Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy

A Practitioner's Wellness Approach

Thomas J. Sweeney

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781351038720
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy, now in its sixth edition, places a fresh emphasis on wellness both in concept and in practice. Written with the practitioner in mind, this text provides a definitive overview of the theory and practice of individual psychology based on the work of both Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs.

The sixth edition retains the clarity, focus, and practicality of the previous editions and incorporates research, methods, and techniques to illustrate the usefulness of the Adlerian approach with children, adolescents, and adults of all ages in settings with individuals, groups, and couples. Parent education, career counseling, lifestyle assessment and counseling, and clinical diagnosis and psychotherapy are all discussed, as are applications for working with clients of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and gender orientations. Neuroscience concepts and methods are described in case examples that illustrate their effectiveness across the lifespan. Readers will also find clinical examples from lifestyle assessment and family counseling meetings, as well as tables and figures that augment the activities and review questions included with each chapter.

Part I

Adler’s Individual Psychology

The Indivisible Self and Wellness

Chapter 1

Alfred Adler

The Man, the Movement, and His Individual Psychology

Chapter 1 is an introduction to the man, the movement, and the psychology of Alfred Adler. It serves as a basis for understanding the assumptions underlying the methods discussed in subsequent chapters, including human development, family constellation, sibling rivalry, major life tasks, the function of emotions, holism, and social interest. Not infrequently, persons new to this literature are surprised to learn how much is known to them through other approaches. On the other hand, each chapter will reveal some unique applications of this approach.

No such overview would be complete without noting other Adlerians who have advanced the philosophy, psychology and methods of its originator, who died in 1937. Rudolf Dreikurs’ work on parent education, classroom management, lifestyle assessment, early recollections, social equality and social justice have been translated into multiple languages worldwide. Perhaps his seminal work, however, is Social Equality: The Challenge of Today. More than a psychology of human development he foresaw and proposed a solution to the inequalities fomenting social upheaval in ours and others’ societies. As a result, multicultural, gender and gender orientation issues are readily addressed through this psychology as a result of both Adler and Dreikurs’ first hand witnessing of the rise of totalitarian regimes prior to WWII.

The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler had its beginning in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. Adler began private practice as an ophthalmologist in 1898, but later turned to general practice, then to neurology, and later psychiatry. This career-interest progression may reflect an inner search for the meaning of life by one subject to near death experiences early in his life.

Adler’s first psychological paper, “The Physician as Educator,” was published in 1904. Its major theme was clearly applicable to all educators. Adler emphasized the importance of the “child’s confidence in his own strength,” particularly in relation to guiding sick or pampered children (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1967). He believed that the child’s greatest good fortune was the personal courage to cope with life. He instructed educators to help children develop discipline by allowing them to experience the natural consequences of their acts without fear of those who educate them. Throughout the remainder of his life, Adler was interested in child-rearing practices and the instruction of parents and teachers in what he considered to be important principles of guiding children.

Mosak and Dreikurs (1973) traced the similarities and differences between Adler and various philosophers and psychologists over the years. To some, Adler appears to be no more than a student of Freud who became a dissenter and pursued variations on psychoanalysis. Adler, however, revealed the outline of this theory in a publication that predated his contact with Freud. Although Adler’s reason for joining Freud is not entirely clear, Freud invited him to join his Wednesday evening discussion group in 1902 after Adler had written two defenses of Freud’s theories. It now appears more accurate to state that Adler was a colleague of Freud, because the evidence suggests that each influenced the other in some aspects of each other’s theory.

From the perspective of visibility in history, Freud clearly has the greater renown. Prochaska and Norcross (2010) noted, however:

Adler was clearly ahead of the learning curve in psychotherapy. His social recasting of Freudian theory predated the evolution of psychodynamic therapy; his task assignments foreshadowed the development of behavioral and other directive therapies; his specific techniques involving imagery and “as if” anticipated the cognitive therapies; and his community outreach and psychoeducational programs foreshadowed contemporary community mental health. Many of Adler’s ideas have quietly permeated modern psychological thinking, often without notice.

