Chapter 3

1. Chapter 3 Adlerian Therapy

2. Adlerian Theory • Also known as individual psychology. • Based on the common sense approach of Alfred Adler.

3. Alfred Adler • Was invited to join Freud’s Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1902 where he quickly gained prominence. • Stressed the importance of subjective feelings rather than biological drives. • Established the Society of Individual Psychology.

4. Major Tenets of Adlerian Theory • Conscious aspects of behavior, rather than the unconscious, are central to the development of personality. • Belief that individuals are goal-directed and purposeful. • Each person strives for growth and has a need for wholeness.

5. Inferiority and Superiority Complexes • There is a tendency for each person to feel inferior to others initially. If not resolved, the person develops an inferiority complex. • In contrast, a person who overcompensates for feelings of inferiority may develop a superiority complex, or what Adler terms a neurotic fiction.

6. Birth Order • Considerable emphasis is placed on birth order. • Those who share ordinal birth positions may have more in common than siblings. • 5 ordinal positions are emphasized: • firstborns • secondborns • middle children • youngest children • only children

7. Firstborns • They are socialized to conform, achieve, behave, and please. • Take responsibility when parents are absent and often act as parent-substitutes. • Experience the loss of their unique position when a second child is born. • This experience sometimes leads to resentment.

8. Secondborns • An enviable position according to Adler. • Never have to worry about issues of power and authority because their position will never change. • Usually are more outgoing, carefree, and creative and less concerned with rules than firstborns. • Likely to be just the opposite of their older sibling.

9. Middle Children • These children often feel “squeezed in” and treated unfairly. • Learn a great deal about family politics and the art of negotiation. • These skills prove useful for manipulating events to get what they want and choosing areas where they can be successful.

10. Youngest Children • Receive a great deal of attention from others, who are likely to cater to their needs. • May become “charmers”, but may also have difficulty breaking out of the role of “the baby” or “family pet.” • Face the danger of becoming spoiled. • May also make great strides in achieving because of role models provided by older siblings.

11. Only Child • Any child born more than seven years or more apart from siblings is psychologically an only child. • These children are never dethroned and are at an advantage in receiving a great deal of attention. • May mature early and become high-achievers. • May develop rich imaginations because of the amount of time they spend alone. • May also become pampered, selfish, and not well-socialized.

12. Lifestyle Creation • Adlerian theory stresses that by age 5, each person creates a style of life, or lifestyle. • Gained primarily through interacting with other members of the family. • A healthy lifestyle focuses on main tasks: • Society • Work • Sexuality • Two other challenges include spirituality and coping with self.

13. Basic Mistakes Caused by Fictions Fictions – subjective evaluations of themselves and their environments. • Overgeneralizing • False or impossible goals of security • Misperceptions of life and life’s demands • Minimization or denial of one’s worth • Faulty values

14. Roles of the Counselor/Therapist • Function as a diagnostician, teacher, and model for the client. • Make an assessment by gathering information on the family constellation and client’s earliest memories. • Assign clients homework. • Make little use of assessment techniques.

15. Goal • Help clients to develop healthy, holistic lifestyles.

16. Process and Techniques • Establishing a relationship. • Performing analysis and assessment. • Promoting insight. • Reorientation.

17. Establishing a Relationship • Crucial if goals are to be achieved. • Counseling is seen as a collaborative effort. • Actively listen and respond. • Focus on clients’ strengths. • Employ confrontation when necessary to point out clients’ inconsistencies. • Maintain a flexible interaction process and stress clients’ responsibilities.

18. Performing Analysis and Assessment • Concentrate on an analysis of clients’ lifestyles including family constellations, dreams, early memories, priorities, and ways of responding. • Encourage clients to recall early memories and examine for specific themes and specific details. • Adlerian theory holds that dreams are a possible rehearsal for future courses of action. • Lifestyle priorities and ways of responding are challenged.

19. Promoting Insight • Help clients develop insight through open-ended questions and making interpretations. • Interpretation often takes the form of intuitive guesses. • May be based on family ordinal position and family constellations. • Clients are never forced to accept the counselor’s point of view. • Empathy – the ability to feel what it is like to be the client before “zeroing” in on the present behaviors.

20. Reorientation • Confrontation • Asking “the question” • Encouragement • Acting “as if” • “Spitting in the client’s soup” • Catching oneself • Task setting • Push button

21. Multicultural and Gender Sensitive Issues • Well-suited for use in multicultural and gender-sensitive issues. • Emphasizes that individuals need to extend themselves beyond their family to be healthy. • Such a stretch often means learning about and understanding different cultural groups. • Sensitive to equality issues between the sexes.

22. Strengths and Contributions • Fosters an equalitarian atmosphere. • Versatile over the lifespan. • Useful in the treatment of a variety of disorders. • Contribution to other theories and to the public’s knowledge and understanding of human interactions. • Can be employed selectively in different cultural groups.

23. Limitations and Criticisms • Lack of a firm, supportive research base. • Vague in regard to some terms, concepts, and ideas. • May be too optimistic about human nature. • If basic principles cannot be followed, the impact of the theory may be lessened. • Relies heavily on verbal erudition, logic, and insight and may be limited in its applicability to clients who are not intellectually bright.

24. The Case of Linda: Adlerian Therapy • How would you conceptualize this case using Adlerian therapy? • What would be your treatment plan for this client using an Adlerian approach?