ALFRED ADLER (1870–1937)

 Early Life and Health:

o Born into a large family in Vienna (six boys, two girls).
o Experienced illness and near-death situations (e.g., pneumonia at age 4).
o Early exposure to death influenced his decision to become a physician.
o Pampered by his mother due to frequent illnesses.
 Family Relationships:
o Close relationship with his father; distant from his mother.
o Strained relationship with his older brother, Sigmund.
o Early family dynamics possibly reflected later in his professional rift with Sigmund
Freud.
 Education and Career Development:
o Initially a mediocre student; motivation increased after academic success in
mathematics.
o Studied medicine at the University of Vienna.
o Started as an ophthalmologist, shifted to general medicine, then specialized in
neurology and psychiatry.
 Sociopolitical Influence:
o Experienced anti-Semitism and horrors of World War I.
o Strongly emphasized humanism, community cooperation, and social equality.
 Contributions to Psychology:
o Advocated child-rearing reforms, women’s rights, and community mental health.
o Used simple, nontechnical language to reach a broad audience.
o Pioneered "open-forum" family counseling through live demonstrations.
o Created 32 child guidance clinics in Vienna public schools.
 Major Works and Influence:
o His book Understanding Human Nature (1927/1959) became widely popular in
the U.S.
o Trained teachers, social workers, physicians through practical demonstrations.
 Later Life and Death:
o Enjoyed singing, music, and social gatherings despite a busy schedule.
o Started lecturing frequently in the United States in the mid-1920s.
o Died of heart failure on May 28, 1937, in Aberdeen, Scotland, before a scheduled
lecture.
 Further Reading:
o Biography: The Drive for Self by Edward Hoffman (1996).
o Modern interpretation: Alfred Adler Revisited edited by Jon Carlson and Michael
Maniacci (2012).
Adlerian Therapy – Introduction
Background and Development
 Alongside Freud and Jung, Alfred Adler was a major contributor to the early
development of the psychodynamic approach to therapy.
 After a decade of collaboration with Freud, Adler split from him in 1911.
o Freud labeled Adler a "heretic" for challenging his theories.
 Adler resigned from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society and soon founded the Society
for Individual Psychology in 1912.
 Freud made it clear that supporting Adlerian concepts was incompatible with remaining
a psychoanalyst.
Neo-Adlerians (Freudian Revisionists)
 Other psychoanalysts also moved away from Freud’s orthodox ideas, including:
o Karen Horney
o Erich Fromm
o Harry Stack Sullivan
 Although often called neo-Freudians, Heinz Ansbacher suggested they should more
accurately be called neo-Adlerians, because:
o They emphasized relational, social, and cultural factors.
o They moved away from Freud’s biological determinism toward Adler’s social-
psychological and goal-oriented view of human nature.
Key Features of Adler's Perspective
 Unity of Personality:
o Humans are integrated and complete beings, not divided into conflicting parts
like Freud’s id, ego, and superego.
 Purposeful Behavior:
o Behavior is goal-directed and purposeful.
o Past experiences are important, but future goals drive us more.
 Creativity and Self-Determination:
o People are seen as both creators and creations of their lives.
o We actively shape our own destinies, not merely react to childhood experiences.
Adlerian Psychology in the United States
 After Adler’s death in 1937, Rudolf Dreikurs played a crucial role in bringing Adlerian
Psychology to the U.S.
 Dreikurs especially applied Adlerian principles to:
o Education
o Parenting
o Individual and group therapy
o Family counseling
  He promoted the idea of child guidance centers and professional training for a wide
range of practitioners.
Key Concepts of Adlerian Therapy
View of Human Nature
 Critique of Freud:
o Adler rejected Freud’s focus on biological and instinctual drives.
 Early Life Experiences:
o A person’s basic approach to life begins forming during the first six years of life.
o Focus is on how early experiences are interpreted rather than the events
themselves.
 Social Interest:
o Humans are primarily motivated by the need for social connectedness, not
sexual urges.
 Consciousness Over Unconsciousness:
o Adlerians emphasize the conscious mind and the individual's capacity for choice
and responsibility.
Striving for Significance and Superiority
 Inferiority Feelings:
o All humans experience feelings of inferiority.
o These feelings are a normal and motivational force for growth.
 Striving for Superiority:
o People are motivated to overcome inferiority by striving for mastery, success,
and personal excellence.
 Formation of Life Goals:
o Around age six, children develop a fictional goal — a vision of themselves as
successful or complete — which guides their actions and development.
Freedom and Responsibility
 Interpretation Over Determination:
o Behavior is not determined by heredity or environment.
o Instead, individuals have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create their
own lives.
