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Human Development Theories

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The theories of development have been created through the decades to assist counselors in their daily routine of their ability to support their clients. There are four theories that are relevant to Human development, but for the sake of time, we will only go into depth on three of the four. The three theories that we will discuss are Behaviorism theory, Psychoanalytic Theory, and Ecological Systems Theory. Some of the sub- theories we will discuss are Psychosexual Development Theory, Psychosocial development theory, Social Learning Theory, and Operant Conditioning as they relate to the counseling field today. We will go into depth about each one as they relate to the counseling field. We will also discuss how they relate to the nature versus nurture debate. To start us off we will discuss the “overlook” or “Big Picture” Theory called Ecological Systems Theory. The Ecological Theory was established by a man named Urie Bronfenbrenner. This theory has five systems the Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, and Chronosystem (Hall, Hernandez, Justice, & Wong, 2015). The Microsystem is the immediate surroundings of a person. For instance, the microsystem is someone’s immediate family. The mesosystem incorporates where the person goes on a daily basis. For instance, if you are studying a child for this theory, their mesosystem would be home, school, and places they hang out with their friends. (Hall, Hernandez, Justice, & Wong, 2015) You might include church in this

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