Check out some of Erik Erikson’s main phrases in this article. He worked as a teacher and, after meeting Anna Freud, began his studies at the Vienna Analytical Institute and specialized in child psychoanalysis.
One of his great works was the theory of psychosocial development, which was based on the stages of psychosexual development proposed by Sigmund Freud.
- For this reason he is also known as a Freudian psychologist.
- Although this article does not really deal with this issue.
- And therefore we will not go into further details.
- Below we share some of Erik Erikson’s phrases that deserve to be known.
The studies carried out by Erik Erikson were of great importance. In addition, the phrases he left us reflect his passion for his work as a teacher and child psychoanalyst. They also reflect the way he thinks. Next, we’ll look at some and think about them.
“Healthy children will not fear life if their role models have enough integrity not to fear death. “
This first of Erik Erikson’s famous phrases refers to one very important aspect: fears.
Just as the educational model applied by parents will have a positive or negative impact on their children, so will the fears that parents may eventually have and that are inevitably perceived by the little ones.
That is why it is so important to face one’s own fears rather than trying to hide or run away from them, what is worse still is to hide them from our own children, who will eventually assume these fears as their own since their ability to manage them is even less than ours.
“The child becomes an adult not when he realizes that he has the right to be right, but when he realizes that he also has the right to make a mistake. “
This phrase reflects a great teaching that Erik Erikson tries to convey to us: knowing how to lose and win, throughout our growth we realize that when we succeed, the people around us welcome us, when we fail, some of them turn their backs on us or even the famous “I told you so”.
This happens to many children when they can’t do something unans helpless, for example, or when their parents’ favorite sport is one they can’t be the best at.
Looking at children with kindness and good heart is one of the attitudes that will make them more stable.
“It takes a long time to educate our children to become good people. We have to create them, and that means doing things with them. Asking, counting, polling, experimenting, promoting experiences, explaining in your own words, showing your father’s form, learning to be there, and making sure your children learn from him, understand why.
Erik erikson’s third sentence addresses a fundamental issue in children: the responsibility of parents when they educate their children. Education requires attention, being there, playing and living experiences with them.
If we are absent parents our children will not learn from us and we will not be able to demand anything from them, if we do not do things with them, if we do not experience them, they will never be able to internalize what we. Wait.
Words are useless if they are not accompanied by attitudes and behaviors. Children need their parents to be present, someone to watch and inspire them.
“As it continues to develop, your behavior will be affected. “
We never stop growing, because every step of our lives is a new path, in many cases, while we enjoy childhood, adolescence suddenly comes to force us to change, this is reflected in the way we behave and also in the way we build ourselves. , who we really are.
While changes tend to generate fear, they actually allow us to grow; Moreover, we cannot face change, because experiences mark us and change through them, all this enriches the soul.
“Children cannot be deceived with empty praise and condescending stimuli. They may have to accept them to artificially increase their self-esteem, in the absence of anything better. But what I call a growing identity derives its real strength only from the sincere and conscious recognition of real success, that is, that success must have a meaning for culture?
The fifth of Erik Erikson’s famous phrases speaks of empty praise. Okay, we tell the children in almost every circumstance and that, because of their frequency, they end up useless.
The problem with this kind of praise is that children can do anything to get them, minimizing real motivation: doing things right and with a lot of dedication.
This can be a great frustration when these compliments, which are easy to get within the family, do not appear elsewhere, such as at work or among classmates, it is good to congratulate, but according to Erik Erikson this should be done with caution .
“Teenagers need freedom of choice, but not so much freedom that they ultimately don’t know how to choose. “
Erik Erikson’s sentence is very revealing, in fact, if limits and certain prohibitions are necessary, young people also need freedom of choice.
Erik Erikson talks about a balance between the limit and freedom. After all, any excess is negative and too much freedom can prevent teens from learning to choose, which is critical.
“In the social context of human existence, there is no sense of being alive without a sense of identity. “
This is the last of Erik Erikson’s sentences, and mentions that identity has been gradually built since we were little; insecurity, in this sense, shapes the feeling of being lost that we have all experienced at some point in our lives.
For example, according to psychologist Miguel Molla, young people who have deep doubts about their identity are more vulnerable and more likely to become addicted.
Erik Erikson continued to write and research even after his retirement, until then he has demonstrated his passion for what he does, something that is reflected in each of the phrases we chose here, they all teach us something we may not have known.
Which of these quotes from Erik Erikson did you like best?