“My Teenager Years- Struggling with My Identity and Codependency” (age 13-19)
Erik Erikson characterized adolescence as a critical period in forming an identity and proposed that adolescents experience the conflict of identity versus role confusion (Zunker, 2016; Sigelman & Rider, 2015). So, what is an identity and how does it form? Identity refers to who you are and where you fit into society. The search for finding your own identity involves many factors and questions that we all look at in our life. According to Erikson, our society supports youths by allowing them a moratorium period, which means a time during youth when they are free of responsibilities and can experiment with different roles (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). James Marcia expanded …show more content…
It was important for me to realize that these things did happen to me and they were part of my story/development. These lessons have been very painful for me to go through, but they have made me a stronger person for it. People say time heals everything and I believe this to be true. For me learning how to let go of the past and move forward has not always been easy. I had to learn that my path is not a straight line; it’s more of a spiral meaning that I can come back to things in my life if I need to. This is something that I have struggled with for a very long time, but as time has helped me to realize it is okay to go back and forth if I need to. Sometimes you do not learn the lesson fully the first time and it takes a little more to become aware of your situation and move …show more content…
My life themes included attachment formation, relationship formation, identity formation, and learning more about adulthood. Without these factors, I would not be the person I am today. I do not dwell on anything from the past, but I do believe that when I am a parent, I will handle many things differently with my own children. Again, I would not be on the path that I am today without all my experiences so I would not want to change anything from the past. I do not blame my parents, but I am moving forward and trying to better myself now on a personal and professional level. Things happen in life, whether they are good or bad experiences it is up to us to decide and it is also up to us to make the changes we want to see in any aspect of our lives. We all can create/recreate parts of ourselves if we want to and this is okay. Ultimately, life is a developmental process and we should embrace making positive changes for our life stories and
Erik Erikson characterized adolescence as a critical period in forming an identity and proposed that adolescents experience the conflict of identity versus role confusion (Zunker, 2016; Sigelman & Rider, 2015). So, what is an identity and how does it form? Identity refers to who you are and where you fit into society. The search for finding your own identity involves many factors and questions that we all look at in our life. According to Erikson, our society supports youths by allowing them a moratorium period, which means a time during youth when they are free of responsibilities and can experiment with different roles (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). James Marcia expanded …show more content…
It was important for me to realize that these things did happen to me and they were part of my story/development. These lessons have been very painful for me to go through, but they have made me a stronger person for it. People say time heals everything and I believe this to be true. For me learning how to let go of the past and move forward has not always been easy. I had to learn that my path is not a straight line; it’s more of a spiral meaning that I can come back to things in my life if I need to. This is something that I have struggled with for a very long time, but as time has helped me to realize it is okay to go back and forth if I need to. Sometimes you do not learn the lesson fully the first time and it takes a little more to become aware of your situation and move …show more content…
My life themes included attachment formation, relationship formation, identity formation, and learning more about adulthood. Without these factors, I would not be the person I am today. I do not dwell on anything from the past, but I do believe that when I am a parent, I will handle many things differently with my own children. Again, I would not be on the path that I am today without all my experiences so I would not want to change anything from the past. I do not blame my parents, but I am moving forward and trying to better myself now on a personal and professional level. Things happen in life, whether they are good or bad experiences it is up to us to decide and it is also up to us to make the changes we want to see in any aspect of our lives. We all can create/recreate parts of ourselves if we want to and this is okay. Ultimately, life is a developmental process and we should embrace making positive changes for our life stories and