Why Some People Never Learn to Trust Others
By Chris Hammond, MS, IMH Have you ever wondered why some people cannot seem to trust anyone? Maybe you are married to someone who despite all of your positive efforts of encouragement still struggles with being able to trust you. Maybe you have a friend who automatically distrusts everyone they come in contact with including supposed safe categories of people such as the police or a pastor. Or maybe you have a child who mistrusts everything you say. Regardless of any positive outcomes, they remain steadfast in mistrust. There are some concepts that psychology does really well and some that it tragically falls short but one that has stood the test of time is Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development. The first stage from birth to eighteen months is Trust vs. Mistrust and it is the foundational stage upon which all future issues lie. If a person learns to trust others for feeding, nurturing, comfort, and safety during this time, then they will hav