Introduction

Come along on the journey of my life as I combine my personal stories with different
developmental psychology theories. It feels as though we're going on a journey into the pit of my brain,
making discoveries and finding both hidden good and unsolicited thoughts and traumas along the way.
Piaget's stages of thinking outline my mental journey from questioning childhood questions to those
"that’s how it works?" experiences of adulthood. Considering them as milestones on my intellectual
growth journey. Bowlby’s attachment theory aslo say’s a thing, on how and why this emotional
attachment had been a bother from the very start on how I deal with people leaving. Erik Erikson's stages
illustrate how connections have created themselves into the very foundation of my personal story. Or have
you ever had the sense of falling short like me? That would be like Adler's inferiority complex showing
up. And your superiority complex nods at you when life makes you feel like the greatest person alive but
may produce negative attributes along the way. The different moral stage of Kohlberg takes as the focal
point as we move through to my story, developing from the straightforward "share your toys" to the
deeper issues of why we make the decisions that we do. Prepare yourself for the story of my life as it
presents—a dramatic adventure in which various psychological theories play crucial parts. Are you
prepared to follow me as we explore my bitter-sweet story?

Early Childhood Reflection

Growing up, I have had a hard time in making relationship with other people. I felt insecure and a
stabbing pain when seeing a happy and healthy family as I didn’t have the chance to live happily with my
parents. My aunt and uncle catered me, they treated me so well, gave everything that I could ever wanted,
and I wouldn’t trade them for the world – nonetheless it feels like there’s still a huge hole punching
through my chest. My parents having to move out when I was a tiny child was a significant event that
made my life upside down. According to Bowlby (1988), a known expert on childhood development,
early experiences have a lasting impact on how we feel about other people as we get older. We refer to
this concept as attachment theory. According to the first point that I told, my aunt and uncle turned into a
superhero mine. When my parents had to go, they took over and started to become my safe person, giving
their best to support me with all they could’ve got. In discussing this, Bowlby says that having a reliable
person in your early years contributes to your sense of security in later life (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2018).
Now, Piaget, discussed how children acquire knowledge and comprehend the world. We can connect it in
the Formal Operational stage (age 12 and older) which indicate an adolescent can use logical operations
with the capacity to use concepts, while the Concrete Operational stage (ages 7 to 11) indicates a child
uses reasonable operations when solving problems, including mastery of preventing and inductive
reasoning (Malik & Marhawa, 2023). Teenagers are capable of understanding theories, formulating
hypotheses, and understanding complicated ideas like justice and love. With my aunt and uncle by my
side, I learned and understood things better. They helped me feel secure and grow in my thinking, most
specifically when trying to decide and do what’s best for me like a teacher who is always there.

As I grew older, I became aware of a personal trait I had developed: a mild fear of others leaving
me. Bowlby's theory explains this, claiming that our early experiences form examples for our thoughts
about how relationships work (Ainsworth & Bowlby 1991). It feels like a missing puzzle piece from my
past when people go. I can see how Piaget's theories on learning and Bowlby's attachment theory fit into
my experience when I think back to my early years. My aunt and uncle really influenced how I view
relationships and helped me get through difficult times. Although I will always be afraid, realizing this
makes it easier for me to appreciate how important my aunt and uncle’s support was.

Adolescence and Identity Formation

Furthermore, my tito and tita were very important in my upbringing, and our church provided me
with peace. But in grades 1-4, I observed a strange difference among struggling in normal school and
performing well in Sunday school. This insight gave me the drive to raise my academic standing, and I set
out on an effort to show everyone—including myself—that I was capable of succeeding. The story of my
life continued into the seventh and eighth grades, where striving for achievement became a struggle.
Because I wanted to perform well in school and felt like I was slipping apart from my peers, to the extent
that I was getting bullied.

