Adlerian therapy

ADLERIAN tHEORYADLERIAN tHEORY

ALFRED ADLER

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Alfred Adler – 1870 Vienna, Austria

2nd born of six siblings in a middle-class Jewish family

Adler’s early years were characterized by struggling to overcome illnesses and feelings of inferiority. He felt inferior to his brother and peers; which made him determined to compensate for his physical limitations, and gradually he overcame many of his limitations.

Developed rickets, which kept him from walking until he was four years-old and nearly died of pneumonia at five years-old.


His early childhood had an impact on the formation of his theory. Adler is an example of a person who shaped his own life as opposed to having it determined by fate. His teacher advised his father to prepare Adler to be a shoemaker but not much else.

Co-founder of the psychoanalytic movement as a core member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.

Adler resigned as the president of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1911 and founded the Society for Individual Psychology in 1912. He was the first major figure to break away from psychoanalysis to form an independent school of psychotherapy and personality theory. It was at this point that Freud asserted that it was not possible to support Adlerian concepts and still remain in good standing as a psychoanalyst.


Adler had a passionate concern for common person and he was outspoken about child-rearing practices, school reforms, and prejudices that resulted in conflict.

Adler wrote spoke and wrote in simple, non-technical languages

so that the public could understand and apply the principles of his Individual Psychology. Adler’s “Understanding Human Nature” (1959) was the first major psychology book to sell hundreds of thousands of copies in the United States.

Died in 1937 of Heart Attack

Adlerian Theory of PersonalityAdlerian Theory of Personality

Adler stressed a positive view of human nature. He believed that individuals can control their fate. They can do this in part by trying to help others (social interest). How they do this can be understood through analyzing their lifestyle. Early interactions with family members, peers, and teachers help to determine the role of inferiority and superiority in their lives.

Adler stresses a unity of personality which states that people can only be understood as integrated and complete beings. Adler emphasized that where we are striving to go is more important than where we have come form, i.e. the future is more important than the past.

View of Human NatureView of Human Nature

A Person’s Perceptions are based on His or Her View of Reality (Phenomenology)

– Adler believed that we “construct” our reality according to our own way of looking at the world.

– “I am convinced that a person’s behavior springs from this idea…because our senses do not see the world, we apprehend it.” (Adler, 1933/1964)


Each person must be viewed as an individual from a holistic perspective.

– Adler suggested that dividing the person up into parts or forces (i.e., id, ego, and superego) was counterproductive because it was mechanistic and missed the individual essence of each person.

– In his view, understanding the whole person is different than understanding different aspects of his life or personality.


Human Behavior is Goal Oriented (Teleological)– People move toward self-selected goals. “The life of the

human soul is not a ‘being’ but a ‘becoming.’” (Adler, 1963a)

– This idea requires a very different way of viewing humans than the idea that behavior is “caused” by some internal or external forces or rewards and punishments.

– Understanding the causes of behavior is not as important as understanding the goal to which a person is directed. Since we have evolved as social creatures, the most common goal is to belong.

DeterminismDeterminism

– Moving through life, the individual is confronted with alternatives.

– Human beings are creative, choosing, self-determined decision-makers free to chose the goals they want to pursue.


Conscious and unconscious are both in the service of the individual, who uses them to further personal goals (Adler, 1963a)


Striving for superiority to overcome basic inferiority is a normal part of life.

– Mosak(2000) reports that Adler and others have referred to this central human striving in a number of ways: completion, perfection, superiority, self-realization, self-actualization, competence, and mastery.


Social Interest and a Positive involvement in the community are hallmarks of a healthy personality.

– All behavior occurs in a social context. Humans are born into an environment with which they must engage in reciprocal relations.

– Adler believed that social interest was innate but that it needed to be nurtured in a family where cooperation and trust were important values.

Adlerian Core Concepts and Adlerian Core Concepts and Explanation of BehaviorExplanation of Behavior

Style of life or Lifestyle

– A way of seeking to fulfill particular goals that individuals set in their lives. Individuals use their own patterns of beliefs, cognitive styles, and behaviors as a way of expressing their style of life. Often style of life or lifestyle is a means for overcoming feeling of inferiority.

Four areas of lifestyle:Four areas of lifestyle:

1. The self-concept– the convictions about who I am.

2. The self-ideal– convictions about what I should be.

3. The Weltbild, or “picture of the world”– convictions about the not-self and what the world

demands of me. 4. The ethical convictions

– The personal “right-wrong” code.

