ALDERIAN COUNSELING
Adler focused much of his research on feelings of inferiority
versus superiority, discouragement, and a sense of belonging in
the context of one’s community and society at large. According to
Adler, feelings of inferiority can result in neurotic behavior but, in
the right setting, can also be used as motivation to strive for
greater success. Adlerian therapy focuses on the development of
individual personality while understanding and accepting the
interconnectedness of all humans. This approach was also known
as INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY.
Adlerian therapy proceeds in four stages:
• Engagement, or creating a collaborative relationship with your therapist
• Assessment of your personal history, with an emphasis on birth order and
early childhood memories
• Insight, wherein the therapist helps you view your situation from a different
perspective
• Reorientation, wherein the therapist suggests active steps you can take
outside of therapy to reinforce newly developed insights and perhaps learn
even more about yourself and your capabilities
Overall, the focus is on reframing the attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle choices
that block success, so that you are more effective at reaching your desired goals
Impact of Birth Order
Adler’s five psychological positions:
Oldest child favored, spoiled, center of attention, pseudo-
parent, high achiever
Second of two behaves as if in a race, often opposite to first
child (rivalry)
Middle often feels squeezed out
Youngest the baby (more pampered), creative,
rebellious, revolutionary, avant-garde
Only may not learn to share or cooperate with
other children, learns to deal with adults
The Phenomenological Approach
[Link] attempt to view the world from the client’s subjective
frame of reference
Reality is less important than how the individual perceives and
believes life to be
It is not the childhood experiences that are crucial ~ It is our
present interpretation of these events
2. Unconscious instincts and our past do not determine our behavior
It is not genes
It is not environment
It is not genes and environment
It is how we choose to respond to our genes and environment
Social Interest
Gemeinshaftsgefuhl – the state of social connectedness and
interest in the well-being of others that characterizes
psychological health.
Adler’s most significant and distinctive concept
Refers to an individual’s attitude toward and awareness of
being a part of the human community
Mental health is measured by the degree to which we
successfully share with others and are concerned with their
welfare
Happiness and success are largely related to social
connectedness
Encouragement
Encouragement is the most powerful method available for
changing a person’s beliefs
• Helps build self-confidence and stimulates courage
• Discouragement is the basic condition that prevents people
from functioning
• Clients are encouraged to recognize that they have the power to
choose and to act differently
Nature of maladjustment
A person has a mistaken opinion of self and world
Inferiority complex: Individual overwhelmed by inadequacy, hopelessness
Superiority Complex: Individual’s very high opinion of self lead him/her to
insist that personal solutions to problems are best
A person engages in neurotic behavior to protect own opinion of self (e.g.,
when threatened with failure and insecurity)
The person becomes self-centered rather than other-centered
Conflict: “one step forward and one step backward movement” which has the
net effect of maintaining an individual at a “dead center” point
• People experience themselves as “stuck” but actually create the antagonistic
feelings, ideas, and values, because they are unwilling to change (if-only…)
• Safeguarding: Symptoms developed to safeguard the fictional goal (e.g., It’s my
job to keep the peace in the family)
Family constellation: birth order mediates genetic and constitutional factors
The individual may be unconscious of these events
ADVANTAGES
Applicable to diverse populations and presenting issues
Does not consider people to be predisposed to anything
Phenomenological
Context-focused
Empowering
DISADVANTAGES
Difficult to learn (e.g., making dream interpretations)
Works best with highly verbal and intelligent clients.
(potentially leaves out many people who do not fit this
category)
Might be too lengthy for managed care
Adlerians do not like to make diagnoses
• Not compatible with managed care
• Difficult to systematically measure efficacy
• Challenging to develop problem-specific treatments
