Adlerian Theory of

Counselling
Alfred Adler 1870-1937

 Born in Vienna middle class Jewish family

 Converted and became a Christian

 2nd of six children-profound influence

 Felt in shadow of his older brother

 Invalid as child rickets, pneumonia

 Very close to his father-no oedipal need

 1921-1934-30 mental health clinics in schools-closed by Nazis - drop in delinquency at time

 Came to USA in 1934 till his death

Adlerian theory differs from Freudian theory
in 4 distinct Freudian theory in 4 distinct ways:
•  Social relatedness motivates humans rather than sexual urges.
•  Consciousness rather than unconsciousness is the primary source of ideas and
values.
•  The determinants of behavior consist of more than just one’s genetics or
environment.
•  Humans are viewed as discouraged rather than mentally ill.
Key Concepts

•  Human Nature

•  Social Interest and Community Feelings

•  Birth Order and Sibling Relationships

• Life style

• Complexes
Adlerian Therapy Focus

 Importance of the feelings of self (ego) that arise form interactions conflicts

 Sense of self(ego) central core of personality

 Ego core individuality of person

 Start from Psychoanalysis

 Emphasis on motivation social interaction

Alfred Adlers Individual Psychology

 A phenomenological approach

 Social interest is stressed

 Birth order and sibling relationships

 Therapy as teaching, informing and encouraging

 Basic mistakes in the client’s private logic

View of Human Nature
• A person's perceptions are based on his or her view of reality.
• Each person must be viewed as an individual from a holistic perspective, not as parts (id, ego,
superego).
• Human behavior is goal oriented (teleological - to an end cause).
• Understanding the causes of behavior is not as important as understanding the goal to which a
person is directed.
• Social interest and a positive involvement in the community are innate but needs to be nurtured in
a family where cooperation and trust are hallmarks of a healthy personality.
• Understanding and analyzing the way we attempt to reach our goals are at the heart of Adlerian
counseling.
• Striving for superiority, each of us is trying to overcome basic inferiority as a normal part of life.
The Phenomenological Approach

 Adlerians attempt to view the world from the clients subjective frame of
reference

 How life is in reality is less important than how the individual believes life to be

 It is not the childhood experiences that are crucial It is our present interpretation
of these events

 Unconscious instincts and our past do not determine our behavior

Social Interest

 Adler’s most significant and distinctive concept

 Refers to an individuals 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
Role of Birth Order
 Motivates later behavior

 First-born favoured, only, pseudo-parent-high achievers

 Second-born rivalry competition

 Last-born more pampered, baby- creative, rebellious, revolutionary, avant-garde

Birth Order

Adler’s five psychological positions

 Oldest child receives more attention, spoiled, center of attention
 Second of only two behaves as if in a race, often opposite to first child
 Middle often feels squeezed out
 Youngest the baby- over pampered, Extroverted, Short attention span
 Only does not learn to share or cooperate with other children, learns to
deal with adults
Lifestyle
• Individually unique.

ž Used throughout life to work toward goals and to govern life.

ž Developed early in life and is influenced by both biology and psychosocial factors.

• Four Areas:

1. The self-concept: the convictions about who I am.

2. The self-ideal: the convictions about what I should be or am obliged to be to have a place.

3. The Weltbild, or "picture of the world:" the convictions about the not- self(world, people, nature, and so on) and
what the world demands of me.

4. The ethical convictions: the personal "right-wrong" code .

Lifestyle
žThe individual uses this "map" to interpret the world and to interact
with it. This is sometimes called a person's "private logic."
 Problems can occur when there are inconsistencies or incongruities in
the lifestyle beliefs.
Mistaken Beliefs
ž Sometimes people develop distorted lifestyle beliefs as a result of what they have concluded about themselves
and the world.

 These frustrate the goals of social connectedness and productivity that are central to effective psychological
functioning.

Five kinds of basic mistakes are:

1. overgeneralizations

2. false or impossible goals of "security"

3. misperceptions of life and life's demands,

4. minimization or denial of one's worth

5. faulty values
 Complexes
Inferiority feelings: Feeling of inferiority is a conscious or unconscious
• recognition of physical or psychological insufficiency. Every child experiences a
sense of helplessness because of his size and dependence on others. Adler
postulated that inferiority feelings keep human beings moving towards full
realisation of self. There are three sources of this feeling
a) biological dependency
b) our image in relation to the universe
c) organ inferiority.
• Inferiority feeling is not considered as abnormality but motivation to improve.
For example, a child is motivated by feeling of inferiority to strive for a higher
level of development.
Superiority feelings: The inferiority feelings lead to attempt to
overcome
• superiority. It is not that the person does not want to overcome
inferiority but the person wants to be superior to what he is at present (
a state of dependency). For Adler superiority does not mean social
distinction, leadership or a prestigious position in society but it is
striving for perfect completion. From birth to death, the striving for
superiority carries the person from one stage of development to the
next higher stage.
Process of Counselling

• The basic assumptions of Adler’s theory are as given below.

a) Every behaviour is goal directed
b) Humans are basically social
c) The functions of the person become the important part of an
individual’s
Based on this Adler has come up with the goals that are
put for the counselling as
given below:
• Encouraging social interest
• To help the person deal with feelings of inferiority.
• Modifying the views of the client.
• To make the client feel that he is equal to others.
• To change the faulty motivation.
• To make the clients aware that they should make some contribution
to the society.
Client Therapist Relationship

 Relationship based on mutual trust, respect, confidence, alignment of goals

 Collaborative relationship

 Develop a therapeutic contract-goals for therapy

 Emphasis of responsibility of client for his or her own behaviors

Phases in counselling
 Establishing the Relationship

 Exploring the psychological dynamics operating in the client-assessment

 Encouraging development of self-understanding-insight into purpose

 Helping client make new choices-reorientation re-education

 Encouragement process

 Change and search for new responsibilities

1. Establishing Relationship

 Therapist get to know the client as a person

 Collaborate on goals for therapy

 Supportive therapist-caring human connection

 Therapist works to make client feel deeply understood and accepted

 Client focuses on what needs to changed in therapy

2. Exploring Individuals Dynamics
 Subjective interview

 Client tells own story as expert on own life

 Therapist listens for clues to clients coping and approach to life

 The Question How would your life be different, and what would you do differently, if you did not have this
symptom or problem?

 Objective interview Life Style Assessment

 Family constellation

 Early Recollections

 Personality Priorities

 Integration and Summary

3. Encouraging Self-Understanding Insight

 Insight understanding of motivations that operate in clients life

 Client-disclosure Therapist-interpretation

 Therapist interpretations offered in open-ended manner to

 Make unconscious process conscious

 Confront resistance so to help client therapist to align

 Explore purposes of symptoms, feelings, behaviors human difficulties or blocks

4. Helping with Reorientation Re-education
 Encouragement process to build courage to change to overcome
discouragement-personal growth
is encouraged and reinforced
 Change and search for new possibilities
 Making a difference-through change in behavior, attitude or
perception
5. Encouragement Process
 Encouragement is the most powerful method available for changing a persons 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
6. Change and search for new responsibilities
• In this phase the clients make decisions and also modify their goals.
• This is the phase in which the client tries to find a solution to his
problems.
Adlerian Approaches are Applied

 Education

 Parent Education-Children the Challenge-Rudolph Dreikurs Soltz, 1964

 Marriage Counseling

 Family Counseling

 Group Work