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In this stage of psychosocial development, Erickson talks about Generativity v. Stagnation. When we reach mid-life, Jung says we now have to let go of the ego and old identity to step into our true self which he calls Individuation. We discuss:

  • How all the previous stages of development can help or hurt your process of Individuation
  • The Great Mother Archetype and her role in your second birth
  • The importance of discovering and expressing your true purpose
  • Why some people get stuck at mid-life and what they can do about it
  • How to avoid despair in the winter of life by being yourself

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The Great Mother Archetype

Transcript

Debra Maldonado 00:30

Hello, welcome to another episode of Soul Sessions. I am Debra Maldonado, here with Dr. Rob Maldonado. This is our last of the series on Erickson’s psychosocial stages of development — say that in one word — and Jung’s individuation process, and how they work together. The topic of today is the great mother archetype. We’re going to talk about archetypal creation in the second half of life. Also if you’re new to our podcast, and you’re listening on Spotify, or iTunes, or any other podcast service, don’t forget to subscribe, so you don’t miss another episode. Let’s start off with a quote by Carl Jung. “But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning, for what was great in the morning, will be little at the evening. And what in the morning was true, at the evening will have become a lie.” Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of His Soul, page 111. It’s a beautiful quote about individuation and why we need to live a different life.

Robert Maldonado 01:56

To me, what that says is that it’s a mistake to want to stay young forever, psychologically, emotionally. And if we do, we have to pay the price man. Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development took us up to age 40 last time, now we’re getting into 40 to 60, which he’s considers the stage of generativity versus stagnation. What does generativity mean for us?

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