DEVELOPMENTAL CRISIS IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: A ...

training programme, a philosophy degree, psychology degrees, a languages degree, a
Masters in organisational behaviour, a training programme in plumbing, a PGCE
teaching qualification, a chemistry degree and a course in creative writing.
Therapy or counselling is engaged in by 11 of the 22 participants during Phase
3. Amongst the men, Vern and Rob go into therapy after separating from their
partners, George restarts an old therapy programme, and Neil goes into therapy too.
Jack gets counselling, and Ben starts Jungian therapy. Mark gets counselling and Guy
spends time in therapy at this point. Amongst the women, Rachel, Gemma and Lynne
went into therapy after separation.
Phase 3 sees trial-and-error attempts to enhance self-understanding through
internal reflection and external experimentation. The motivation in Phase 3 is
sometimes to understand why crisis happened to them. In Vern’s words:
“What happened with the Naomi situation was one in which I said, right you need to
think about this quite a lot, and from that moment I began the process of dismantling
this façade that I’d been building and asking exactly who…are…you?” (p.10)
The process of self-examination is a past-focused process and a future-focused
process, involving a nostalgic search through past interests and relationships as well
as a consideration of future alternatives. Angela describes the past-focused element as
follows:
“I’ve really tried to pare back the layers and find out who I was originally… I
remembered that I loved the country, I loved horses, I loved the outdoors, I loved
animals, I loved art, I loved writing – poetry and stories – creative things, you know,
a bit like a little hippie really, but that’s just me.” (p.10 )
Others start entirely new activities and directions, like Guy’s dance classes or Frank’s
partying and taking ecstasy. The search for intrinsically motivated activities in this
period of crisis shows an attempt to reconnect with an earlier Dream; prior to crisis
they had sacrificed this idealised and motivating future vision in favour of adult
pragmatism or the demands of others, and now they are trying to re-find it and re-find
the intrinsic self and intrinsically motivated activities that are attached to it. All the
elements of Phase 3 improve self-understanding while suggesting what a new life
structure should entail.
Several participants show no particular evidence of a Phase 3. Claire is unable
to have a time of self-exploration as she has to continue working to pay for her
children’s private education. Leon also shows no particular evidence of a time of selfexploration
or experimentation after his marriage finishes. A time of self-exploration,
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