(p. 89)

In some respects, this anonymity has been a curiosity to followers of Adler. Differences between him and Freud were so significant that they eventually became antagonists. In his chapter comparing psychoanalytic and Adlerian theory, Gladding (2004) noted the following observations:

Freudian and Adlerian theories differ in a number of ways even though they were developed at about the same time and in a similar environment. Psychoanalysis is biologically based and stresses causality, psychosexual development, the dynamics of the mind, and instincts. Adlerian theory, on the other hand, is socially based, interpersonal, and subjective. It emphasizes the future, holism, equalitarianism, and choice.

The [Freudian] approach is not applicable for the client populations that most counselors serve. The Adlerian approach, however, is widely practiced in school and institutional settings. Its popularity can be attributed to its hopefulness and its usefulness in multiple settings.

(pp. 204–205)

Clearly, Adler viewed human beings as worthwhile, socially motivated, and capable of creative, independent action. The theory is so firmly based upon the philosophy and values of social democracy that only in recent history has it begun to have an impact in education and psychology. Even today, however, comparatively few persons are aware of the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler.

Ellenberger (1970) has stated the circumstances quite succinctly:

Any attempt to assess the influences of Adler’s work brings about a paradox. The impact of individual psychology stands beyond any doubt . . . [but] it would not be easy to find another author from which so much has been borrowed from all sides without acknowledgment than Alfred Adler.

(p. 645)

This borrowing from Adlerian theory and methods tends to be true to such a degree that few persons who have ever studied child-rearing practices, education, or psychology could be considered unaware of Adler’s ideas. On the other hand, few would remember his name were they asked to identify the author of these ideas. For example, although many people see at least a superficial parallel between Eric Berne’s theory of transactional analysis (1964) and Freud’s concepts of id, ego, and superego, few individuals seem to know that Berne’s social-interaction analysis is predicated on many of Adler’s teachings concerning social living and psychological growth. Other major contributors to psychological theory and practice such as Viktor Frankl and Rollo May were students of Adler and on occasion credit him as a source of some of their ideas. Similarly, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, and H. S. Sullivan integrate Adlerian psychology into their own systems—so much so that Ellenberger (1970, p. 860) observed that Horney’s psychology “combines Adlerian teachings with Freudian terminology.”

More recently we note that positive psychology is likewise missing or overlooking the pioneering work of Adler and Dreikurs. The chief author and advocates of this growing area of psychology, Seligman and colleagues, state:

Positive psychology: the study of positive emotion, positive character, and positive institutions (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Drawing on methods effectively used to advance the science of mental disorders, positive psychologists have been studying mental health and well-being. Building on pioneering work by Rogers (1951), Maslow (1954, 1962), Jahoda (1958), Erikson (1963, 1982), Vaillant (1977), Deci and Ryan (1985), and Ryff and Singer (1996)—among many others . . .

(Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005, p. 410)

“Among many others . . .” Adler and Dreikurs rightly could be credited with being among the first to emphasize assets of individuals, couples, and families, building on their strengths and encouraging even those with mental disabilities to live their lives as fully, happily, and in community as possible. Watts & Erguner-Tekinalp (2017) note that: “. . . one can plausibly suggest that Adlerian psychology was the original positive psychology and that the contemporary positive psychology movement is a neo-Adlerian perspective” (Carlson et al., 2006; Erguner-Tekinalp, 2016; Watts, 2012, 2015). p. 329.

Adler and Dreikurs were the first to move into the community using lectures, counseling demonstrations, and consultation through groups to teach parents, teachers, and those who work with them how to encourage, how to solve problems through respect and reason, and how to use happiness as a measure of success (Sonstegard & Bitter, 2004).

Based upon my study and mentoring by Adlerians whom I respected, a colleague and I published our first wellness model based upon research across several disciplines using Adler’s theory as its integrative construct (Sweeney & Witmer, 1991; Witmer & Sweeney, 1992). As will be seen in Chapter 2, a new Adlerian model evolved since then based upon empirical studies over 2 decades including new assessment instruments that have been cross-translated into over a dozen languages. While positive psychology addresses emotional health, the Adlerian models incorporate all dimensions of wellness including, of course, emotional well-being.

