Identity Stage — Allow Exploration
Your teen's identity forms via experimentation — don't suppress, guide it to be safe.
Goal
Understand teen experiments (clothes, music, friends, opinions) aren't rebellion but identity-formation work — and respond without suppression.
Steps
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1
For each "experiment" your teen tries, ask before reacting: identity issue or safety issue?
Expected Outcome
Evidence base
School: Psychosocial Stages — Erikson
Founders: Erik Erikson · James Marcia (1968)
Erikson placed "identity crisis" in stage 5 (12-18). Marcia refined into 4 identity statuses, showing exploration is prerequisite to "identity achieved."
Keywords
Frequently asked questions
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