1. Theoretical Models of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 3rd Edition Chapter 4: Adlerian Counseling/ Individual Psychology

2. Historical Overview: Alfred Adler
Born in Vienna, 1870; second of six children
Encountered severe illness and early encounters with death
First practice dealt with carnival artists and performers which contributed to his idea of organ inferiority and compensation
Contemporary of Freud
Served as medic during World War I
Died in 1937

3. Philosophical Foundation
Responsibility & Creativity
Teleology
Phenomenology
Holism
Social embeddedness

4. Personality Development Human Nature
Function of psyche
All humans are born inferior and immediately begin to move away from this feeling to a feeling of superiority (belonging, competence)
Innate potential for social interest; connecting and collaborating with the world

5. Personality Development Human Nature
Structure of psyche
Lifestyle – cognitive map expressed in thoughts, feelings, and actions
Conclusions/convictions about
• Self • Others • The world
Self-created goals
Core (related to personality priority)
Hidden
Immediate (situational)

6. Personality Development Human Nature
Structure of psyche
Personality priority
Superiority
Self-control
Control of others
Pleasing
Comfort

7. Personality Development Human Nature
Tasks of Life:
Love
Work
Friendship
Self
Spirituality

8. Personality Development Role of the Environment
Family: One’s first society
Psychological atmosphere (perceived)
Values
Patterns of interaction
Extent to which caretakers encourage development of social interest through:
Example
Instruction
Psychological birth order (perceived)
Extrafamilial influences

9. Model of Healthy and Unhealthy Behavior
A healthy lifestyle is characterized by:
Basic convictions in accordance with the common sense
Relatively free of basic mistakes
High in social interest
Courage and ability to meet the life tasks of
• Work • Friendship
• Love • Self
• Spirituality
Low in use of safeguarding mechanisms

10. Model of Healthy and Unhealthy Behavior
An unhealthy lifestyle is characterized by:
Basic convictions out of accordance with the common sense
High in basic mistakes
Overgeneralization
False or impossible goals of security (the “only if” absurdity)
Minimization or denial of one’s worth
Faulty values
Misperceptions of life and life’s demands
Low in social interest

11. Model of Healthy and Unhealthy Behavior
An unhealthy lifestyle is characterized by:
Discouragement and difficulty meeting the life tasks
High in safeguarding mechanisms
Distancing
Hesitating
Detouring
Narrowing the path

12. Personality Change Client’s Role
Motivation to seek counseling
Capacity for change - related to courage to change
Responsibility for change
Sources of resistance
Misalignment of goals
Lack of openness to challenge or responsibility
Unwilling to explore past and relate to present
Safeguarding mechanisms

13. Personality Change Counselor’s Role
Counseling vs. psychotherapy
Goal:
Understanding basic mistakes turned into action to reorient basic convictions in the direction of the common sense (social interest)
Roles
Collaborator (in cooperative, egalitarian venture)
Analyzer (of lifestyle, especially private logic and basic mistakes)
Educator (about the common sense and social interest)
Encourager (to modify basic convictions away from self-interest and toward common sense and social interest)

14. Personality Change Stages and Techniques
1. Relationship establishment
Empathy (“See with the client’s eyes; hear with the client’s ears” -- Alfred Adler) – basic counseling skills of reflection and open-ended questions
Genuineness
Unconditional positive regard
2. Investigation of lifestyle to uncover basic convictions,
especially mistakes: Explore client’s perceptions of:
• Family atmosphere • Birth order (psychological, not ordinal)
• Early recollections • Personality priorities
• Dream analysis • The Question

15. Personality Change Stages and Techniques
3. Understanding
Counselor shares results of investigation with client
Purpose:
Client feels encouraged in basic convictions that conform to the common sense/social interest
Client grasps basic mistakes and how they manifest in thoughts, feelings, and actions
4. Reorientation
Purpose: Insight into Action– counselor encourages client to turn understanding into action of modifying basic mistakes in direction of the common sense/social interest
• Advice • Act “as if” (imagery, in vivo) • Humor
• Homework • Confront (point out discrepancies) • Paradoxical intention
• Catching oneself • Push button • Spit in client’s soup

16. Contributions and Limitations
The concept of social interest paired healthy functioning with contributed to the greater good
Emphasized positive potential instead of pathology
Ideas based on “common sense’ and have been incorporated into a wide range of current approaches
Limitations
Lacks a comprehensive theory of learning
Needs more pure theory research on efficacy

17. Interface with Recent Developments in the Field
Nature/nurture question: Acknowledgement of genetic dispositions but focus remains on subjective use of those biological elements. Likewise, it is not the person’s family that determines outcome, but the individual’s perception of those factors
DSM-5 diagnosis: Focus on individual meaning and manifestation of symptoms. How is the client using the symptoms?
Pharmacotherapy: Open to using it as a way to then use other ways to gain health.

18. Interface with Recent Developments in the Field
Managed care and brief therapy: The emphasis on the client progressing thought the stages and gaining insight which is moved into action. This does not necessarily need to be a lengthy process, but should be client determined/controlled.
Technical eclecticism: Adler’s concepts have been integrated into just about every other theory. As such, it is fairly easy to integrate other theories’ techniques and remain philosophically congruent.
Diversity issues: Phenomenological stance appreciates the subjective view of the individual
Spirituality: Approach described in Tasks of Life
Effectiveness of psychotherapy: Research support exists but more is needed

19. Current Status
Institutes provides formal graduate level training throughout the world
Professional organizations (NASAP) provide trainings and resource materials
Journal of Individual Psychology dessimminates research

20. References
Fall, K. A., Holden, J. M., & Marquis, A. (2016). Theoretical models of counseling and psychotherapy (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.