Erikson's theory, which discusses discovering your identity, appeared to be developing in my

story. I struggled with my identity while balancing the demands of social life and academics. These
difficulties were linked to Adler's theory of an inferiority complex. My experiences with bullying opened
my eyes to deeper concerns caused by my early childhood. Because I came from a broken family that
made me looked to other people for attention and praise which made my adolescent journey even more
difficult. When I think back on my adolescence, Erikson's theory helps me make sense of the struggles
and achievements. Erik Erikson's theory serves as a kind of guidebook to assist us to better understand
who we are, particularly during the challenging adolescent years, he discusses the difficulties we
encounter at various life stages (Hall, 2019). His theories regarding the formation of identity were very
important to me during my adolescence. attempting to solve social and academic issues while attempting
to figure out who I am made me feel like I was in a puzzle. Erikson made it clear to me that these
difficulties are a typical aspect of growing up. It's similar to having a path to follow that leads me through
the highs and lows of discovering my identity. His perspective helped me to understand that everyone
experiences identity struggles and conflicts (Oreinstein & Lewis 2022), and it's normal.

Now, Alfred Adler's concept regarding superiority and inferiority complexes adds another level to
my understanding. It helps me realize why I might feel not enough, much like them as well. I learned
from the bullying I experienced that my desire for success was a disguise for deeper issues caused by my
early years (Carlson, 2017). Because of my family's situations, cognitive behavioral, different schemes
(Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956; Bitter, 2013; Carlson, 2015a; Carlson, Watts, & Maniacci, 2006; Corey,
2016; Norcross, Hedges, & Prochaska, 2002; Watts & LaGuardia, 2015) that I’ve had in particular,
Adler's theory assisted me in realizing that wanting attention and praise from others was a coping
mechanism for my fears. It's similar to highlighting the reasons behind why I behaved the way I did.

Cognitive and Moral Development

Moreover, it turns out that growing up is harder than I had imagined. Things were difficult
because there were bills to pay and studying demands. It was difficult to ask my tito and tita for money,
so I chose to work instead, despite how difficult it was to balance work and school. I had to do it in order
to survive. I had to come to terms with the fact that not everyone in life is treated equally after realizing
that. As I dealt with these difficulties, I began to consider what was morally right and wrong; it was then
that I came onto Kohlberg's stages of moral development. This idea discusses how morality develops in
human thought processes (Berghout 2018). It's comparable to a road plan for understanding the reasons
behind our decisions. I first realized that I was making more decisions based on what would benefit me
personally. We refer to that as the pre-conventional stage, during which we consider avoiding conflict or
gaining benefits (Sanders 2016). It appeared that balancing work and school would help one avoid issues
and perhaps even achieve benefits like more possibilities. However, as I found it difficult to manage
employment and school, I began to consider what was best for everyone, not just myself. This is the
conventional stage, when we take into account what society believes appropriate. It's similar to
discovering that the people in my immediate surroundings are impacted by the decisions I make. I'm now
beginning to consider the post-conventional stage, which is the wider picture. According to Zhang, Q. and
Zhao, H.H. (2017) it’s about realizing that opinions can vary and that we should take into account of the
different points of view. Kohlberg's moral stages came to be used as a structure to help me understand
how my ideas about good and wrong changed as I matured. With greater understanding of morals, it's
assisting me in managing the challenging world of maturity and making sense of the reasons behind my
decisions.

Conclusion and Integration

Let's take a look at what we discovered in my life journey using psychology ideas. Imagine it like
exploring different rooms in my brain, finding both good and not-so-good stuff. From childhood
questions to adult experiences, Piaget's cognitive stages helped in developing an understanding of how
my mind developed. Bowlby's theory of attachment discussed early attachments, such as the close
relationship I had with my aunt and uncle following the separating of my parents. Erikson's phases
showed how my story's focus on relationships progressed. Drama in my life was added by feeling
inferior to others, also known as Adler's inferiority complex, and occasionally feeling superior to others,
also known as a superiority complex. We went through several phases of thinking about what's right and
wrong using Kohlberg's moral stages, from simple sharing toys to more complicated decisions. As
Bowlby said, early experiences had a significant influence on my early years. My feeling of security
currently came from my strong relationship with my aunt and uncle. Erikson's stages continued to
influence me as I developed, particularly throughout my adolescent years when I had identity crises.
According to Kohlberg, feeling inadequate and knowing opposing viewpoints helped me make meaning
of the choices I made.

In summary, early experiences shape later stages, much like a narrative that changes with time.
These psychological concepts served as guides, improving my understanding of my journey. These
theories are like tools that have helped me piece together part of the difficult puzzle associated with
my life. Life is obviously a story that is still being told, and these psychological ideas enable me to
understand some of its complicated processes.
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