¶ Adlerian Therapy and Key Concepts
So , Linton , what are we talking about today ?
We're talking about Adlerian therapy , something that you might run into on your examination , so you've got to know about it .
Okay .
Well , tell me a little bit about it .
All right . Well , adlerian therapy , also called individual psychology , is an approach that was developed by Alfred Adler in the early 1900s . It focuses on understanding an individual's subjective experiences , their social context and the motivational factors that influence their behavior .
So Adler emphasized the importance of social connectedness , personal growth and a sense of belonging .
That sounds similar to other theories . So what theories might I get Adlerian mixed up with on the exam and how can I actually differentiate between them ? Stacey .
Okay , gotcha . Well , probably an example that pops to mind right off the bat is psychodynamic therapy . So both Adlerian therapy and psychodynamic .
At some point in the therapy process you're going to be exploring childhood memories early recollection stuff that happened before age six , and so there is that exploration of the past that the two share in common , but they are a bit different , because Adler broke away from Freud .
Did he work with Freud ?
He did , yeah , he worked with Freud . And then Freud kind of stayed really orthodox . He stayed really hardcore to his original theories . It wasn't really open to things evolving . But Adler he looked at individuals as a whole and saw them in the social environment , which was really important concept for him .
And .
Freud just thought that was bonkers . So Adler kind of branched off and did his own thing .
So that's one that you need to be aware of when you take the exam . That might have some similar things . Basically with early recollections , Exactly All right , and then ?
what about some key principles or concepts that our chest takers would need to know about when it comes to Adlerian therapy ?
Okay , once again , like you said that , he looked at it in terms of a more social context . He had a holistic view of the individual that Freud didn't have . So Adlerian therapy views individuals as holistic beings . You need to consider the physical , psychological , social and spiritual dimensions of that individual when you're doing therapy .
Okay , can you give me maybe a few examples or elaborate on how you would do that ?
Yeah , sure , once again . Like I said , adlerian therapy looks at human beings as complex and multidimensional . Their well-being is influenced by different dimensions that we mentioned before the physical , psychological , social and spiritual aspects . What do I mean by physical dimension ? Obviously physical health . That includes things such as nutrition , exercise and sleep .
An example of that would be in a narrative or a case study . You need to see if they're maintaining a balanced diet , they're engaging in regular physical activity and getting enough rest .
Those are some things that Adlerian would be concerned about their physical appearance , how they perceive their own body and how attached they are to their body and what they do in terms of its well-being . Conversely , chronic illnesses how do they cope and manage chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease and substance use ?
Issues related to substance abuse or addictions fall under that category of physical dimension that an Adlerian would want to explore . The psychological dimension , emotional well-being how they manage and they understand their emotions , such as anger , sadness , happy and anxiety . Mental health what do they do to cope with stress , depression , anxiety disorders ?
How do they manage to function ? Can they think , can they reason , can they do problem solving ? Can they make decisions ? Another area of the psychological dimension is their self-esteem . Can you tell me what that is , stacey ?
How you feel about your self , your abilities .
Self-worth playing a significant role in how that works in basically the whole psychological dimension . Third area is social dimensions relationships . That's really important . I think that's one of the more important ones , doesn't she think , stacey ?
Absolutely yes . Adler was really after . How do you relate to others , how do you belong , how do you contribute back to society , caring about other people ?
Definitely look at the relationships in terms of families , friends or partners that they have Social support . They have a network of people that can help them out . The involvement was another thing , because Freud wasn't really into that at all . But how do they participate in social groups , volunteer work ? How do they engage with the community ?
I hear you're doing a lot of that up there .
Oh yes , that's one of the great things about living in a small town up in the Midwest a lot of opportunities for being involved in the community , where you really get to know your neighbors . It's not like everyone just pulls into their garage and closes up shop .
Like here .
Exactly , I remember that being pretty typical in Orlando . But yeah , we've . You know there's all kinds of groups . You know even small , small groups to be a part of weeding plants . You know weeding gardens around town . You know being part of the little historical society stuff like that .