Adlerian explanation of BehaviorAdlerian explanation of Behavior(Theory of Personality)(Theory of Personality)

Family Constellation and Atmosphere:

– The number and birth order, as well as the personality characteristics of members of a family. Important in determining lifestyle.

– The family and reciprocal relationships with siblings and parents determine how a person finds a place in the family and what he learns about finding a place in the world.

Birth order is important, and that it motivates Birth order is important, and that it motivates later behavior.later behavior.

Firstborns:

Monarch of the family Receive all the attention, the parents

practice on them. They strive to achieve, behave and

please. Are parent substitutes for their

siblings. When another sibling is born, they are

dethroned and may become resentful or overcompensate with power and authority

Secondborns

Don’t worry about power and authority, are never dethroned.

Usually are more outgoing, carefree and creative and less concerned with rules.

Usually are the opposite of the firstborn

Middle children – feel squeezed in & treated unfairly. They learn the art of negotiation & understand family politics. Often are manipulative and make reasoned choices about where to find success

The youngest child – always the baby of the family, they receive a great deal of attention from others, expect others to care for them. Tends to be the most pampered one. Youngest children tend to go their own way. They often develop in ways no others in the family have thought about. Can be quite charming and funny but have a hard time breaking out of the baby role Can become spoiled but often can be quite successful if the older siblings are good role models

The only child – shares some of the characteristics of the oldest

child (high achievement drive). May not learn to share or cooperate with other children. Will learn to deal with adults well. May become dependently tied to one or both of them. May want the center stage all of the time, and if their position is challenged will feel it is unfair.

OLDEST - RECEIVE GOOD DEAL OF ATTENTION/SPOIL. RESPONSIBILITIES WILL, AND RESENTMENT MAY, OCCUR ONCE ANOTHER CHILD IS BORN.

SECOND OF ONLY TWO - ACTS AS THOUGH THEY ARE IN A RACE COMPETITIVE/SEEK WEAKNESS IN #1

MIDDLE - FEELS SQEEZED OUT/POOR ME/PROBLEM CHILD

YOUNGEST - PAMPERED/GO THEIR OWN WAY/NEW WAYS OF DOING THINGS

ONLY CHILD - SHARE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN OLDER CHILD. HIGH ACHIEVER. HARD TO SHARE WITH OTHERS


Social Interest:

– The caring and concern for the welfare of others that can serve to guide people's behavior throughout their lives. It is a sense of being a part of society and taking responsibility to improve it.


Inferiority:

– Feelings of inadequacy and incompetence that develop during infancy and serve as the basis to strive for superiority in order to overcome feelings of inferiority.


Inferiority complex:

– A strong and pervasive belief that one is not as good as other people. It is usually an exaggerated sense of feelings of inadequacy and insecurity that may result in being defensive or anxious.


Superiority

– The drive to become superior allows individuals to become skilled, competent, and creative.


Superiority Complex:

– a means of masking feelings of inferiority by displaying boastful, self-centered, or arrogant superiority in order to overcome feelings of inferiority.


Early recollections:

– Memories of actual incidents that clients recall from their childhood. Adlerians use this information to make inferences about current behavior of children or adults.


Assets:

– Assessing the strengths of individuals' lifestyle is an important part of lifestyle assessment, as is assessment or early recollections and basic mistakes.

Adlerian explanation of BehaviorAdlerian explanation of Behavior

Birth order: – The idea that place in the family constellation (such as being

the youngest child) can have an impact on one's later personality and functioning.

– Birth order and the interpretation of one’s position in the family have a great deal to do with how adults interact in the world.

– Although it is important to avoid stereotyping individuals, it does help to see how certain personality trends that began in childhood as a result of sibling rivalry influence individuals throughout life.

Adlerian explanation of BehaviorAdlerian explanation of Behavior

Basic mistakes:

– Self-defeating aspects of individuals' lifestyle that may affect their later behavior are called basic mistakes. Such mistakes often include avoidance of others, seeking power, a desperate need for security, or faulty values.

Adler stresses that striving for perfection and coping with inferiority by seeking mastery are innate.

An individual core beliefs and assumptions through which the person organizes his or her reality and finds meaning in life events constitutes the individual’s lifestyle.

In striving for goals that have meaning to us, we develop a unique style of life.

In striving for the goal of superiority, Adlerian believe some individuals develop their intellect , other, their artistic, talent; others, athletic skill; and so on.

Social Interest and community feelingSocial Interest and community feeling

Social interest and community feeling are probably Adler’s most significant and distinctive concepts.

