Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, as articulated by
Erik Erikson, in collaboration with
Joan Erikson, is a comprehensive
psychoanalytic theory that identifies a series of eight
stages, in which a healthy developing individual should pass through from
infancy to late
adulthood. All stages are present at birth but only begin to unfold according to both a natural scheme and one's ecological and cultural upbringing. In each stage, the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds upon the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.