That's neat . And probably the last thing about the social dimension . It was really important . It was this communication skills , the ability to effectively communicate , which means being able to talk . No , it means being able to listen and to empathize with others . The fourth area that Adlerian stress is the spiritual dimension . What is their belief system ?
This can encompass religious beliefs or a broader sense of spirituality , which generally results in a sense of purpose , meaning or connection to something greater than themselves . That seems like that would relate to who was it ? It wasn't Maslow . The hierarchy of needs .
Yeah , well , the hierarchy of needs . You're right , that was Maslow . Another one that comes to mind is Victor Frankel . So he was doing stuff with , you know , logotherapy and existential therapy , where ? It's really the search for meaning , the search for what is your purpose , you know , as a human .
And actually in that way that Adlerian therapy is similar to existential therapy in that respect when there ? Is that Exactly ?
Another one was mindfulness and meditations . What do you do to practice and promote self-awareness , inner peace and a sense of transcendence ? Values and ethics Personal values , ethics , principles and moral beliefs .
And of course , the last one is sense of purpose , feeling a sense of direction and fulfillment in life , and many times that is tied to one's spiritual or existential beliefs .
Yeah , Wow , Well , that's great Lynne to . That is a really good comprehensive outline of what holistic really means the full person . All right , so then we've got another concept in Adlerian therapy which we've kind of touched on but we'll go into a little bit more is social interest , right ?
So we know Adler was really big on the individual in the social environment . So social interest refers to an individual's attitude toward and their awareness of being part of the human community . And basically your mental health , and we're talking about counseling here .
Mental health is measured by the degree to which the person successfully shares with others and is concerned with the welfare of others .
Well , something that comes to mind is what about if the person is an introvert ? How does that ?
work . Yes , I can speak to this one personally because I think about being socially involved and it kind of seems overwhelming because it's sort of draining being around a lot of people .
But there are ways to be mindful of and take part in a community that are kind of in line with your personality and so if you're introverted , it's more about the quality over the quantity of your social connections . So the ways that you're involved are still going to be ways that you're comfortable with doing but are making a difference .
So you might do something like a more solitary activity that contributes to the community . Maybe you're involved in a community garden you're making or creating artwork you're writing something like that you're volunteering for a cause that you care about . Maybe you're working behind the scenes more than taking like a direct active leadership role .
So those are a few things that spring to mind . Even other things , like you know , talking more one-on-one with people versus in a large group setting .
Right Okay . So it doesn't have to be a person-to-person kind of thing , as long as there's some social interest . That's a really important aspect that Adlerians throw into the mix in terms of determining what's going on and how to modify whatever dysfunction that is occurring . So there are two other basic concepts that Adlerians use .
One is inferiority complex and the other one is superiority complex . Right Stacy .
Yeah , yeah . And so we've got inferiority and superiority as feelings themselves , adler viewed as perfectly normal , healthy .
You know , at times you feel inadequate or you feel like you know you're lacking confidence , but they're more of a temporary kind of a feeling of conversely with superiority feelings you might feel you know , really confident , or maybe you have an idea that you think is better than somebody else's . You know something like that .
But they turn into complexes when they're more severe and persistent over a longer period of time .
So , while inferiority complex is not inherently bad that's what you're saying that it's okay to have those feelings from time to time , especially in situations when you're doing something that you haven't done before or you have less experience or you're not as skilled , but when it becomes a persistent and overwhelming concept , it can have negative consequences on the
person's mental and emotional well-being , depending , once again , like what you said , with the intensity and duration of those feelings of inferiority . And if those do happen on a long-term basis , the result is that it affects low self-esteem , negative self-image , it impacts your mental health and it many times results in relational difficulties .
¶ Superiority Complex and Birth Order Impact
What about the superiority complex ? Similar ?
So superiority would be kind of the other end of the spectrum where , while it's normal to be striving for mastery over something or have a certain degree of competence , you can become overly confident . So this is sort of the egomaniacal kind of idea . Right Is that ? You're like I'm the best , there's no one better you've seen , like really arrogant .
