ABSTRACT
This chapter describes emotional growth in terms of the journey from dependence to independence. It looks at growth in terms of dependence changing gradually towards independence. There is the whole of the infant’s ego development that has its own needs. The healthy individual does not become isolated, but becomes related to the environment in such a way that the individual and the environment can be said to be interdependent. ‘Towards independence’ describes the strivings of the toddler child and of the child at puberty. In the latency period children are usually contented with whatever dependence that they are lucky to be able to experience. In the child’s fantasy the personal psychic reality is located inside. The child is not only a potential creator of the world, but also the child becomes able to populate the world with samples of his or her own inner life.
