Dysfunction:

1. The absence of a strong ego identity is a major cause of poor adjustment.

2. Lacking trust in relationships or fearing the loss of relationships distorts and damages people's lives.

3. If a person does not manage a stage well, increased feelings of inadequacy result.

4. Unsuccessful negotiation of a crisis results in a destructive emotional or psychological tendency that corresponds to one of the two opposite extremes of the particular crisis.

Intervention:

1. Since Erikson's model asserts that change and development continue throughout life and that personality continues to develop beyond childhood, the client can be encouraged to see the future as an opportunity for positive change and development instead of looking back with blame and regret.

2. People of any age should be assisted in understanding the connections between life experiences and human behavior. Adults can be shown how to help rather than hinder the development of emotional maturity in children.

3. Clients need to understand how to apply these concepts in their day-to-day lives.

4. A therapist should affirm the client's "actuality" (i.e. the world of his/or her participation) and emphasize the healing role that play or work may provide.

5. The goal of treatment is the restoration of mutuality by helping the client's ego to become stronger and heal itself.