 HISTORY OF ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Adler began his professional life as an ophthalmologist in 1895, before entering the world
of psychiatry  in the early 1900s. He was intrigued by Sigmund Freud's  theories of human
behavior and bravely defended Freud’s much criticized concepts of psychoanalysis . In 1907,
an appreciative Freud invited Adler to join his inner circle—an exclusive Wednesday
evening discussion group thought to be the foundation of the psychoanalytic movement.

Ultimately, Adler and Freud parted ways due to theoretical differences, and Adler
established himself at the forefront of his own emerging approach to therapy and soon
founded the School of Individual Psychology. In this new system, the importance of
studying the entire individual was stressed.

 Focus of adlerian psychotherapy

Adler was a pioneer in the area of holistic theory on personality , psychotherapy, and
psychopathology, and Adlerian psychology places its emphasis on a person’s ability to
adapt to feelings of inadequacy and inferiority relative to others. He believed that a person
will be more responsive and cooperative when he or she is encouraged and harbors feeling
of adequacy and respect. Conversely, when a person is thwarted and discouraged, he or she
will display counterproductive behaviors that present competition, defeat, and withdrawal.
When methods of expression are found for the positive influences of encouragement, one’s
feelings of fulfillment and optimism increase. Adler believed strongly that “a misbehaving
child is a discouraged child,” and that children’s behavior patterns improve most
significantly when they are filled with feelings of acceptance, significance, and respect.

Adler believed that feelings of inferiority and inadequacy may be a result of birth order ,
especially if the person experienced personal devaluation at an early age, or they may be
due to the presence of a physical limitation or lack of social empathy  for other people. This
method of therapy pays particular attention to behavior patterns and belief systems that were
developed in childhood.

 Adlerian Therapy
 Adlerian psychology/psychotherapy was developed by Alfred Adler  (1870-1937).
A historically influential psychiatrist, Alfred Adler began focusing the philosophical
 world’s attention on relatively new ideas in the early 20th century. He believed that it
was imperative to become intimately familiar with a person’s social context by
exploring factors such as birth order, lifestyle, and parental education. Adler believed
that each person strives to belong and feel significant.
 Adlerian therapy, also known as individual therapy, emphasizes the individual’s ability to
bring about positive change in his or her own life.
 Adlerian therapy consists of four stages: engagement, assessment, insight, and
reorientation.
 In Adler’s theory, individuals work to overcome feelings of inferiority and to act in ways
that benefit the social interest.
 Meaning of Life style in Adlerian approach

An individual’s core beliefs and assumptions guide each person’s movement through life and
organize his or her reality, giving meaning to life events. Adler called this life movement the
individual’s “lifestyle.” Synonyms for this term include “plan of life,” “style of life,” “strategy
for living,” and “road map of life.” Lifestyle includes the connecting themes and rules of
interaction that unify all our actions. Lifestyle is often described as our perceptions regarding
self, others, and the world. It includes an individual’s characteristic way of thinking, acting,
feeling, living, and striving toward long-term goals

 Meaning of Social interest in Adlerian approach

Social interest refers to an action line of one’s community feeling, and it involves the
individual’s positive attitude toward other people in the world. Social interest is the capacity to
cooperate and contribute. Social interest requires that we have enough contact with the present to
make a move toward a meaningful future, that we are willing to give and to take, and that we
develop our capacity for contributing to the welfare of others. Social interest includes striving for
a better future for humanity.

Adler considered social interest to be innate, he also believed that it must be taught, learned, and
used. 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”.
 Birth order and sibling relationships in Adlerian approach

The Adlerian approach is unique in giving special attention to the relationships between siblings
and the psychological birth position in one’s family. Actual birth order is less important than the
individual’s interpretation of his or her place in the family. Because Adlerian`s view most human
problems as social in nature, they emphasize relationships within the family as our earliest and,
perhaps, our most influential social system.

Although siblings share aspects in common in the family constellation, the psychological
situation of each child is different from that of the others due to birth order. Adler identified five
psychological positions, or vantage points, from which children tend to view life: oldest, second
of only two, middle, youngest, and only.

1. The first child generally receives a good deal of attention, and during the time she is the only
child, she is typically somewhat spoiled as the center of attention. She tends to be dependable
and hard working and strives to keep ahead. When a new brother or sister arrives on the scene,
however, she finds herself ousted from her favored position. She is no longer unique or special.
She may readily believe that the newcomer (or intruder) will rob her of the love to which she is
accustomed.

2. The second child of only two is in a different position. From the time she is born, she shares
the attention with another child. The typical second child behaves as if she were in a race and is
generally under full steam at all times. It is as though this second child were in training to
surpass the older brother or sister. This competitive struggle between the first two children
influences the later course of their lives. The younger child develops a knack for finding out the
elder child’s weak spots and proceeds to win praise from both parents and teachers by achieving
successes where the older sibling has failed. If one is talented in a given area, the other strives for
recognition by developing other abilities. The second-born is often opposite to the firstborn.

3. The middle child often feels squeezed out. This child may become convinced of the
unfairness of life and feel cheated. This person may assume a “poor me” attitude and can become
a problem child. However, especially in families characterized by conflict, the middle child may
become the switchboard and the peacemaker, the person who holds things together. If there are
four children in a family, the second child will often feel like a middle child and the third will be
more easy going, more social, and may align with the firstborn.

