According to in-depth psychology, the "Adolescence Stage" (between 12 and 20 years of age) corresponds to a well-known concept of identity crisis.  It represents the transition period between childhood and adulthood.  During this stage, children must ponder the accumulated information about themselves and their society and ultimately commit themselves to some strategy for life.  When they have done this, they have gained an identity and have become adults.  However the stage is viewed as a time of searching for an identity but not of having one.  If young adults do not leave this stage with an identity, they leave it with role confusion or even with a negative identity.

All children are sensitive to their mothers.  In the Oral Stage ( birth until age 2), children relate to their world primarily through the mouth and the activity of sucking.  Being touched , stroked, and held is also very crucial in this period.  Archetypal principles which are important in the Oral Phase are love, nurturance and survival.  It is the development of Basic Trust versus Mistrust or need, love, and hate.  Astrologically speaking, the Moon is the main  principle which is activated during this stage.  During the first two years of life, a child will form opinions about how safe the world is and how good a place it is.  Mother is really the whole world to the child.  How a child experiences his mother will depend on many factors.  Awareness and understanding of the Moon's aspects will shed light on a child's emotional nature.  These considerations are too involved to discuss in this article.  However, tremendous insight may be obtained with the information - the earlier the better if a parent suspects an emotional problem exists within the child's psyche.  If the problem is not addressed, the parent/child relationship will suffer in the relationship.

Frequently, a process termed "splitting" occurs with the child.  He/she actually splits the mother into two different people:  the good mother (or good breast) and the bad mother (or bad breast).  He loves and adores the mother who is there when he needs her and despises and wants to destroy her when she does not respond to his needs.  This problem is carried over in his adult mate/lover relationship.  Resolving splitting requires acceptance of another person being both good and bad and accepting the relationship with the mixture.

Unfortunately, many mothers become aware of these complex dynamics when they first begin to experience their son's erratic behavior towards them.  Unless he agrees to seek professional help, the problem will become chronic and deteriorate the relationship.  It may well be that the mother has truly not been negligible; but somehow, perhaps born with a certain predisposition, the child has embraced a negative memory of her.  In this case, it is a very sad and depressing experience for Mom.