 Limits to Freedom:
o While people have choices, biological and environmental limitations do exist
and must be acknowledged.
Adler as a Pioneer
 Systemic Perspective:
o Adler was the first therapist to emphasize the importance of understanding
people within the systems they live in (family, culture, society).
  Holistic and Humanistic Approach:
o His approach is:
 Holistic
 Social
 Goal-oriented
 Systemic
 Humanistic
1. Subjective Perception of Reality
 Adlerians focus on how people see the world through their own eyes (called subjective
reality).
 It includes their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values, and how they interpret their
experiences.
 Objective reality (what is actually happening) is less important than how we perceive
and give meaning to events.
Example: Two people may face failure, but one sees it as a chance to improve, the other
sees it as a sign of worthlessness.
2. Unity and Patterns of Human Personality
 Adler named his theory Individual Psychology to stress that humans are indivisible
wholes, not divided like Freud’s ego, id, superego.
 We must understand a person as a complete unit in relation to their family, culture,
school, and work.
 Every thought, feeling, action is connected and directed toward a life goal.
Example: A student’s family values, school experiences, and friendships all connect to
shape who they are and where they’re heading.
3. Behavior as Purposeful and Goal-Oriented
 Human behavior is not random — it always serves a purpose.
 We act, think, and feel in ways that move us toward personal goals.
 Adlerians use the concept of guiding self-ideal (earlier called fictional finalism):
o We create a mental image of who we want to become (successful, perfect,
accepted) and act to reach that.
 Although past experiences matter, the direction a person is moving toward is most
important.
Example: A child who once failed in school may set a goal to become a top doctor and
structure life around that ambition.
4. Striving for Significance and Superiority
 Inferiority feelings are natural and motivate people to grow and improve.
 Striving for superiority means moving from feeling "less than" to "better" — not over
others, but over our previous selves.
  This striving leads to competence, mastery, and personal growth.
Example: A child who struggles to walk keeps trying, not to beat others, but to overcome
their own limitations.
5. Lifestyle
 A person's lifestyle is their unique way of thinking, feeling, acting, and relating to others.
 It forms early in life as a response to experiences and becomes a "road map" for how
they move through the world.
 Our beliefs about ourselves, others, and life are organized into patterns that guide
behavior.
 Faulty interpretations (mistaken beliefs) can cause problems, but people can become
aware and consciously change them.
Example: Like an artist paints with a certain style, each person "paints" their life in their
own style.
1. Social Interest and Community Feeling
 Definition: Social interest and community feeling are central concepts in Adlerian
psychology, referring to individuals’ sense of connection to the human community and
their attitudes towards the social world.
 Social Interest:
o Action line of community feeling.
o Involves being as concerned about others as oneself.
o Requires cooperation and contribution to something greater than oneself.
o Focuses on developing empathy, giving, and taking, and contributing to the
welfare of others.
 Development:
o Begins in childhood; involves finding a place in society and feeling a sense of
belonging.
o While Adler believed social interest is innate, it must be learned, developed, and
utilized.
 Indicators of Mental Health:
o Social interest is considered the central indicator of mental health.
o As social interest develops, feelings of inferiority and alienation diminish.
 Expressed Through:
o Shared activity, cooperation, participation in the common good, and mutual
respect.
o People with social interest direct their striving toward healthy, socially useful
sides of life.
 Community Feeling:
o A sense of connectedness to all humanity—past, present, and future.
 o Involves courage, empathy, compassion, and cooperation.
o If community feeling is lacking, individuals may become discouraged and
disconnected.
o The feeling of belonging reduces anxiety and enables individuals to face
challenges with courage.
2. Life Tasks
 Universal Life Tasks:
o Social Task: Building friendships.
o Love Task: Establishing intimacy.
o Occupational Task: Contributing to society.
 Psychological Capacities Needed:
o For friendship and belonging, contribution and self-worth, and cooperation.
 Connection to Psychological Disorders:
o Problems in meeting these life tasks may be linked to psychological disorders.
 Therapeutic Aim:
o Adlerian therapy aims to increase social interest and help individuals address life
tasks more effectively.
 Adler's "The Question":
o A tool to identify life tasks an individual may be avoiding (e.g., "What would you
do if you were quite well?").
o Helps uncover underlying avoidance of life tasks.
3. Birth Order and Sibling Relationships
 Adler’s View on Birth Order:
o Adler introduced the concept of psychological birth positions, which influence
how children view life.
o Psychological position is more important than actual birth order (e.g., a second-
born child can experience life as a youngest child if the age gap is significant).
 Influence of Birth Order:
o Birth order increases the likelihood of certain experiences but does not
determine a child's future.
 Description of Birth Order Positions:
1. Oldest Child:
 Initially receives special attention but may feel ousted when a new sibling
arrives.
