ADLERIAN COUNSELING

Alfred Adler
(1870-1937)
Is best known as founder of the Adlerian approach
which is also known as Individual Psychology. He was
a sickly child and had a difficult relationship with his
younger brother. Against his parents and teachers
expectations, he rose to the top of his class and went
to study medicine at the University of Vienna, later
specialising in neurology and psychiatry. Adlers book
Understanding Human Nature was a bestseller. He
wrote, spoke and demonstrated his work in Europe
and the United States until his death in 1937.
Alfred was a colleague of Sigmund Freud, and along with
Carl Jung developed the school of psychodynamic
thoughts. He disagreed with Freud extreme emphasis on
biological and deterministic views toward humans. Adler
proposed a more optimistic, hopeful and positive theory on
human development, stressing on men subjective feelings
and social interest. He focused on the unity of personality,
believing that humans can only be understood when
viewed as complete beings. Humans develop a unique
lifestyle that is created by them. They have created their
own personality and therefore can choose to change.
Clients are encouraged to value their strengths and to
acknowledge that they are equal members of society who
can make a worthwhile contribution to it. After Adler death,
Rudolf Dreikur was the most significant figure bringing
Adlerian psychology to America, applying its principles to
education, individual, group, and family therapy.
Basic Assumptions

The following are some

assumptions of human
nature stated by Adler:
(a) Holistic Adler argued that people actions,
thoughts and feelings had to be seen as a whole. He
held that „no life expression can be viewed in
isolation, but must always be regarded in relation to
the total personality”. Personality is not made up of
separate parts, but rather, the person as a whole
orientates him or herself to the surroundings. The
lifestyle of people and how they behave in the world
are determined by the ideas and beliefs they have
chosen. For example, a person may choose to
believe that he should be better than others or that
he should be liked by others. Adler did not place
importance on genetic factors but more
importantly on how the person used what he or she
inherited in responding to the environment.

(b) Social Adler further suggested that people were

social in nature. So, their behaviour had to be
interpreted in a social context. If this be the case, then
it is important to examine how people behave;
(i) With their family:
(ii) At their school:
(iii) As adults in their workplace,:
(iv) When they are with their friends; and
(v) In intimate relationships.
 PARENTING
Wise parenting will enable children to grow to
feel that they are social equals. In other words,
they are equal members in their families who
have equal rights, equal respect and share
equal responsibilities. Children expect to be
treated equally and expect their views to be
taken into account.
- Alfred Adler
The human baby is born in an inferior position. He is quite
helpless and is dependent on others for survival. The
feeling of inferiority, whether real or imagined, may last
well into his teenage years. Some people become so
engrossed in their feelings of inferiority that they become
emotionally and socially paralyzed and develop an
inferiority complex. Humans are always trying to
overcome physical weakness by striving for perfection
and significance as well as developing a sense of
superiority. Such effort is called compensation. This does
not necessarily mean being overly more powerful or more
significant than others, it simply means moving from a
perceived lower position to a higher one, from feeling
neglected to feeling accepted, and from perceiving
weaknesses to achieving strength. The unique ways in
which an individual achieves his or her superiority is what
is meant by individuality.
According to Adlerian counseling,
humans are mainly motivated by social
interest, meaning people feel a sense of
belonging as well as connected to a
society that treats them as equal. People
who possess social interest are
responsible for themselves and those in
their society. They have an opportunity
to change their beliefs and their behaviors.
Adler considered each person has chosen
to be the person that he or she is; we are
the authors of our own creation. People
can change if they wish. However, change
is not easy for an adult; we are all good at
being our old selves and will have to
struggle at being a different version of
ourselves.
Teleological The word “teleological “ comes from
the Greek word teleo which means goal. Adler felt
that human behaviour is guided by a purpose. To
understand human nature, you have to know what
is guiding a particular behaviour. For example, a
person who is always late, what is his purpose for
being late? Perhaps the person is often late to show
others that he or she is busy. Alternatively, the
person wants to show to others he or she is in
control and nobody can tell him or her to be on
time. Adler called the beliefs that underlie people
goals of behaviour as private logic; to the person it
is logical to behave in such a way.
Birth Order Another major idea of Adler was his emphasis on
birth order. Birth order is the ordinal position an individual is born
into his or her family. Adler proposed that people who share the
same ordinal birth positions share similar characteristics. This is
because the psychological situation of each child is different
from each other depending on his or her birth order. Adler
focused on five positions with each sharing similar unique
characteristics: the oldest, the youngest, the second born, the
middle, and the only child. Birth order and the interpretation of
this position influence one interactions within the family and
with others outside the family. Individuals tend to form their
unique personality from the first years within the family, reacting
to their siblings and family dynamics. Thus, the family
environment is also seen as important to a person
development, especially the first six years of life. A negative
family environment may be rejective, authoritarian, suppressive,
materialistic, overprotective or pitying. A positive family
environment may be democratic, accepting, open,
authoritative, and social
Second born This child finds that she is an addition to
the family, and sharing the spotlight with another
person that comes before her. She strives to gain
attention and to be better than the older sibling. She
competes with the oldest, striving for achievement in
different areas. The second born is often the opposite
of the first-born. Middle child This child often feels left
out since the first and second has already teamup. This
child may adopt the „poor me‰ attitude and creates
problems to gain attention. In a problematic family,
however, the middle child may become the
peacemaker, the person who holds things together.
Youngest child The youngest is often the baby of the
family and becomes the centre of attention. He may
be pampered and spoilt.
He has to strive and become at least as good as the
others ahead of him. Youngest children tend to
develop in unique ways; different from the older
siblings. Only child The only child shares some
characteristics with the oldest child since she is also
the centre of attention and strives to become the
best. She is also pampered and spoilt. She may crave
being in the spotlight all the time, even with those
outside her family. She may have problems sharing or
cooperating with people of her age, yet gets along
well with adults.