Applying Theories of Human Development

In this class we have discussed many theories of human development, most of which focus primarily on the development of infants and children. The maternal side of me is very fascinated with all of the ideas set forth, but the professional side of me is a little confused about how to apply these theories to my work. I am an alcohol and drug counselor and my clients are adult men with long criminal histories and sever mental illness. It seems that understanding there development as children would be of little use to me now.

In this paper I will set forth my personal understandings of the theories we have learned about. I will then address what aspects of these theories could be useful to me as a counselor. Furthermore, I will discus what aspects of these theories that I don't see any use for in my chosen profession.

The first theory of any substance that we learned about was John Locke's theory of the blank slate.

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This theory stated that all children were born as blank slates and were sculpted as people entirely based on their environment. This theory says that there are no innate traits that we have at birth and that are development is all nurture and no nature. What I like about this theory is that it stresses the importance of our surroundings and the responsibility that parents have in who their children grow to be. Even as adults, as with my clients, this theory reminds me how important our surroundings are and how influential our treatment of each other can be. Working with mentally ill clients I have to say that I strongly believe we are born with many personality traits and innate ways of thinking and processing information. Our nurture can strongly influence how that...