The Handbook of Knowledge-Based Coaching: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

STAGE DEVELOPMENT AND MIDLIFE ISSUES: DANIEL LEVINSON

Daniel Levinson wrote a groundbreaking and highly popular book titled The Seasons of a Man’s Life (1978), which he followed with The Seasons of a Woman’s Life (1997). Each was based on a series of intensive interviews. Levinson divides life into four seasons or eras, the last three being early, middle, and late adulthood. These eras are subdivided, and linked by periods of transition. Early adulthood, for example, is characterized by entering the adult world, settling down, consolidating one’s identity, creating a stable life structure, and establishing one’s niche in society. Late adulthood involves coming to terms with oneself and one’s achievements and failures in life.

Like Erikson, Levinson ...