Erik Erikson dabbled in art after finishing high school and then traveled through Europe. He then knew what he wanted to study after his friend suggested he study psychoanalysis. He did so and later received a certificate from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. He then moved to the United States in 1933 and held a teaching position at Harvard Medical School. He began a private practice of child psychoanalysis. He also held teaching positions at the University of California, Berkeley, Yale, the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, the Austen Riggs Center, and also the Center for Advanced Studies of the Behavioral Sciences. He has published many books on his theories and research. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and was also awarded the National Book Award. He began studying the cultural life of the Sioux of South Dakota and the Yurok of Northern California. The knowledge he had acquired of the cultural, environmental and social environment helped him to further the development of his psychoanalytic theory. It has contributed to helping us understand personality as it develops and is also formed throughout life. One of his quotes says: “You see a child playing and it is so close to seeing an artist paint, because in a play a child says things without uttering a word. You can see how he solves his problems. You can also see what's wrong. Young children, especially, have enormous creativity and everything in them comes to the surface in free play.” He took the facts from when he was a child and put them into his work and found it much easier to look at them from a child's point of view. Erik Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany. He was raised by his mother and never knew his father. His parents had… half a paper… they don't have that trust. When you don't treat a child well and you are not a caregiver, he will not be able to trust and will have mistrust. Seeing the same thing today still works the same way. Erik Erikson was a very wise man, who not only found a theory that would only last in his time, but also found one that would continue long after his death. Erik's childhood helped him succeed later in his life. Like finding out that the man you've called father all these years isn't your father. Being targeted or scorned because of your Jewish origins. This was enough for Erik to realize that he was going to be something and he was going to notice a lot of people, even those who had been rude to him. His theory is an important thing and will always be known. Works Cited http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial_3.htm