These terms refer to individuals’ awareness of being part of a human community and to individual’s attitudes in dealing with the social world.

Social interest includes striving for a better future for humanity.

The socialization process begins at childhood; which involves finding a place in society and acquiring a sense of belonging and of contributing.

Social interest is taught, learned and used.

Social Interest and community feelingSocial Interest and community feeling

Adler equated social interest with a sense of identification and empathy with others: to see with the eyes of another, to hear with the ears of another, to feel with the heart of another.

Social interest is the central indicator of mental health.

From the Adlerian perspective, as social interest develops, feelings of inferiority and alienation diminish.

People express social interest through shared activity and mutual respect.

TECHNIQUES FOR CHANGETECHNIQUES FOR CHANGE

A lifestyle analysis helps the Adlerian therapist to gain insights into client problems by determining the clients' basic mistakes and assets. These insights are based on assessing family constellation, dreams, and social interest. To help the client change, Adlerians may use a number of active techniques that focus to a great extent on changing beliefs and reorienting the client's view of situations and relationships.


Life tasks:

– There are five basic obligations and opportunities: occupation, society, love, self development, and spiritual development. These are used to help determine therapeutic goals.


Interpretation:

– Adlerians express insights to their clients that relate to clients' goals. Interpretations often focus on the family constellation and social interest.


Immediacy:

– Communicating the experience of the therapist to the client about what is happening in the moment.

Encouragement:

– An important therapeutic technique that is used to build a relationship and to foster client change. Supporting clients in changing beliefs and behaviors is a part of encouragement.


Acting as if:

– In this technique, clients are asked to "act as if" a behavior will be effective. Clients are encouraged to try a new role, the way they might try on new clothing.


Catching oneself: – In this technique, patients learn to notice that they

are performing behaviors which they wish to change,. When they catch themselves, they may have an "Aha" response.

Aha response:– Developing a sudden insight into a solution to a

problem, as one becomes aware to one's beliefs and behaviors.


Avoiding the tar baby:

– By not falling into a trap that the client sets by using faulty assumptions, the therapist encourages new behavior and "avoids the tar baby" (getting stuck in the client's perception of the problem).


The Question:

– Asking "what would be different if you were well?" was a means Adler used to determine if a person's problem was physiological or psychological


Paradoxical intention:

– A therapeutic strategy in which clients are instructed to engage and exaggerate behaviors that they seek to change. By prescribing the symptom, therapists make clients more aware of their situation and help them seek to change. By prescribing the symptom, therapists make clients more aware of their situation and help them achieve distance from the symptoms. For example, a client who is afraid of mice may be asked to exaggerate his fear of mice, or a client who hoards paper may be asked to exaggerate that behavior so that living becomes difficult. In this way individuals can become more aware of and more resistant from their symptoms.


Spitting in the client's soup: – Making comments to the client to make behaviors

less attractive or desirable.

Homework: – Specific behaviors or activities that clients are

asked to do after a therapy session


Push-button technique:

– Designed to show patients how they can create whatever feelings they what by thinking about them, the push-button technique asks clients to remember a pleasant incident that they have experienced, become aware of feelings connected to it, and then switch to an unpleasant image and those feelings. Thus clients learn that they have the power to change their own feelings.

Summary of the practical techniqueS Summary of the practical techniqueS uSed in adlerian therapyuSed in adlerian therapy

Life Tasks. There are five basic obligations and opportunities: occupation, society, love, self development, and spiritual development. These are used to help determine therapeutic goals.

Interpretation. Adlerians express insights to their clients that relate to clients' goals. Interpretations often focus on the family constellation and social interest.

Immediacy. Communicating the experience of the therapist to the client about what is happening in the moment.

Encouragement. used to build a relationship and to foster client change. Supporting clients in changing beliefs and behaviors is a part of encouragement.

Acting as if. clients are asked to "act as if" a behavior will be effective. Clients are encouraged to try a new role, the way they might try on new clothing.


Catching Oneself. Patients learn to notice that they are performing behaviors which they wish to change,. When they catch themselves, they may have an "Aha" response.

Aha Response. Developing a sudden insight into a solution to a problem, as one becomes aware to one's beliefs and behaviors.

Avoiding the Tar Baby. By not falling into a trap that the client sets by using faulty assumptions, the therapist encourages new behavior and "avoids the tar baby" (getting stuck in the client's perception of the problem).


