Greenspan's Stages of Emotional Development

• First Stage: Taking an interest in the world (Homeostasis)
  • Emerges at approximately 0-3 months of age
  • Child acquires basic internal regulation so that he/she can achieve a calm state necessary for learning
  • Danger signs: hyper-excitable, too easily overwhelmed or withdrawn, apathetic
    
• Second Stage: Attachment
  • Emerges at approximately 2-7 months
  • Child achieves deep, rich, multi-sensory relationship, especially with primary caretaker
  • Danger signs: lack of emotional responsiveness to people, especially primary caretaker
    
• Third Stage:  Intentionality and Basic Cause and Effect (Somatic-psychological Differentiation)
  • Emerges at approximately 3-10 months
  • Child can interact with people, especially primary caretakers, in back-and-forth reciprocal manner, sending and receiving nonverbal messages that make sense in the interaction
    
• Fourth Stage: Complex Sense of Self (Behavioral Initiative and Organization)
  • Emerges at approximately 9-24 months
  • Child behaves and relates with organized, coherent patterns; child puts together logical chains of behavior
  • Danger signs: behavior too easily disrupted; child goes from one extreme of behavior to another without logical transition
    
• Fifth Stage: (Representational Elaboration)
  • Emerges at approximately 18 months to 4 years
  • Child uses symbols and words to communicate feelings, ideas, intentions
  • Danger signs: child communicates only by acting out; child cannot distinguish fantasy and reality; impulse control
    
• Sixth Stage: Emotional Thinking (Representational Differentiation)
  • Emerges during ages 4-adolescence
  • Child masters "why" questions for expressing emotional and behavioral cause and effect
  • Danger signs: lack of impulse control; inability to reflect on his/her own behavior; inability to accept and understand "mixed feelings" (both good and bad feelings about one thing)

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