According to Mahler, separation is defined as:
Allowing differentiation between oneself and others,
Individuation is defined as allowing the differentiated self to be who and what it is.
Segregation and individuation are two developmental processes that complement each other. Dissociation indicates the child's exit from the symbiotic union with the mother. Individualization refers to the achievements that enable the child to assume his/her own distinctive
individual characteristics. Biological
Birth and psychological birth do not coincide in the human baby.
Psychological Birth is defined as becoming a separate individual and gaining its own identity.
The baby unites itself with the mother. Starting to feel its difference after perceiving it as a whole
and the initial knowledge that it is a separate entity are the basis for later developing a consistent and solid
personality.
Mahler and His Friends Listed the Steps of Normal Development as follows
Normal autistic period (1st month of life)
Symbiotic period (2-5 months)
>Separation-individuation period
Separation sub-period (5-9th months)
Acclimation sub-period (9-15th months)
a) Early adaptation sub-period
b) Main acclimation sub-period
Re-approach sub-period (15-24th months)
a) Beginning of re-approach
b) Reapproach crisis
c) Individual solutions to the crisis
Consolidation of individuality and the beginning of emotional object permanence (24-36. months and beyond)
NORMAL AUTISTIC PERIOD
It is the first month of life. The main function of this period is to ensure the homeostatic balance of the organism in postnatal conditions. He does not perceive anything outside his own body. It lives on a completely instinctual basis
.
NORMAL SYMBIOTIC PERIOD
(2nd - 5th months)
This period lasts from the second month to the fifth month. “I” and “not-me” have not yet been differentiated.
Over time, the child begins to distinguish between what is “pleasurable” and “good” and what is “painful” and “bad.” With the realization that satisfaction
and pleasurable experiences come from outside the body, the autistic period
The transition to the symbiotic period begins. Thanks to the mother's care, awareness of the outside world gradually increases. During this period, the baby's attention is directed to the outside world from time to time, but it is more concentrated around the mother and things related to the mother. The most important feature of the symbiotic period is the ability to create an emotional bond with the mother in a "dual unity"
(dual unity).
This is the ability that lays the groundwork for all human relationships. A satisfactory symbiotic period is the prerequisite for successful separation from the mother during the subsequent separation-individuation period.
A sufficient level of symbiosis means taking the steps of individuation and a balanced "sense of identity"
p>
It is extremely important to win.
III. SEPARATION-INDIVIDUALIZATION PERIOD
Differentiation Sub-period
It is the period between the fifth and ninth months.
One of the most important behavioral manifestations is the close and distant It is scanning the environment through perception.
Putting the mother's hair, ears and nose, stretching backwards and looking at the mother while being held,
Also watching the environment beyond the mother are common behaviors. Scanning the environment behavior
helps the baby distinguish between its own body and the mother's body.
In the sixth and seventh months, the investigation of inanimate objects on the mother's body by touching and looking begins.
In the seventh and eighth months, it is observed that physical separation attempts begin with behaviors such as pushing oneself away from the mother, getting up from the mother's lap and going down to the ground to play at her feet
The baby is no longer in complete dependence. He actively gets pleasure by using his own body, and he also actively turns to the outside world for pleasure and stimulation. When the baby becomes individualized enough to notice and recognize its mother's face, it begins to investigate other people's faces visually and tactilely
and reacts to strangers.
The mother during the symbiotic period. Babies who have a good, solid relationship with , mostly enjoy examining strangers
.
To summarize; In this first period of separation-individuation, babies take physical steps away from their mother's arms for the first time
s. However, on the other hand, they take care to be at the mother's knees as much as possible
.
Exercise Subperiod (9th-15th months)
It is between the ninth and fifteenth months. . It is divided into two: early practice sub-period and main practice sub-period
. During the early acclimatization sub-period, the first signs of the child's ability to physically move away from the mother, such as crawling, standing, climbing, trying to walk by holding on, are observed. In the main exercise sub-period, walking freely on two legs began.