The question. Asking "what would be different if you were well?" was a means Adler used to determine if a person's problem was physiological or psychological

Spitting in the client’s soup. Requires the counselor to make certain behaviors less attractive to the client

Homework. Specific behaviors or activities that clients are asked to do after a therapy session

Application: Therapeutic Techniques and ProceduresApplication: Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures

Adlerian Brief Therapy (ABT): 4 Phases

Phase 1: Establishing the Relationship

Working collaboratively and being caring, involved, supportive

Making person-to-person contact rather than starting with “the problem”

Phase 2:Phase 2: Exploring the Individual’s Dynamics Exploring the Individual’s Dynamics

Two Interview Forms:

Subjective Interview – Active listening (followed by a sense of wonder, fascination, and interest) to help the client tell their story as completely as possible.

Objective Interview – Gathering info as to how the clients’ problems began, precipitating events, medical history, social history, reasons for choosing therapy, coping skills, and a life assessment.

“Lifestyle Investigator”: The Family Constellation and Early Recollections

Phase 3: Phase 3: Encouraging Self-Understanding and InsightEncouraging Self-Understanding and Insight

To help the client understand the motivations in their life, understand how they are contributing to their problem, and

making adjustments to correct the situation

Phase 4:Phase 4: Helping with Reorientation Helping with Reorientation

Putting insights into practice

Encouragement Process

Change and the Search for New Possibilities

Making a Difference! Promoting

Contributions to Multicultural CounselingContributions to Multicultural Counseling

Adlerian theory addressed social inequities long before it became

a focal point in the profession

Adler’s multicultural approach to counseling include the Adler’s multicultural approach to counseling include the following ideasfollowing ideas

Adler’s multicultural approach to counseling include the following ideas

The importance of the cultural context

The emphasis on health as opposed to pathology

A holistic perspective on life

The value of understanding individuals in terms of their core goals and purposes

The ability to exercise freedom within the context of social constraints

The focus on prevention and the development of a proactive approach in dealing with problems

Adlerian theory encourages clients to define themselves within their social environment, therefore, making the approach a good one when dealing with a culturally diverse population.

Culture is defined broadly including age, roles, lifestyle, and gender differences.

Adler advocated for equality for women.

When practiced appropriately and competently, it is difficult to identify major multicultural limitations.

Adlerian approach seeks to find opportunities for viewing the self, others, and the world from different cultures perspectives. The strengths of one culture can often help correct the mistakes in another.

The goal is to help clients identify and change their mistaken beliefs about self, others, and life and thus participate more fully in a social world.

Clients are not seen as mentally sick but as discouraged.

The client and therapist work collaboratively to challenge the client to translate the client’s insights into action in the real world.

Major contributions include elementary education, consultation groups with teachers, parent education groups, marriage and family therapy, and group counseling.

Summary and EvaluationSummary and Evaluation

Individual Psychology assumes that people are:

motivated by social factors

responsible for their own thoughts, feelings, and actions

the creators of their own lives

are impelled by purposes and goals

Advantages of the Adlerian TheoryAdvantages of the Adlerian Theory

Adlerian therapists are mainly concerned with doing what’s best for the client rather than squeezing them into a theoretical framework.

The theory lends itself to short-term formats. This is beneficial to a client to help them believe change can occur in a short amount of time.

Adler influenced many other therapy systems. They are all based on the concept of the person as purposive, self-determining, and striving for growth.

Adlerians’ basic premise is that if clients can change their thinking then they can change their feelings and behavior.

Advantages of the Adlerian TheoryAdvantages of the Adlerian Theory

It can be used for numerous issues and disorders.

Uses encouragement.

It is phenomenological.

It does not consider people to be predisposed to anything.

Limitations and Criticisms of the Adlerian TheoryLimitations and Criticisms of the Adlerian Theory

Adler chose to teach and practice over getting organized and presenting a well- defined systematic theory, making his written presentations difficult to follow.

More research needed to support the effectiveness of the theory.

Limited use for clients seeking immediate solutions to their problems and unwilling to explore childhood experiences, early memories, and dreams.

Limitations and Criticisms of the Adlerian TheoryLimitations and Criticisms of the Adlerian Theory

The amount of family and lifestyle information that is collected.

Sometimes difficult to do the interpretations, especially the dreams.

Adlerian therapy works best with highly verbal and intelligent clients. This might leave out many people who do not fit that category.

Might be too lengthy for managed care.

Adlerians do not like to make diagnoses as it labels people.

Adlerian therapy

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