1. Chapter Three: Individual Psychology
The Therapeutic Approach of Alfred Adler

2. Biographical Information
Born 1870, second of six children
Had a sickly childhood
Freud and Adler

3. Theoretical Principals
The whole person
Striving with a purpose
Striving for superiority
Pheomenology
Ideographic
Soft Determinism

4. Further Theoretical Principals
Social interest and community feeling
Lifestyle

5. Tasks of Life Work, or occupation Love and marriage
Social Relationships
Self
Spirituality
Parenting and Family

6. The Practice of Adlerian Therapy
Client Preparation
Assessment Issues
Therapy Process

7. Forming the Therapeutic Relationship
Alignment of goals
Focus on the positive
Initial lifestyle interpretations

8. Lifestyle Assessment and Analysis
Family Constellation Interview
Earliest Recollections
Dream Analysis

9. Specific Techniques The future autobiography Creating new images
Acting “As if”
The Push-Button technique
Spitting in the client’s soup
Catching oneself
Task Setting
Paradoxical Strategies
Advice, Suggestion, Direction

10. Therapy Outcome Research
Lack of controlled, empirical studies
Some studies show slight positive outcome

11. Multicultural Perspectives
Overall problems noted with use of “insight” therapies
Is Adlerian therapy dependent on insight?

12. Concluding Comments Adler is ubiquitous Often, not given credit
Everything is a matter of opinion

13. Student Review Assignments
Critical corner
Reviewing key terms
Review questions

14. Critical Corner
Much of individual psychology is based on concepts such as lifestyle and the individual’s subjective fictional goals. These concepts are, at best elusive, and at worst, fictional. Comment on how a modern psychological theory could base itself on such unscientific concepts.

15. Critical Corner (continued)
The Adlerian family constellation and, in particular birth order, is too flexible for practical evaluation. For example, birth order research has been flatly negative—in that birth order, in and of itself does not adequately predict individual personality or behavior. However, Adler’s belief in the individual’s unique interpretation of birth order and family position makes it impossible to systematically evaluate these theoretical influences on human behavior.

16. Critical Corner (continued)
One of the cornerstones of Adlerian therapy is that insight produces motivation for change. Do you think that’s true? Is there any empirical evidence to support the contention that insight produces motivation?

17. Critical Corner (continued)
One of the cornerstones of Adlerian therapy is that insight produces motivation for change. Do you think that’s true? Is there any empirical evidence to support the contention that insight produces motivation?

18. Critical Corner (continued)
In this chapter Adler has been characterized as a strong feminist. However, he also wrote that the woman’s proper place is in the home, raising children and that’s where his wife spent most of her time. Consequently, from a feminist perspective, although Adler may have been a feminist in his time, he can hardly be viewed as a man who was completely liberated from the trappings of masculine domination.

19. Critical Corner (continued)
As a theory, individual psychology is somewhat loose and poorly organized. Adler spent more time lecturing and talking about therapy cases and less time writing out his ideas into a coherent and integrated theory. Although no one claims his ideas are poor, it’s obvious from reading Adler that his theory is underdeveloped. In fact, individual psychology is more like the pasting together of a number of common sense ideas about humans rather than a formal theory of personality

20. Reviewing Key Terms The masculine protest Holism Purposeful striving
Superiority striving
The idiographic approach

21. Key Terms (continued) Soft determinism Social interest
Community feeling
Phenomenology

22. Key Terms (continued) Tasks of life
Fictional goals or fictional finalism
Lifestyle
The four goals of children’s misbehavior
The four stages of Adlerian therapy

23. Key Terms (continued) Family constellation The question Birth order
Early recollections
Dream analysis
Basic mistakes

24. Key Terms (continued) Future autobiography Creating new images
Acting “as if”
Push button
Spitting in the client’s soup
Catching oneself
Task-setting and indirect suggestion
Paradoxical strategies
I’ll betcha

25. Review Questions
1.  According to Dreikurs, what two psychosocial needs should be fulfilled in order to alleviate children’s pursuit of the four goals of misbehavior?
2.  Adler emphasized the importance of “winning the patient.” What does he mean by this and what is the other major point he makes about the attitude of the therapist during therapy?
3.  From the Adlerian perspective, discuss the relationship between insight and motivation.
4.  Answer the following question as briefly as you can: How do Adlerians propose that individual clients overcome their basic mistakes?

26. Review Questions (continued)
1.  Identify and operationally define one Adlerian concept that you think should and could be evaluated using modern quantitative scientific research methods.
2.  For an Adlerian, what causes psychopathology?
3.  Discuss the suitability of Adlerian therapy for ethnoculturally diverse clients. Which of the techniques discussed in this chapter do you think would be appropriate and/or inappropriate for clients of specific ethnocultural backgrounds?