 Tends to become dependable, hardworking, and achievement-driven.
2. Second of Only Two Children:
 Often competes with the firstborn and strives to surpass them.
 May develop talents in areas where the older sibling struggles.
 3. Middle Child:
 May feel squeezed out or overlooked and develop a "poor me" attitude.
 In conflict-prone families, often becomes the peacemaker.
4. Youngest Child:
 Pampered and may develop a sense of helplessness.
 Tends to go their own way and may outshine older siblings.
5. Only Child:
 Shares characteristics with the oldest, such as high achievement drive.
 May struggle with sharing or cooperating and can be pampered by
parents.
 Family Dynamics and Adult Interactions:
o Birth order influences adult interactions and how individuals relate to others.
o Early family relationships play a significant role in shaping personality and social
behavior.

Therapeutic Goals:
Adlerian therapy is based on a collaborative relationship between the therapist and the client.
The therapy aims to:
 Develop a sense of belonging: Encouraging social interest and community feeling.
 Reorient behavior: Challenging faulty assumptions and beliefs, and guiding clients
toward more adaptive behavior.
 Focus on strengths: Adlerians emphasize personality growth and well-being over
pathology, promoting self-awareness, courage, and responsibility.
Therapist’s Function:
The therapist's role is to help clients identify and correct mistaken beliefs, faulty values, and
self-absorbed goals. Key tasks include:
 Comprehensive assessment: This includes understanding family constellation, life goals,
and early recollections, which give insights into the client’s past and current functioning.
 Explore private logic: Identifying irrational beliefs that hinder social interest and
personal growth.
 Correct faulty assumptions: Therapy helps clients understand the purposes behind their
behaviors, particularly maladaptive ones, and work on changing them.
Client’s Experience in Therapy:
Adlerian therapy helps clients understand the purpose behind their behaviors and identify the
core fears or mistaken beliefs that hold them back. Therapy focuses on reorientation, changing
faulty motivations, and fostering new perspectives on life. Clients often resist change because
their current ways of thinking and behaving are familiar, even though they may be ineffective.
Adlerian Counseling: Four Phases Overview
Adlerian therapy progresses through four interconnected and flexible phases (not rigid steps),
which build upon each other to create therapeutic change:
1. Establish the therapeutic relationship
2. Explore the client’s psychological dynamics
3. Encourage self-understanding and insight
4. Facilitate reorientation and reeducation
Phase 1: Establish the Therapeutic Relationship
Goal: Build a trusting, respectful, and collaborative connection with the client.
Key Features:
 Focus on the person, not the problem.
 Emphasize strengths and assets rather than deficits.
 Create a climate of empathy, hope, and caring.
 Therapists exhibit interest, involvement, and friendship.
 Clients are encouraged to see their potential for purpose and change.
Therapist’s Role:
 Be active, offer structure, and guide goal-setting.
 Attend closely to verbal and nonverbal cues.
 Help the client feel deeply understood and accepted.
 Suggest initial interpretations about behavior and goals.
Phase 2: Explore the Psychological Dynamics (Assessment Phase)
Goal: Understand the client’s unique lifestyle and how they perceive themselves and the world.
Two Main Types of Interviews:
1. Subjective Interview
 Client narrates their life story with empathic support from the therapist.
 Therapist listens for:
o Patterns in thinking and behavior.
o The purpose behind symptoms or choices.
o What the client is trying to avoid or achieve with current problems.
Key Question Example:
“How would your life be different if you didn’t have this symptom or problem?”
This often reveals the hidden purpose behind behaviors (e.g., avoiding failure, intimacy, or
rejection).
2. Objective Interview
Therapist gathers factual data such as:
 Onset and background of problems.
 Medical and social history.
 Life tasks coping strategies.
  Lifestyle assessment including:
o Family constellation
o Early recollections
Family Constellation
Explores how early family dynamics shaped the client’s view of self and others:
 Who was the favorite child?
 Parental relationships and discipline styles?
 Sibling comparisons?
This helps identify private logic and life patterns based on family interactions.
Early Recollections
 Specific memories (before age 10) told in vivid detail.
 Reveal:
o Core beliefs, values, and motivations.
o Self-view and view of others.
o Possible mistaken beliefs or patterns affecting current behavior.
Therapists interpret these recollections to understand the "story" behind the client’s life style
and how it relates to current issues.

Phase 3: Encouraging Self-Understanding and Insight

Main Focus:
Helping the client gain insight into their private logic, lifestyle convictions, and the purpose of
their behavior.