Adler would be pleased with such broad-based incorporation of his ideas into the work of others. In fact, he anticipated it, as noted in recollections of him by family and friends. He is quoted as saying:

“There might come a time,” he said, “when one will not any more remember my name; one might even have forgotten that our school ever existed. But this does not matter because everybody working in our field will act as if he had studied with us!”

(Manaster, Painter, Deutsch, & Overholt, 1977, p. 33)

The Man

Adler has been described as an essentially simple man of great personal forcefulness and physical strength, but at the same time gentle and humble in his manner. His personal orientation was toward the betterment of the human condition (Ansbacher, 1969). Adler was the second of six children from a Jewish family. His brother Sigmund was 2 years his senior; Hermine, 1 year younger; Irma, 4 years younger; and Max and Richard, 7 and 14 years younger, respectively. There were two siblings, younger and older, who were deceased. Not surprising to Adlerians because of the concept of sibling rivalry, Adler perceived his older brother as his rival. His early school experiences were not entirely successful. He did so poorly in mathematics that his father was encouraged to place him in an apprenticeship in secondary school. Instead, Adler applied himself until he developed the needed skill in math.

Adler was born on February 7, 1870. His father was a middle-class merchant and his mother was a homemaker. His earlier years included poor health with rickets, pneumonia at the age of 5 years, and being run over by a vehicle. His health improved as he grew older, and his interest in medicine was encouraged by his father and resulted in a degree from the University of Vienna in 1895. Adler described his interest in medicine as an effort to defeat death.

Individuals create their own evaluations and choices of how to respond to life events.

Adler’s interest in why people respond differently to similar life events is reflected in his early attention to the Study of Organ Inferiority and its Physical Compensation: A Contribution to Clinical Medicine (1907). His later lectures, books, and articles illustrated even more clearly the realization that individuals create their own evaluations and choices of how to respond to life events. According to a book of remembrances of those who knew the man, he obviously chose to enjoy life. Not one to miss a good time, he enjoyed telling stories and participating in singing sessions around a piano (Manaster, Painter, Deutsch, & Overholt, 1977).

After serving as a medical officer in World War I, he established a number of child-guidance clinics in the Vienna schools. Through these clinics, teachers, social workers, physicians, and others learned to understand children’s behavior and how to help them. Through the clinics, which spread throughout Europe at that time, and his unique style of public lecture and demonstration, Adler developed a relatively small but significant following.

In 1935, when the Nazis began their oppression of Europe, Adler had to flee to the United States with his then radical, politically unacceptable ideas about a society of social equals. Although he had taught and lectured extensively in the United States, his death in 1937, while on tour in Scotland, left a significant void. His followers in the United States found great resistance by those who had adopted Freud’s psychoanalysis. In addition, history shows that at the time the United States was far from truly accepting and practicing the equalitarian principles upon which Individual Psychology is based.

The Movement

With this background, one can only admire all the more the persistence and resiliency of Adler and those who followed him. His most noted student and colleague, Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, deserves special mention (1953). A prolific writer and founder of the Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago, through personal energy and talent he brought Adler’s ideas into practical usefulness for thousands of parents, couples, and practitioners. His sense of urgency in teaching others how to live together was evident in his level of writing, lecturing, and counseling even until his death in 1972. Having recollections of him myself through lectures, counseling demonstrations, and informal talks, I can vouch for the fact that he lived what he taught.

In their book on the life and works of Rudolf Dreikurs, The Courage to Be Imperfect, Terner and Pew (1978) helped readers to know him better through many anecdotes recalled by friends and students. One of their quotes from Dreikurs may help the reader to understand the man better:

I don’t mi...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Praise
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Forms
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction to the Sixth Edition
• Part I Adler’s Individual Psychology: The Indivisible Self and Wellness
• Part II What We Learn from Life
• Part III First- Versus Second-Order Change: Counseling and Psychotherapy
• Part IV Applications of Individual Psychology: Work, Friendship, Love, and Spirit
• Appendix A: Family Counseling
• Appendix B: Family Council
• About the Author
• About the Contributors
• Index