATION PHASE
The arrival of this phase marks the end of the Normal
Symbiotic Phase

Separation refers to the development of limits, the

differentiation between the infant and the mother,

Individuation refers to the development of the infant's ego,

sense of identity, and cognitive abilities.

DIFFERENTIATION
This stage occurs from five months to nine months of age.
It is at this stage where the baby begins to have the ability to
separate themselves from the mother.

Mahler refers to this as the baby having "hatched / "Rupture

of the shell.

EARLY PRACTICING
This stage occurs from nine months to twelve months of age.
The baby continues to develop its ability to separate
themselves from the mother, using the mother as a base to
explore.

Increased alertness and interest for the outside world.

PRACTICING
This stage occurs from 12 months to 15 months of age. This
is an extension of the Early Practicing phase.

The infant begins to explore actively and becomes more

distant from the mother.

RAPPROCHEMENT
This stage occurs from fifteen months to twenty-four months
of age. The baby realizes he/she needs his/her mother after
all (becomes close to the mother), but still seeks
independence.

This can prove to be a difficult time for the mother, requiring

a great deal of patience with the child.

The child realizes that his physical mobility demonstrates

psychic separateness from his mother.

RAPPROCHEMENT (SUB PHASES)

Beginning Motivated by a desire to share discoveries with
the mother.

Crisis Between staying with the mother, being emotionally

close and being more independent and exploring.

Solution Individual solutions are enabled by the

development of language and the superego.

BEGINNINGS OF OBJECT CONSTANCY

This stage occurs from twenty-four months to thirty months of age.
The phase when the child understands that the mother has a separate
identity and is truly a separate individual.

The baby reaches a balance of the need for independence and the
need for the mother.

This is achieved through emotional object constancy in which the baby

is able to recall a positive internal image of the mother at will.

This leads to the formation of internalization,