The cycles of development theory was developed by Pamela Levin and is a model of how we grow up.
Psychology
Child development
Sex
Motivation
Personality
Success
Happy living
Well being
Personal growth
2. Prepared By
Manu Melwin Joy
Research Scholar
School of Management Studies
CUSAT, Kerala, India.
Phone – 9744551114
Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com
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3. Content – Part 1
• Introduction.
• Analogy – Tree and Stack of pennies.
• Assumptions.
• Affirmations
6. Pamela Levin
The cycles of
development theory
was developed by
Pamela Levin (1974;
1980) and is a model
of how we grow up.
7. Introduction
• As we move through life from birth to
death, we respond to an internal
developmental clock or organizational
pattern that prescribes the tasks and
skills we need to learn.
• Pam Levin describes these shared
patterns of growth as part of the
“primitive forms we carry deep in our
ancestral memory.”
• Jean Illsley Clarke describes these
developmental stages as “describable
segments in growing up.”
• The overarching task in each stage is to
find or create an age-appropriate
answer to each of four questions: Who
am I? Who are you? Who am I in
relation to others? How do I get what I
need?
8. Tree analogy
• One way to think about these ideas is
to visualize a tree.
• A rare few of us are able to get all that
we need in each of the first six
developmental stages so that we grow
straight and tall. Most of us don’t grow
up that way, however.
• When we don’t get what we need at
each stage, or we aren’t able to
accomplish the stage-appropriate
developmental tasks, we end up with
holes or knots or bends in our core or
“trunk.” These gaps or twists may occur
at one or more stages.
• The adult recycling of Stage Seven
provides opportunities to repair the
holes, fill in the gaps, unravel the knots,
and unbend what isn’t “true.”
9. Analogy – Stack of pennies
• Eric Berne gave us another metaphor for
growth.
• Picture a stack of pennies. Each penny
represents a developmental task, starting
with Stage 1 on the bottom and adding
additional pennies for each of the tasks
and stages in turn. When all the pennies
are flush and even, the foundation of the
stack is firm.
• You can add any number of pennies and
they won’t topple over. If, however, one or
more of the pennies that form the base of
the stack is slightly bent, curved or
irregular, then the stack becomes skewed
or starts to zigzag.
• All the pennies stacked on top of the
uneven one are less secure regardless of
how “true” or even they are. The uneven
pennies change the direction and balance
of the stack. Recycling offers opportunities
to make the bent pennies true and to
redirect and rebalance our developmental
“stacks.
10. Main assumptions
• Development is cyclical - as
opposed to linear.
• It takes a lifetime to grow up.
• It is the responsibility of the
entire community to raise its
children – not just the
parents/carers.
• Times of transition/change
provide particularly potent
times for the revisiting of
developmental stages and
tasks.
11. Affirmations
• Affirmations are the messages
adults can convey to encourage
the child/young person to attend
to the tasks specific to that stage.
• These will be primarily
communicated non-verbally. For
example, as a baby is doted over
and adults respond to her needs
for food, clean nappies etc, she
will be picking up the affirmations
‘You belong here’ and ‘What you
need is important to us.’
• Similarly, to encourage a toddler’s
need to experiment during the
Doing stage, a sand pit area might
be created or painting activities
set up.
13. Cycles of development
Stage 0
• Stage : Becoming.
• Duration : 9 Months(prenatal).
• Activity - he prenatal stage lays the
groundwork for all the stages to
follow. During these nine months, if
all goes well, the baby’s body is
developing from the genetic gift of
the egg and the sperm to a full-term
infant with all life-supporting
systems intact or ready to grow to
full potential. Simultaneously, the
new being is making life-shaping
decisions in response to the
environment of the womb and the
relationship experiences of the
mother with other people and with
the baby.
Jean Illsley Clarke added this stage to Levin’s original developmental theory
14. Cycles of development
Stage 0
Stages and Key
characteristics
Developmental tasks Affirmations
Becoming
9 months (Prenatal)
Is it safe for me to
develop fully and be
born?
1. To grow; to develop all body
systems.
2. To accept nourishment,
acceptance, reassurance and
love.
3. To gain familiarity with the
mother.
4. To make some deep decisions
about trust.
5. To initiate and move through
the birth process.
1. You can make healthy
decisions about your
experiences.
2. Your life is your own.
3. Your needs and safety
are important
15. Cycles of development
Stage 0
Stages and Key
characteristics
Recycling After birth, Becoming is
significant
Becoming
9 months (Prenatal)
Is it safe for me to
develop fully and be
born?
When we revisit Becoming, we
may feel more than we think,
we may need time to “gestate,”
to gather up our feelings and
thoughts, and to be cared for
and respected for what we are
doing even though we may not
be able to articulate it well. We
may resort to being hurried.
