Separation Individuation (Part 1) [EXCLUSIVE]

The objective of this study was to test our alternative interpretation of the separation-individuation hypothesis. This interpretation states that separation from the parents is not a precondition for individuation, but rather separation and individuation are two parallel processes of development during adolescence. We investigated our interpretation in two ways. Firstly, we looked at descriptive age differences in parental support and development of relational and societal identity. Secondly, we investigated the variation with age of the associations between parental support and emotional adjustment, and identity and emotional adjustment. Data of a representative Dutch sample of 2814 adolescents, aged 12-24 were used. In both cases, the findings supported our interpretation of the separation-individuation hypothesis and similar results were found in the descriptive analyses and the structural equation models. Parental support decreased with age, and so too did its association with emotional adjustment. In other words, as adolescents become older, they experience less parental support, while its importance for their emotional adjustment also declines. The opposite pattern was observed with respect to identity development: as adolescents become older, their relational and societal identity commitments develop, and the degree to which these commitments are developed also becomes more important for their emotional adjustment.

Adolescence is marked by the most notable SI conflict between parents and children. Both parties undergo intense emotional responses to separation and loss from each other; thus, this period calls for special attention in clinical practice [8].

Separation Individuation (Part1)

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Since mutual identification with each other includes narcissistic object choices, the loss of the object translates to the loss of a part of oneself and thus triggers anxiety and fear. During this process, parents lose omnipotence in their relationship with their children; therefore, they (parents and children) experience anxiety and pain from separation. Father F, in our case, developed depressive symptoms due to a narcissistic injury resulting from the separation of his son S. Son S wishes to enjoy unconditional freedom; at the same time, he is anxious about taking responsibility and wants to remain complacent. They were faced with an ambivalent tension in relations caused by a clash of their separation and dependency needs in a dialectical process.

As a former pediatrician and child analyst, Mahler sought, through the study of normal development, to understand how inner representations of the self and other develop within the context of interpersonal interactions between the caregiver and child, resulting in an integrated sense of self. Separation-individuation is the name she gave to the process by which internal maps of the self and of others are formed. These experiential maps, or internal representations, are built up through interactions with caregivers during the period spanning birth to three years of age, and consist of both positive and negative aspects of experience within the relationship. According to Mahler, it is the ability to integrate frustrating and pleasurable aspects of experience with another person that leads to a stable sense of self that can tolerate fluctuating emotional states within the self and with others. The inability to integrate these aspects of experience can lead to psychopathology (Mahler, Pine, and Bergman 1975).

Mahler and her research team studied caregivers and their children, in a naturalistic setting, from birth through three years of age and noted age-specific, regularly occurring behaviors that marked changes in the child's behavior in relationship to the caregiver and to the outside world. Mahler divides the early forerunners of the separation-individuation process into two phases, the autistic state and the symbiotic state. The separation-individuation process proper is broken down into four sub-phases: differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and on the road to object constancy. Separation refers to the child's emergence from a symbiotic state with the caregiver, while individuation consists of individual achievements and characteristics that define identity.

Attachment, an intense emotional bond with the mother, begins to consolidate experience for the infant. The ability to attach to the caregiver and others is essential for emotional health. The absence of attachment-seeking behaviors such as smiling, reaching out, and anticipatory nursing postures are felt to be the result of constitutional or basic cognitive defects that interfere with the infant's ability to organize experience. Clinically, the absence of these behaviors can also be tied to profound environmental stress (Mahler 1952; Rutter 1971). Children who are unable to form attachments, or whose attachments have been ruptured though separations or abuse, are withdrawn and suffer from depression (Spitz 1965).

The first stage of differentiation is called hatching and spans four to ten months of age. Hatching, or psychological birth, is the phase in which the infant differentiates out of the symbiotic unit (Mahler, Pine, and Bergman 1975). It is characterized by a more alert state, with distinct periods of wakefulness. At about six months the infant begins to engage in exploratory behaviors of the caregiver, a process Mahler describes as customs inspection (Mahler, Pine, and Bergman 1975). This consists of visual and tactile exploration of the caregiver's face and body. It is the beginning of peek-a-boo games and of physical separation through crawling away, venturing back, and playing nearby. Throughout this process infants engage in a visual checking back, which serves the developmental function of discriminating the familiar from the unfamiliar (Mahler, Pine, and Bergman 1975). This is seen in stranger anxiety, the developmental landmark of this period. The transitional object, a soft blanket or other object that the infant chooses for comfort in the absence of the caretaker, becomes important at this period of separation from the caregiver since it represents the comforting functions of the caretaker that the infant can now use on its own terms (Winnicott, 1953). It is important that the mother be available to the infant during these early attempts at separation so that the infant can build up a confident expectation and basic trust in the caregiver and in the outside world (Benedek 1938; Erikson 1950).

Clinically, issues arising from this period involve borderline phenomena, which are characterized by an unstable sense of self, unstable relationships with others, and chaotic, fluctuating internal states, with chronic feelings of emptiness. There is intense separation anxiety, the inability to be alone, and the constant concern about the availability of others to help manage intense internal tension (Horner 1984).

Clinically, the rapprochement period is often cited in conjunction with borderline phenomena, which are characterized by unstable inner states, unstable relationships, and a fragile sense of self. In borderline phenomena there are feelings of loss of support and approval of the other, as well as aggression and anger which arise out of intense feelings of vulnerability and dependency. The major defenses employed in borderline phenomena are those of splitting and projection. Splitting keeps the "good" and loved aspects of the other separate from the "bad" and hated aspects of the other. Projection is used to rid oneself of felt unwanted "bad" aspects of the self by attributing those unwanted parts to another. Internally, because of the lack of integration of the good and bad internal representations of the self and other, individuals with this defensive structure are subject to fluctuating internal states, feelings of disorganization, and low self-esteem.

This period spans the ages of twenty-four to thirty-six months and involves all aspects of previous stages, in particular the trust and confidence of the symbiotic phase (Mahler 1972). There are advances in cognition with representational thought and the use of language. Children have an inner picture of the caretaker and their relationship with the caretaker, which has formed has formed as a result of the soothing, gratifying, and organizing functions that the caretaker provides (Tolpin 1971). Internalization is the process of recovering what has been lost in the actual relationship with the mother, so that the toddlers carry around an internal picture of a gratifying mother that is now part of their internal structure (Mahler, Pine, and Bergman 1975). The developmental achievement is an individual identity with stable internal representations of self and others. This achievement is a prerequisite for the capacity to form one-to-one relationships where separation is not abandonment and closeness does not represent engulfment.

In the early stages of homeostasis he provides a complement to the mother in understanding the infant's behavior patterns and, in his help with soothing and regulating behaviors, offers an added stimulus to the baby's experience. During the symbiotic period, the father is available as another love object, adding depth to new sets of experience. In the differentiation phase, the father engages his infant in interactive ways that complement the mother's more comforting functions. During practicing, fathers are the significant other that help modulate aggression and offer additional security as a base to return to in the toddler's forays out and back. Fathers also provide another gender for comparison and identification during the period where gender differences are being discovered. The availability of the father during rapprochement helps the child organize and modulate feelings of frustration and aggression, adding to emotional and cognitive growth. By setting limits while supporting autonomous strivings, fathers help children tolerate and integrate ambivalent feeling states (Greenspan 1982). In general, fathers' play and interaction with their children tends to be more active and exciting as compared with mother's soothing. When infant care is divided between both parents, comforting and active interactions may be associated with both. The experience of personality differences with both caregivers gives the infant varied experiences, allowing them a fuller expression of emotions and participation with others (Burlingham 1973). be457b7860