In order to take the first steps towards separation and realizing one's individuality, at least three interrelated
development is necessary:
1- Body differentiation, especially the formation of the sense of boundary
2- Establishing a special bond with the mother
3- Maturation and functioning of the autonomous ego apparatus in closeness with the mother
The practice sub-period depends on the attitude of the mother. Some mothers encourage exercise, independence, and
autonomy. Some people block it. They prefer to maintain a close symbiotic relationship
or force the child to do something beyond his or her capacity. If the conditions are favorable, new
sensory experiences become delicious experiences and enable the child to progress.
Reapproach Sub-period
It is between the fifteenth and twenty-fourth months. . Mahler et al. (1975), based on the data they obtained
, deemed it appropriate to examine this sub-period in three parts:
1- The beginning of re-approach
2- Re-approach crisis
3- Individual solutions to the crisis (as a result, the child's unique patterns and personality
characteristics are formed, and the child enters the fourth sub-importance with these).
Fifteenth month Around this time, the child's approach to the mother is no longer "it's okay anyway"
. The child becomes more aware of his own separateness as he can move freely on two legs and begins to think in symbols.
Desire to share newly acquired skills and experiences with the mother, need for love and constant concern for the mother's whereabouts
It is evident.
In this sub-period, the child begins to see sexual differences, the child becomes aware of his own body.
The child gradually begins to see his body as his own property. The child gradually realizes that his mother's
wants do not always coincide with his own, and that he often conflicts with his mother.
He resists this because the feeling of being separated from his mother is painful. wants to put it. He is caught between the desire to stay with his mother
and the compulsion to move away from her, and between the desire to please the mother and the anger directed at her
. This anger arises, on the one hand, due to jealousy and desire to possess, which are the characteristics of the anal period,
and, on the other hand, due to the reaction to anatomical and sexual differences, especially in girls.
From time to time, there is obvious ambivalence towards the mother and hostility is observed. This situation leads to a certain crisis, with the child's clinging, sometimes running away attitude towards the mother.
When extreme, these behaviors are a sign of danger. Three main fears that stand out in early developmental periods are gathered together in this sub-period:
1. Fear of losing the object,
2. Fear of losing the object's love and
3. Castration anxiety.
In this period, the mother should not withdraw or react harshly to the child's ambivalence,
she should be emotionally available and consistent in her behavior, and at the same time, she should encourage the child towards independence
It is especially important to gently push. In addition, the relationship with the father becomes as important as the mother's emotional availability
.
The father, as an object of love from very early periods, is in a completely different category than the mother
gets. For the child, the father has more external realities and successful autonomous functioning.
Whereas, the mother functions as a restriction and obstruction or a source of comfort.
The child's ambivalence and regressive tendencies are especially associated with the mother. is related. The father, on the other hand, is perceived as a strong, separate from the mother, and a helpful supporter. It softens the ambivalence in the father-mother-child relationship and enables the child to fight against regressive tendencies by encouraging autonomous development. Dissolving the ambivalent bond with the mother and achieving individuality A satisfying relationship with the father is of great importance to him. Resolving the reapproach crisis is also important for the approval and development of self-esteem and self-continuity.
D. Consolidation of Individuality and the Beginning of Emotional Object Continuity
This sub-period, which takes place between the twenty-fourth and thirty-sixth months and beyond, has two main goals in terms of separation-individuation
:
1- Some Acquiring the quality of being a certain individual with life-long characteristics in various aspects
2- Acquiring object permanence to a certain degree
In this period, three-year-old children go to kindergarten. is ready to go. Complex cognitive functions such as verbal communication, daydreaming, and reality
evaluation emerge.
Repetitive mild or moderate oppositionism (negativism) is one of the characteristics of this period and identity
>It seems to be necessary for the development of emotion.
If an environment of basic trust is not provided, they continue their lives with an ego that does not fully know their own limits in adulthood
.
- They have an emotional identity of their own. It cannot produce space, it cannot become subjectivized,
-It always remains dependent on others to create itself.
-It always establishes its existence either 'according' to the other or 'despite' the other.
-Instead of seeing others as different individuals on their own, they are either 'good people' with whom they have dependent style relationships that make them happy, or enemies or 'bad people' that deprive themselves of happiness
He sees himself as a person.
-Develops either love or hate relationships with others
-Strong attachments and feelings of belonging for those who have not achieved separation and individualization
vital is important.
-A person who cannot be individualized can only exist in a dependent relationship.
Read: 0
