Alfred Adler-Individual Psychology
Basic Principles of Individual Psychology
Adler’s individual psychology uses psychotherapy and education with the goal of helping clients to “realize that feelings of pain and inadequacy are caused not by others but by their own faulty logic and the behaviors and attitudes that stem from that logic (Reichenberg and Seligman, 2014 p. 69).” Adler’s individual psychology focuses on encouragement, logic, family and society as well as early childhood development.
Importance of Feelings of inferiority
-Striving to achieve superiority and mastery in one's own life. Exploring how children are treated and how they overcome feelings of inferiority and how can provide insight into a person's overall lifestyle.
Family constellation and Birth order
-Adler looked at how birth order influenced development based on the social nature of humans. He believed that by examining the family constellation one can better understand an individuals lifestyle choices.
Adler characterized children born in a specific family order with similar characteristics
Oldest- tend to be the most intelligent and achieving with strong verbal skills
Second-tend to be more caring, friendly and expressive, tend to seek activities that are not similar to their high achieving sibling.
Middle-tend to feel squeezed between their high achieving older sibling and not getting the attention that the younger child gets. Often view themselves as unloved and neglected.
Youngest- often become adventurous, and easy going, emphatic and social. The youngest often is spoiled, and some can have difficulty keeping up with the other siblings in the family. These children can experience strong feelings of inferiority, but their most likely ally in the home is the oldest child.
Only children- similar to both first born and last born. They tend to seek achievement, and can become focused on only their own needs.(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014).
![Picture](/uploads/9/0/9/8/90988814/birth-order.jpg?250)
image: education-portal.com
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Techniques
Adler's process addresses the stages of treatment and he outlines 4 treatment phases
Phase 1:
Establishing the Therapeutic Relationship and Setting Goals
Phase 2:
Assessment, Analysis and understanding of the person and the Problem
Phase 3:
Reeducation, Insight, and Interpretation
Phase 4:
Reorientation, Reinforcement, termination and follow-up
Phase 1:
Establishing the Therapeutic Relationship and Setting Goals
Phase 2:
Assessment, Analysis and understanding of the person and the Problem
Phase 3:
Reeducation, Insight, and Interpretation
Phase 4:
Reorientation, Reinforcement, termination and follow-up
Interventions
Adlerian therapy offers a wide variety of creative interventions
Catching oneself- encouraging people to be more conscious of repetitive faulty goals
Pushing the button-helps people become more aware of how they can control their emotions
Spitting in the client's soup-identifying underlying motivations behind self-defeating behaviors and spoiling the payoff by
making it undesirable.
Immediacy-focuses on the interaction between client and clinician to mirror outside interactions
Prescribing the symptom-asking the client to magnify the problem
Confrontation-pointing out discrepancies in the client's interpretation
Task assignments-client will engage in a planned activity such as observing writing, client agrees to tasks and this can help to promote a sense of responsibility and competence
Humor, Silence, advice, reflection- to build rapport and positive change, and self awareness
(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014).
Catching oneself- encouraging people to be more conscious of repetitive faulty goals
Pushing the button-helps people become more aware of how they can control their emotions
Spitting in the client's soup-identifying underlying motivations behind self-defeating behaviors and spoiling the payoff by
making it undesirable.
Immediacy-focuses on the interaction between client and clinician to mirror outside interactions
Prescribing the symptom-asking the client to magnify the problem
Confrontation-pointing out discrepancies in the client's interpretation
Task assignments-client will engage in a planned activity such as observing writing, client agrees to tasks and this can help to promote a sense of responsibility and competence
Humor, Silence, advice, reflection- to build rapport and positive change, and self awareness
(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014).