Alfred Adler and Individual Therapy Daniel M. Burrello Alfred Adler and Individual Therapy Alfred Adler (1870-1937) formed a system of psychotherapy, psychopathology and theory of personality development based on the humanistic philosophy of living. He was the first to do so. His major work was done in Europe in the latter part of the nineteenth century. However, Rudolf Dreikurs was responsible for bringing Adlerian therapy to the United States. He was active here, introducing Adlerian techniques to education, and group work. How Does the Individual Become Maladjusted? For Adler, the individual was not internally divided and a mass of conflicted forces battling for supremacy (Stein, 1996). To an Adlerian, maladjustment is the choice of behaviors which result in a stalling of personal growth or social interest. This can occur when the individual becomes discouraged or when one fails at attempts to act positively. Teleology or the idea that the individual is as influenced by future goals and inspirations as by the past, is at the forefront of Alfred Adler�s individual psychology. A person�s goals orient them and direct choices. It is the realistic goal for significance socially and superiority over one�s difficulties that mark mentally healthy mindsets for the Adlerian. Mental illness occurs when one�s goal is based on what an Adlerian psychologist would call and �fictional final goal� or a subjective idea of future security and success based on a reaction to early childhood insecurities, causing the individual to create goals of exaggerated significance and feelings of superiority over others (Gladding, 1996). The true depth of the original feeling of inferiority will determine the size of the �final cause�, or unrealistic goal, toward which a maladjusted individual will strive (Stein, 1996). Another factor influencing the individual and hence the family dynamic, in the Adlerian paradigm, is the subject of birth order and the personality traits that it ingrains in the individual as a child. In this theory, the oldest child is normally a high achiever, a parent pleaser and is prone to conformity. The second born are extroverted (to borrow from the Jungians) and less anxious, they can tend to bend the rules and usually excel at what the first born does not or can not. The Middle child can be hyper-aware of any unfairness or perceived favoritism. They can become great negotiators as they wade through family conflicts sometimes becoming quite manipulative. This middle position also tends to seek out an individual niche of excellence in which the other children are not involved. The youngest child is the entertainer and pleaser, they are apt to get what they want and know how to do this. They can also be high achievers due to the role model of their older siblings (Stein, 1996). Adler believed that socialization w2as not innate and was learned in the family. Maladjustment could come about in many cases through subjective interpretations of events and self and environmental evaluations. These perceptions were dubbed �fictions� (Gladding 1996). Adlerians believe that these fictions can cause basic discernment mistakes involving environment and self-image, such as: The individual may over-generalize, believing everything to be the same, alike; Impossible goals for security leading to becoming a pleaser and avoiding all danger; a lack of understanding life�s demands and an expectation of personal accommodation. Absence of this accommodation is seen as unfair; Self-worth may become minimized allowing for failure in life; or, a value structure that insists upon �me-first� without regard for others. Adler saw the individual as unique and part of a vast social structure. He saw the healthy person as an individual involved with the world; forming intimate relationships, contributing to society with meaningful employment and with willingness to courageously take risks (Gladding 1996). Without this connectedness to humanity, the individual will develop an unconscious fictional goal that will be both exploitive of others and self-centered. In this way, the whole person as a system connected further to a fractally interacting larger system, Adlerian psychology shares similarities with Gestalt psychology (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1964 pp.11-12). What is the Overall Goal of Individual Therapy? The primary goals of Adlerian individual therapy are to assist the client to develop a health lifestyle and gain social interest. This is done by achieving four subordinate goals during the therapeutic process: Establishing a therapeutic relationship, examining the individual�s lifestyle, developing client insight, and changing the client�s behavior. The behavior change is the responsibility of the client and the process leading up to this change is designed to allow this outcome. What Interventions are Utilized in Achieving the Therapeutic goal? Adler believed the therapy was an art which must be practiced and developed to be used in an individually different way for each client. His mainstays during therapy were the utilization of the Socratic Method during discussions, guided and eidetic imagery, role playing and �future scenarios�. Other Adlerian techniques utilized during therapy are: attending, confrontation, paradoxical intention, encouragement, summarizing, interpretation of the family constellation, and early recollections (Stein, 1996). Adler utilized a twelve-stage process during therapy, divided into six stages: Stage One: Support 1. Empathy and Relationship: Establishing a cooperative working relationship by generating hope, reassurance and encouragement in a warm and caring atmosphere. 2. Information: Gathering of relevant information in an unstructured manner. Eliciting details of current situation and exploring the past. Stage Two: Encouragement 3. Clarification: Socratic conversation to clarify vague thinking and correcting mistaken images of the client and others. 4. Encouragement: Helping the client to generate new movement away from current lifestyle problems and clarifying new feelings about efforts. Stage Three: Insight 5. Interpretation, Recognition: Identifying and interpreting inferiority feelings and superiority goals; discovering avoidances; Integrating birth order, recollections, dreams and daydreams. 6. Knowing: Client can identify lifestyle without help. Acceptance of what needs to change. Stage Four: Change 7. Emotional Breakthrough: Encouraging emotional breakthrough. Offering corrective or missing developmental experiences; Guided imagery, role-plying and narration. 8. Doing Differently: Converting new insight into new attitude. 9. Reinforcement: Encouraging movement toward change; Affirming the positive feelings and actions. Stage Five: Challenge 10. Social Interest: Using client�s new self-image to promote cooperation; fostering empathy; full commitment to tasks and others. 11. Goal Reduction: Helping client release old �fictional goal�; finding new direction; helping client live by new value system. 12. Support and Launching: Inspiring client to enjoy the uncertain and the unfamiliar, to enjoy striving and thriving; promoting a path toward further growth (Stein, 1996). A Final Stage of Meta-Therapy involves: post therapeutic dialogue or the individual�s philosophical values and life�s meanings. Through these techniques and this plan, the Adlerian individual psychotherapist seeks to replace exaggerated, unwarranted self-protection, self-enhancement, and self-indulgence with courageous participation in the world of work and social situations. References Ansbacher, H. & Ansbacher R. (1964) The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. Harper Torchbooks, New York. Gladding, S. (1996). Counseling: A comprehensive profession. Englewood, Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Stein, H.T. (1996). Basic Principles of Classical Adlerian Psychology [Article posted on the website Alfred Adler Institute of San Francisco]. Retrieved July 2, 2004, from the World Wide Web: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/principl.htm |