• When pregnant.
• When we know we are
going to experience a
great change, especially
one imposed from
outside, without
sufficient information to
feel confident of
ourselves.
16. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to becoming
• Feeling an unaccounted-for
incompleteness.
• Lack of joyfulness.
• Stuck, not able to get started and without
words to describe that feeling.
• Any addiction or compulsive behaviour.
• Believing you have to do everything
yourself; trying to start things and not
finishing.
• Self-destructive behaviours, recklessness,
extreme risk taking.
• Strong and intense reactions to minor
disappointments.
• Irrational fears or chronic anxiety not
otherwise accounted for.
• Chronic depression; thoughts of suicide.
18. Cycles of development
Stage 1
• Stage : Being.
• Duration : 0-6 Months.
• Activity - Being involves
just experiencing the
world. A baby will need to
eat, drink, sleep, be
comfortable and have
affection at this stage.
20. Cycles of development
Stage 1
Compromise Recycling After six months, Stage 1 is
significant
If we don’t get
enough of what we
need in this first
stage, we may have
difficulties focused
on our right to exist.
When we reenter Being, we
may stop doing things, stop
thinking and simply exist. We
may want to eat more
frequently and sleep more. We
may have difficulty
concentrating; we seek
recognition for simply being
who we are and not for what
we do. We may have
heightened needs for touching
and being touched and for
renewing or developing close
relationships with others
• When we are tired,
hurt, vulnerable, ill or
under stress.
• During periods of rapid
change or growth.
• When suffering a
personal loss.
• When taking care of an
infant or when pregnant
and
• In the beginning of a
new process
21. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to being
• Feeling we have “run out of gas”
emotionally.
• Questioning our adequacy, feeling helpless,
and questioning whether others can be
trusted.
• Wanting others to know what we need
without our asking; not knowing what we
need; not needing anything; feeling numb.
• Believing others’ needs are more
important.
• Not wanting to be touched, or compulsive
touching, or joyless sexual touching.
• Unwillingness to disclose information
about ourselves, especially negative
information.
22. Summary of being stage
• Ego state : Natural Child.
• Activity : Needs and feelings.
• Functional Metaphor : Generator.
• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Early Oral.
• Needs : Feeding and stroking, immediate response to
crying signal.
• Problem solving procedure : Peek –a – boo.
• Games : NIGYSOB (Now I got you, you SOB), addict,
Chain smoker, Indigent.
• Mechanism : Denial.
• Injunctions : Don’t be, Don’t feel, Don’t have needs.
24. Cycles of development
Stage 2
• Stage : Doing.
• Duration : 6 – 18 Months.
• Activity - 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.
26. Cycles of development
Stage 2
Compromise Recycling After eighteen months,
Stage 2 is significant
If we are thwarted in
our explorations
during this stage by
inconsistent care
giving or
overprotection, we
may become
perpetual explorers
or we may be
reluctant to enter
into new situations.
When we reenter Doing, we
may have a short attention
span and have difficulty setting
goals. Our need to be mobile
and active becomes
paramount. As in our first
experience of this stage, our
curiosity is heightened as well
as our intuitiveness. We may
recycle this stage by frequently
changing homes, jobs and cars
and by choosing action or
adventure-type activities for
leisure or vacation time. Or we
may be scared to do any of
these. We may not care about
finishing tasks
• After being nurtured for
awhile.
• In any new physical
setting.
• As part of the creative
process.
• As a prelude to
establishing a new level
of independence and
• When taking care of a
toddler.
27. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to Doing
• “Doing” issues become prominent.
• Not knowing when to initiate and when to
be inactive; reluctance to initiate.
• Conflicts about whether to be goal-directed
or not have any goals for a while.
• Boredom; seeking or developing new
motivations in life.
• Avoiding doing things unless you can do
them perfectly.
• Not knowing what you know.
• Thinking it is okay not to be safe,
supported, protected.
• Trouble finishing tasks
28. Summary of doing stage
• Ego state : Little Professor.
• Activity : Behavior.
• Functional Metaphor : Radar.
• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Oral Exploratory.
• Needs : Exploring and doing things, two yeses for every
no.
• Problem solving procedure : You will never get away.
• Games : Do me something, Cavalier, Sweetheart,
Harried.
• Mechanism : Projection.
• Injunctions : Don’t bother, Don’t initiate, Don’t do
things.
29. “The whole of science is nothing more than a
refinement of everyday thinking.”
Albert Einstein
30. Cycles of development
Stage 3
• Stage : Thinking.
• Duration : 18 Months – 3 years.
• Activity - During this stage a child
develops their thinking capacity.
They will want to reason things
out for themselves and make
their own decisions. 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.
