Adler

Adlerian Psychotherapy
Prioritizing relationships
Adlerian Theory
History of Adlerian Theory

 Inspired by Freudian psychoanalysis
 Some overlap with other neo-Freudians (e.g., Horney)
 Anticipated elements of humanistic, cognitive, and
systemic approaches
 Championed in U.S. by Rudolf Dreikurs
 Dissemination throughout U.S. elementary schools
during the guidance movement by Don Dinkmeyer
Alfred Adler 1870-1937
 Born in Vienna
 Raised by middle class, Jewish family
 2nd of six children
 Felt in shadow of his older brother
 Invalid as child (rickets, pneumonia)
 Very close to his father (no oedipal need)
 Converted and became a Christian After World War I –
Gemeinshaftsgefuhl – deep-seated concern for others and
need to associate with them
 1921-1934: 30 mental health clinics in schools- closed by
Nazis - drop in delinquency at time
 Came to USA in 1934 (lived in U.S. until his death)
Nature of maladjustment
 A person has a mistaken opinion of self and

world
 Inferiority complex: Individual
overwhelmed by inadequacy, hopelessness
 Superiority Complex: Individual’s very high
opinion of self lead him/her to insist that
personal solutions to problems are best
 A person engages in abnormal behavior to

protect own opinion of self (e.g., when
threatened with failure and insecurity)
 The person becomes self-centered rather than other-centered
 Conflict: “one step forward and one step backward movement” which has the net
effect of maintaining an individual at a “dead center” point
 People experience themselves as “stuck” but actually create the antagonistic
feelings, ideas, and values, because they are unwilling to change (if-only…)
 Safeguarding: Symptoms developed to safeguard the fictional goal
 Family constellation: birth order mediates genetic and constitutional factors
 The individual may be unconscious of these events

Adlerian Therapy Focus
 Importance of the feelings of self (ego) that

arise form interactions & conflicts
 Sense of self (ego) central core of personality
 Start from Psychoanalysis
 Emphasis on lifestyle (5 life tasks)
 Social interaction
 Work
 Sex
 Spirituality
 Coping with ourselves
 Courage
Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology
 A phenomenological approach
 Social interest is stressed
 Birth order and sibling relationships emphasized
 Therapy as teaching, informing and encouraging
 Basic mistakes in the client’s private logic
 The therapeutic relationship as a collaborative

partnership
The Phenomenological Approach
 Adlerians attempt to view the world from the
client’s subjective frame of reference
 Reality is less important than how the individual
perceives and believes life to be
 It is not the childhood experiences that are crucial
~ It is our present interpretation of these events
 Unconscious instincts and our past do not
determine our behavior
 It is not genes
 It is not environment
 It is not genes and environment
 It is how we choose to respond to our genes and
environment
Social Interest
 Adler’s most significant and distinctive concept

 Refers to an individual’s attitude toward and
awareness of being a part of the human community
 Mental health is measured by the degree to which we
successfully share with others and are concerned
with their welfare
 Happiness and success are largely related to social
connectedness
Impact of Birth Order
 Adler’s five psychological positions:
Oldest child favored, spoiled, center of attention,

pseudo-parent, high achiever
Second of two behaves as if in a race, often opposite to

first child (rivalry)
Middle often feels squeezed out
Youngest the baby (more pampered), creative,

rebellious, revolutionary, avant-garde
Only does not learn to share or cooperate with

other children, learns to deal with adults
Encouragement
 Encouragement is the most

powerful method available for
changing a person’s beliefs
 Helps build self-confidence and
stimulates courage
 Discouragement is the basic
condition that prevents people
from functioning
 Clients are encouraged to
recognize that they have the
power to choose and to act Note: Reassurance is not encouragement.
differently
Other Adlerian Concepts
 Organ Inferiority: everyone is born with

some physical weakness, which motivates
life choices
 Aggression Drive: reaction to perceived

helplessness/inferiority lashing out against
the inability to achieve or master
More Adlerian Concepts
 Masculine protest:
 Men: Become a “real man”, surpass the father
 Women: Gain equal status to men
 Perfection striving: people who are not neurotically bound to an

inferiority complex spend their lives trying to meet their fictional
goals. “The life or a human soul is not a ‘being’ but a ‘becoming’”
 Elimination of their perceived flaws
 Gives motivation and focus
 Social Responsibility & Understanding

 Occupational task-career-self-worth
 Societal task-creating friendship-networks
 Love task-life partner
 Positive & Goal Oriented Humanity- people striving to overcome

weaknesses to function productively-contributing to society
How an Adlerian does Therapy
 Comprehensive Assessment using:

 Family Constellation-questionnaire-social world
assessment
 Early Reflections-single incidents from childhood
 Lifestyle Assessment-develop targets for therapy by
identifying major successes and mistakes in the
client’s life
 “The Question” -- If I had a magic wand that would
eliminate your symptom immediately, what would be
different in your life?”
What Clients do in Therapy
 Explore private logic-concepts about self,
others, & life – philosophy lifestyle is based
 Discover purposes of behavior or symptoms
and basic mistakes associated with their
coping
 Learning how to correct faulty assumptions &
conclusions
Therapeutic Techniques & Procedures
 Establishing the relationship
 Gathering Information
 Encouraging development of self-understanding

insight into purpose through clarification and
correction (of faulty self-concept and reasoning)
 Helping client make new choices: reorientation &

reeducation away from previous lifestyle
Phases Stage # Stage Tasks to be accomplished
Provide warmth, empathy, and
Empathy & acceptance. Generate hope, reassurance,
1
Relationship and encouragement. Establish a
Support cooperative, collaborative relationship.
Gather relevant information: Elicit details
2 Information of presenting problem & life tasks. Explore
early childhood influences and memories.
Clarify vague thinking with Socratic

questioning. Evaluate consequences of
3 Clarification
ideas and actions. Correct mistaken ideas
about self and others.
Encouragement
Help generate alternatives. Stimulate
movement in a new direction, away from
4 Encouragement
life style. Clarifying new feelings about
effort and results.
1. Establishing the relationship
 Therapist gets to know the client as a person
 Therapy is collaborative
 Goals established together prior to start
 Awareness of goal discrepancies during
 Scripts (“Have you ever seen a patient like me before?”)
 Games (“My previous therapist said the opposite…”)
 Realignment of goals, when necessary
 Supportive, caring human connection

 Faith
 Hope
 Love
2. Gathering information
 Subjective interview
 Client tells own story as expert on own life
 Therapist listens for clues to client’s coping and
approach to life
 The Question:
 Objective interview ~ Life Style Assessment

 Family constellation
 Early recollections
 Personality priorities
 Integration and summary
3. Encouraging Self-Understanding
& Insight
 Insight = understanding of motivations (the whys) that operate in
client’s life
 Therapist offers open-ended interpretations to:

 Bring conscious awareness to unconscious processes
 Identify and confront resistance
 Explore purposes of symptoms, feelings, behaviors or blocks
 Types of interpretation
 Of nonverbal behavior: to bring the client’s nonverbal behavior to the
attention of the client and interpret it.
 Of the therapeutic process: Dealing with what is in the here and now.
 Active Wondering: Proposes an alternative to the presenting problem.
4. Reorientation & Reeducation
 Encouragement process – “to build courage”

personal growth is encouraged and reinforced
 Change and search for new possibilities
 Making a difference through change in

behavior, attitude or perception
Advantages of Adlerian Theory
 Can be used for numerous issues and disorders
 Uses encouragement
 Phenomenological
 Does not consider people to be predisposed to anything
 Applicable to diverse populations and presenting issues

Disadvantages of Adlerian Theory
 Difficult to learn (e.g., making dream interpretations)
 Works best with highly verbal and intelligent clients.

(potentially leaves out many people who do not fit
this category)
 Might be too lengthy for managed care
 Adlerians do not like to make diagnoses

Adlerian Approaches today
 Education
 Parent Education
 Marriage Counseling
 Family Counseling
 Group Work
Adlerian Therapy demonstration
Session transcript
 Can you diagnose Gina using the DSM?

 What were her strengths?
 What did she need to work on?
 What did Carlson do to build the relationship?
 How was the intervention individualized?
 Was the therapy helpful to Gina?
 If not, why do you think it wasn’t?
 If it was helpful, what about it made it helpful?
 Would you want to work with an Adlerian if you
were seeking therapy/counseling?

Adler

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Adler

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Adler

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Adlerian Psychotherapy

History of Adlerian Theory

 A person has a mistaken opinion of self and

 A person engages in abnormal behavior to

 The individual may be unconscious of these events

 Importance of the feelings of self (ego) that

 Birth order and sibling relationships emphasized

 Therapy as teaching, informing and encouraging

 Basic mistakes in the client’s private logic

 The therapeutic relationship as a collaborative

 Adler’s most significant and distinctive concept

Oldest child favored, spoiled, center of attention,

Second of two behaves as if in a race, often opposite to

Middle often feels squeezed out

Youngest the baby (more pampered), creative,

Only does not learn to share or cooperate with

 Encouragement is the most

 Organ Inferiority: everyone is born with

 Aggression Drive: reaction to perceived

 Perfection striving: people who are not neurotically bound to an

 Social Responsibility & Understanding

 Positive & Goal Oriented Humanity- people striving to overcome

 Comprehensive Assessment using:

 Establishing the relationship

 Encouraging development of self-understanding

 Helping client make new choices: reorientation &

Clarify vague thinking with Socratic

 Games (“My previous therapist said the opposite…”)

 Realignment of goals, when necessary

 Supportive, caring human connection

 Objective interview ~ Life Style Assessment

 Therapist offers open-ended interpretations to:

 Encouragement process – “to build courage”

 Change and search for new possibilities

 Making a difference through change in

 Can be used for numerous issues and disorders

 Does not consider people to be predisposed to anything

 Applicable to diverse populations and presenting issues

 Difficult to learn (e.g., making dream interpretations)

 Works best with highly verbal and intelligent clients.

 Adlerians do not like to make diagnoses

 Can you diagnose Gina using the DSM?

You might also like