4. The youngest child is always the baby of the family and tends to be the most pampered one.
He has a special role to play, for all the other children are ahead of him. Youngest children tend
to go their own way. They often develop in ways no others in the family have thought about.

5. The only child has a problem of her own. Although she shares some of the characteristics of
the oldest child (for example, a high achievement drive), she may not learn to share or cooperate
with other children. She will learn to deal with adults well, as they make up her original familial
world. Often, the only child is pampered by her parents and may become dependently tied to one
or both of them. She may want to have center stage all of the time, and if her position is
challenged, she will feel it is unfair.

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. Individuals acquire a certain style of relating to others in childhood
and form a definite picture of themselves that they carry into their adult interactions. In Adlerian
therapy, working with family dynamics, especially relationships among siblings, assumes a key
role. 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.

 Therapeutic techniques and procedures in Adlerian’s counselling

Adlerian counseling is structured around four central objectives that correspond to the four
phases of the therapeutic process (Dreikurs, 1967). These phases are not linear and do not
progress in rigid steps; rather, they can best be understood as a weaving that leads to a tapestry.
These phases are as follows:

Phase 1: Establish the Relationship (engagement)

The Adlerian practitioner works in a collaborative way with clients, and this relationship is based
on a sense of deep caring, involvement, and friendship. Adlerian therapists seek to make person-
to-person contact with clients rather than starting with “the problem.” Clients surface their
concerns in therapy rather quickly, but the initial focus should be on the person, not the problem.
Therapeutic progress is possible only when there is an alignment of clearly defined goals
between therapist and client. Counselors help clients become aware of their assets and strengths
rather than dealing continually with their deficits and liabilities. During the initial phase, a
positive relationship is created by listening, responding, demonstrating respect for clients’
capacity to understand purpose and seek change, and exhibiting faith, hope, and caring. When
clients enter therapy, they typically have a diminished sense of self-worth and self-respect. They
lack faith in their ability to cope with the tasks of life. Therapists provide support, which is an
antidote to despair and discouragement.

During the initial phase of counseling, the main techniques are attending and listening with
empathy, following the subjective experience of the client as closely as possible, identifying
and clarifying goals, and suggesting initial hunches about purpose in client symptoms,
actions, and interactions.

Adlerian counselors are generally active, especially during the initial sessions.

They provide structure and assist clients to define personal goals, they conduct psychological
assessments, and they offer interpretations.

Phase 2: Explore the Individual’s Psychological Dynamics (assessment)

The aim of the second phase of Adlerian counseling is to get a deeper understanding of an
individual’s lifestyle. During this assessment phase, the focus is on the individual’s social and
cultural context. This assessment phase proceeds from two interview forms: the subjective
interview and the objective interview. In the subjective interview, the counselor helps the client
to tell his or her life story as completely as possible. This process is facilitated by a generous use
of empathic listening and responding.

An initial assessment of the purpose that symptoms, actions, or difficulties serve in a person’s
life can be gained from what Dreikurs (1997) calls “The Question.” Adlerians often end a
subjective interview with this question: “How would your life be different, and what would you
be doing differently, if you did not have this symptom or problem?” Adlerians use this question
to help with differential diagnosis. More often, the symptoms or problems experienced by the
client help the client avoid something that is perceived as necessary but from which the person
wishes to retreat, usually a life task

The objective interview seeks to discover information about

(a) how problems in the client’s life began;

(b) any precipitating events

(c) a medical history, including current and past medications;

(d) a social history;

(e) the reasons the client chose therapy at this time

(f) the person’s coping with life tasks

(g) a lifestyle assessment.

Phase 3: Encourage Self-Understanding and Insight

During this third phase, Adlerian therapists interpret the findings of the assessment as an avenue
for promoting self-understanding and insight. Mosak and Maniacci (2008) defi ne insight as
“understanding translated into constructive action”. When Adlerians speak of insight, they are
referring to an understanding of the motivations that operate in a client’s life. Self-understanding
is only possible when hidden purposes and goals of behavior are made conscious.

Adlerians consider insight as a special form of awareness that facilitates a meaningful

Disclosure and well-timed interpretations are techniques that facilitate the process of gaining
insight. Interpretation deals with clients’ underlying motives for behaving the way they do in the
here and now. Adlerian disclosures and interpretations are concerned with creating awareness of
one’s direction in life, one’s goals and purposes, one’s private logic and how it works, and one’s
current behavior.
Phase 4: Reorientation and Reeducation

The final stage of the therapeutic process is the action-oriented phase known as reorientation and
reeducation: putting insights into practice. This phase focuses on helping people discover a new
and more functional perspective. Clients are both encouraged and challenged to develop the
courage to take risks and make changes in their life.

Adlerians are interested in more than changes in behavior. Reorientation involves shifting rules
of interaction, process, and motivation. These shifts are facilitated through changes in awareness,
which often occur during the therapy session and which are transformed into action outside of
the therapy office. In addition, especially at this phase of therapy, Adlerians focus on
reeducation. Adlerians teach, guide, provide information, and offer encouragement to clients
who are discouraged.