32. Cycles of development
Stage 3
Compromise Recycling After three years, Stage 3 is
significant
If we are not allowed
to develop our
thinking and
problem solving
skills, we may find it
hard to form our
own opinions or
solve our own
problems later in life.
This distrust of our
thinking is often
expressed as “I don’t
know.”
As in our first experience of
this stage, our curiosity is
heightened as well as our
intuitiveness. We feel a need to
establish a new level of
independence and
individuality—our
separateness.
• When breaking out of a
dependency
relationship (with a
lover, spouse, mentor,
employer or friend).
• When learning new
information.
• When developing a new
personal position or
taking a stand.
• When changing
agreements and
• When parenting a
toddler.
33. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to Thinking
• Feeling angry about everything in general;
inappropriate rebelliousness (chip on
shoulder).
• Fear of anger in self and others; indirect
expressions of anger through behaviours.
• Wanting to establish what is “mine” and
what is “yours.”
• Lots of questions about separateness,
responsibility and thinking (especially
resistance, contrariness, forgetfulness,
discounting/accounting, stubbornness,
procrastination and greed).
• Rather be right than successful.
• Think the world revolves around us.
• Scared to say yes or no without thinking.
34. Summary of Thinking stage
• Ego state : Adult.
• Activity : Thinking.
• Functional Metaphor : Computer.
• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Anal.
• Needs : Time and information, reasons, limits,
affection.
• Problem solving procedure : Try and make me.
• Games : Schlemiel, Stupid, balance sheet.
• Mechanism : Discounting.
• Injunctions : Don’t think, Don’t have needs
separate from me.
36. Cycles of development
Stage 4
• Stage : Identity.
• Duration : 3 – 6 years.
• Activity - 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. By the time we are
six we have written our script,
the story line we will try to fit our
life to.
38. Cycles of development
Stage 4
Compromise Recycling After six years, Stage 4 is
significant
Without appropriate
guidance and
support at this stage,
we may grow up to
be unsure of our role
in life, or with rigid
views that limit our
potential
development.
Returning to this identity stage
brings up questions and issues
related to power and gender:
potency and impotency, magic,
creating or destroying, hurting
and healing. Adults recycling
this stage may change their
appearance, lifestyle or work
• After renegotiating a
social contract;
• When carrying out a
new role;
• When seeking a new
relationship to family,
job, or culture; and
• When caring for
preschool children.
39. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to identity
• Having to be in a position of power; being afraid
of or reluctant to use power.
• Unsure of personal adequacy.
• Frequently comparing oneself to others and
needing to come off better.
• Identity confusion—needing to define oneself
by a job or a relationship.
• Feeling driven to achieve.
• Overuse of outlandish dress or behaviour.
• Wanting or expecting magical solutions or
effects.
40. Summary of identity stage
• Ego state : Super natural child.
• Activity : Transforming energy.
• Functional Metaphor : Transformer.
• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Genital.
• Needs : Adequate external supply lines maintained
while testing power.
• Problem solving procedure : Let’s pretend.
• Games : Mine is bigger than yours, lets you and him
fight.
• Mechanism : Conversion.
• Injunctions : Eat your heart our, Don’t be sane, Don’t be
powerful.
41. “For all things we have
to learn before we can
do them, we learn by
doing them.”
Aristotle
42. Cycles of development
Stage5
• Stage : Skills.
• Duration : 6 – 12 years.
• Activity - 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.
44. Cycles of development
Stage 5
Compromise Recycling After twelve years, Stage 5
is significant
Failure to acquire
significant skills or
values will limit us as
adults. For example,
lack of a family
structure, or clear
family values, or
good role models.
Returning to this stage is about
updating internal structures,
questioning, and relearning how to
do things. We explore new values,
ideas and behaviours. We may try
on new social roles as we let go of
old ones; making mistakes and
feeling awkward or clumsy is part
of this. We may seek contact with
people outside our usual circle of
family or friends: peer groups and
same sex relationships are major
themes. We are concerned with
defining reality, dealing with
authority, arguing and judging, and
rethinking what is appropriate for
our gender.
• After updating our
identity.
• When learning new
skills.
• When changing cultures
and
• When caring for a six to
twelve-year-old.
45. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to Skills
• Needing to be part of a “gang” or group—or
only functioning well as a loner.
• Needing to be king or queen of the hill.
• Not understanding the relevance of rules;
not understanding the freedom that rules
can bestow.
• Unwillingness to examine personal values or
morals.
• Trusting the thinking of the group more than
one’s own thinking and intuition.
• Expecting to have to do things without
knowing how, finding out, or being taught
how.
• Being reluctant to learn new things or be
productive.
46. Summary of Skill stage
• Ego state : Parent.
• Activity : Structuring, developing skills.
• Functional Metaphor : Regulator.
• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Latency.
