Mahler applied

Conclusion It is crucial to recognize that individuation is not a smooth or painless process. Indeed, some of the pressures on the individuating client as a member of a family come from his spouse and the family system. Marriage itself is a partial symbiosis out of which one or both members individuate, with the ideal being an optimal distance between them. The developmental approach to the family notes that there is a crisis in the life cycle whenever there is a passage from one stage to the next, i.e., birth of the first child, the last child beginning school, the last child leaving home. The adolescent's attempt to separate from his family is another well-known crisis situation, at times being expressed through schizophrenic breakdown in the family. The extreme on the continuum of resistance to individuation comes from the schizophrenic family, where individuation creates excessive anxiety, as differences among members upset the homeostatic balance. It is the task of the therapist to avoid being drawn into the family's symbiotic system, and instead to aid the client in achieving a higher level of differentiation.What is apparent in studying Mahler's work is the complexity of the entire process of becoming an individual. Working with clients who are striving for mastery in this area, and with those who fear it, is further dramatic proof that separate functioning demands great psychic investment as well as a significant amount of time. Mahler has provided clinicians with a valuable framework for intervention and guidelines for assessment of individual growth.