Key Components:
1. Interpretation of Client Behavior:
o The therapist offers tentative interpretations about what the client's behaviors
mean and how they serve their life goals.
o These interpretations link present behavior to early recollections, family
constellations, and mistaken beliefs.
2. Private Logic:
o Clients are helped to identify their private logic — the internal reasoning and
assumptions that guide behavior.
o Often, this logic is based on faulty conclusions formed early in life.
3. Lifestyle Understanding:
o Clients begin to see their lifestyle — the pattern of thinking, feeling, and
behaving that develops in childhood and persists.
o Awareness is raised about how this lifestyle affects relationships, work, and self-
worth.
4. Insight Through Collaboration:
 o Insight is not imposed; it emerges through a collaborative process between client
and therapist.
o The aim is not just intellectual understanding but emotional insight that leads to
motivation for change.
5. Encouragement is Key:
o Therapists encourage clients that they have the capacity to make new choices
despite their past.
Phase 4: Reorientation and Reeducation
Main Focus:
Putting insight into action. The client begins trying new behaviors and building new belief
systems.
Key Components:
1. Action-Oriented Focus:
o The therapist helps the client make concrete changes in thinking and behavior.
o These changes reflect the new self-understanding gained in Phase 3.
2. Reorientation of Goals:
o Clients begin to set more constructive and socially useful goals.
o They shift from self-centered or avoidance goals to those based on cooperation,
contribution, and courage.
3. Encouraging New Choices:
o Clients are encouraged to act "as if" they are the person they want to become (a
technique in Adlerian therapy).
o Risk-taking and practicing new behaviors are emphasized.
4. Catching Oneself:
o Clients are taught to “catch” themselves when they engage in old, self-defeating
behaviors.
o This creates space for making new choices in the moment.
5. Building Social Interest:
o Increased attention is given to developing social interest—a sense of belonging
and contribution to the community.
6. Homework and Life Tasks:
o Therapists often assign homework or tasks in real-life contexts to help clients
practice changes (e.g., speaking up at work, reconnecting with family).
o Emphasis is placed on courage and persistence.
Areas of Application of Adlerian Therapy
1. Social Activism and Preventive Work
 Adler envisioned therapists not just as healers but as social reformers, aiming to prevent
societal problems by promoting social interest.
  His work addressed issues like discrimination, social inequality, poverty, and mental
health stigma.
 Adlerian principles are widely used in community mental health, school systems, and
public education.
2. Family Counseling
 Core Focus: Understanding family dynamics through family constellation, family
atmosphere, and individual roles and goals.
 Therapists examine:
o Parenting styles
o Gender roles
o Conflict resolution
o Cooperation vs. competition
 Adlerian therapy increases awareness of interaction patterns and aims to foster respect,
responsibility, and social interest within the family unit.
 It emphasizes flexibility in therapeutic techniques, making it well-suited for diverse
family structures.
3. Group Counseling
 Pioneered by Adler and later expanded by Dreikurs, group counseling became a
powerful tool for promoting social interest and community feeling.
 Key Benefits:
o Challenging inferiority feelings
o Correcting mistaken beliefs
o Fostering belonging and social connectedness
 Group settings encourage altruism, where members support each other, helping reduce
isolation and building hope.
 Early recollections are often used to promote self-awareness and group cohesion.
Therapeutic Techniques in Groups:
 “Acting as if” to practice new behaviors
 “Catching oneself” to interrupt dysfunctional patterns
 Setting tasks and applying group lessons to real life
 Emphasizing the development of new goals and decisions in the reorientation stage
4. Broader Fields of Application
Adlerian principles are applicable across a wide range of settings, including:
 Child guidance and parenting
 Couples and marriage counseling
 Individual therapy with children, adolescents, and adults
 Cultural conflict resolution
 Correctional and rehabilitation counseling
  Substance abuse programs
 Elder care
 Business and organizational consulting
 Religious communities
5. International Impact
 Adlerian therapy has gained global acceptance, with adaptations in numerous countries.
 Its growth-oriented, holistic, and optimistic foundation makes it culturally adaptable
and widely applicable.
Adlerian Therapy from a multicultural perspective:
Strengths
 Culturally flexible and well-suited for diverse populations.
 Emphasizes social context, community, and family.
 Values cooperation over competition — aligns with collectivist cultures.
 Adaptable techniques based on the client’s cultural background.
 Lifestyle assessments integrate cultural and family influences.
 Sees culture as a key factor shaping personal experience and worldview.
Shortcomings
 Emphasis on individual autonomy may clash with collectivist values.
 Based on Western family models — may not fit extended or non-traditional families.
 Some clients may resist exploring past or sharing family information.
 Clients expecting directive advice may not resonate with Adlerian collaboration style.
 Cultural norms around privacy may hinder openness in therapy.