• Needs : Experience in doing things, independence.
• Problem solving procedure : Dress up.
• Games : Court room, Aint it awful, Blemish.
• Mechanism : Exclusion.
• Injunctions : Don’t think, Just do it, Don’t
structure.
47. “The omnipresent process of sex, as it is woven into the whole
texture of a man’s or woman’s body, is the pattern of all the
process of our lives.”
Havelock Ellis
48. Cycles of development
Stage6
• Stage : Regeneration .
• Duration : 12 – 18 years.
• Activity - 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.
50. Cycles of development
Stage 6
Compromise Recycling After eighteen years, Stage
6 is significant
Failure to achieve
this integration will
leave us somewhat
fragmented, as if
somehow we have
not quite finished
growing up
As grownups revisit Stage 6 we
explore many of the same
themes: sex and its importance
and integration into our lives,
how our relationships fit with
and support our adult
identities and values, our
personal philosophies and
positions, and how we relate to
the world. We may also have
higher sleep needs, explore
music and drugs, experiment
sexually, or speak of “acting like
a teenager.” We may break out
of mentor relationships and
enjoy the freedom of standing
on our own.
• After developing new
morals or skills.
• When preparing to
leave a relationship, job,
home or locality.
• When ending any
process and
• When parenting
teenagers.
51. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to Regeneration
• Preoccupation with sex, body, clothes,
appearance, friends or our sex role.
• Unsure of our own values; vulnerable to
peer pressure.
• Problems with starting and ending jobs,
roles and relationships.
• Overdependence on or alienation from
family and others.
• Irresponsibility; difficulty making and
keeping commitments.
• Looking to others for a definition of who
we are.
• Confusion between sex and nurturing.
• Unsure of maleness, femaleness or
lovableness.
52. Summary of Regeneration stage
• Ego state : Recycling through previous stages.
• Activity : Unifying previous activities.
• Functional Metaphor : Integrator.
• Psychoanalytic equivalent : Puberty.
• Needs : Work through previous unresolved
problems.
• Problem solving procedure : Primary game from
each previous stage exaggerated.
• Mechanism : Unification.
• Injunctions : Don’t make it, Don’t growup.
54. Cycles of development
Stage 7
• Stage : Recycling.
• Duration : Rest of our lives.
• Activity - 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.
55. Cycles of development
Clues for returning to Recycling
• Any or all of the clues relating to Stages 1
through 6.
• Overdependence; fear of dependence, or being
independent to the exclusion of
interdependence.
• Difficulty making and keeping commitments.
• Role inflexibility.
• Fear of growing old.
• Unwillingness to say hello and good-bye;
unwillingness to grieve and then move on with
life.
• Living in the past; living in the future.
• Living through others.
• Not knowing or getting what you need.
• Denial and discounting.
56. Cycles of development
Stage 8
• Stage : Towards death.
• Duration : Last part of our lives.
• Activity - Dying is part of living and this stage
of life could properly be called “Living Until
You Die.” No matter what our circumstances,
this can be a time of being in charge in a new
way. We can be in charge of how we see
ourselves and the world. We can be in charge
of what we make of every day, to the greatest
degree we are able. We sum up what we have
learned from life’s experiences. We sharpen
our observations and come to accept life as it
is without thinking it must be changed to suit
us. We prepare to relinquish certain
responsibilities to those we have mentored.
We understand that just about everything has
a light and a dark side.
57. Cycles of development
Stage 8
Stages and Key
characteristics]
Developmental tasks Affirmations
Death
Last part of our lives
• To prepare for death
• To explore connections with
humankind and connections
with a higher power.
• To adjust to and grieve the loss
of any physical and mental
capabilities.
• To be willing to share our
wisdom
• To refine the arts of greeting,
leaving and grieving.
• You can grow your
whole life through.
• You can make your
preparations for leaving
and die when you are
ready.
• You can celebrate the
gifts you have received
and the gifts you have
given.
• You can share your
wisdom in your way.
58. 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.
60. Cycles of development
Stage 1
• Stage : Being.
• Competence : Immobilization
• Activity - 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. 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.
61. Cycles of development
Stage 2
• Stage : Doing.
• Competence : Denial.
• Activity - 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.
62. Cycles of development
Stage 3
• Stage : Thinking.
• Competence : Frustration.
• Activity - 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.
63. Cycles of development
Stage 4
• Stage : Identity.
• Competence : Acceptance.
• Activity - 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.
64. Cycles of development
Stage5
• Stage : Skills.
• Competence : Development.
• Activity - 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.
65. Cycles of development
Stage6
• Stage : Integration.
• Competence : Application.
• Activity - 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?
66. Cycles of development
Stage 7
• Stage : Recycling.
• Competence : Completion.
• Activity - 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.
67. Physis
• 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).