You're bragging about yourself a lot , you're quick to argue with people because you're the one who's always right about stuff . So that's when you're looking at more of a superiority complex , when it's gone beyond just the feeling confident , feeling good about what you're doing . This is more of like a reach . It's crossed the threshold .
Right , so it's sort of like pinky . What are we doing tonight ?
What's that reference to Linton ?
I thought you would know that you know being of that generation .
Oh , which generation is that ?
Do you know ?
how old I am , Linton .
We're going to try to take over the world .
Yeah , okay . Well , that sounds superiority complex to me .
Okay . Well , when it does come in handy is when it can be a motivator for you to become an expert in the field or some kind of achievement .
If you're in a leadership role , it's important public speaking and performance , negotiating and persuasion , and also if you are in your own business or you're working with innovation , it's important to be able to think outside of the box . So those are the basic concepts , but let's say that you have a client in with you and you are an Adlerian therapist .
What would you focus on with the client to begin with ?
So one thing that Adlerians really focus on is the individual's subjective perception . So , this is their belief , that individuals create their own unique subjective perception of reality .
So the way .
I see and interact in the world is very different than the way that you see and interact in the world . That's for sure . Yes , it is so , and this is why it's so important to you know . Get into the shoes of your client and really see how they're looking at things . So what are their beliefs , what are their values , how are they interpreting things ?
And you , as the therapist , are going to be working with them to examine and challenge any distorted perceptions , or you know , I guess , what Adler called basic mistakes in the client's logic .
Is that like CBT ?
A little bit actually .
Yeah that's where Adlerian and CBT kind of have a little crossover , is that you are looking at the way the client is thinking about certain events or you know they've created kind of these unhelpful thoughts that are influencing their behavior and into adulthood , and a lot of that is is based off of things that happened when they were children .
Children . So it's basically self-defeating perceptions and attitudes based on childhood that are brought into their adult living .
Exactly so Adlerians are going to be looking at as part of the assessment process . They're going to be looking at family dynamics .
They're also going to be asking questions about birth order , which is an important concept for Adlerian therapy , that's a really major one , where they you know birth order the firstborn , the middle child , the youngest child and the only child you know .
You may have questions about that and you need to know what types of behaviors , responsibilities or lack of responsibilities each one of those groups of children have and how that may be influencing their current behaviors .
Exactly . It's always puzzled me as a as an only child . I see families that have siblings and how you know say there's four siblings how four siblings grew up in the same house together , same parents , same relatively same resources , but they all turn out completely differently . And Adler has a really interesting theory about that with birth order .
Yeah , Well , only children , you know . They basically display a combination of all the characteristics of all the birth order .
Oh , be careful , Lynchie , you might give me a superiority complex about that .
A lot of times they're independent , self-reliant and they're always comfortable with adult interactions . Why would that be ?
Well , from my own experience , I spent a lot of time around adults my parents' friends Exactly . Or by myself , you know , kind of like imaginary , you know games and stuff , but yeah .
You had imaginary friends , didn't you ?
Well , I'm not in the same way , I think , as other people describe imaginary friends .
Oh .
OK , it was sort of like I was adopting the role of the different imaginary friends .
Oh , that's even more interesting .
A topic for another episode .
Yeah , Now the only child also experiences pressure from guess who .
Yes , the parent .
To excel and to seek perfection as well . Not that there's anything wrong with seeking perfection , right Stacy .
Well , just knowing that it's unattainable . I think you got to get there and realize that you know , if that's what you're looking for in life , you're doomed . So I look at it as more improvement over perfection . I've landed there over the years .
That's what we call a reframe .
Stacy . Thank you , thank you very much
¶ Key Concepts in Adlerian Therapy
.
So again , adlerians look at early childhood experiences , the subjective perception of the individual basic mistakes that we touched on early , and also encouragement .
So from an .
Adlerian viewpoint , encouragement is the most powerful method available to foster self-confidence and ignite courage for an individual . So clients are empowered to acknowledge their ability to make choices and to take different actions . So that's something that is really important to an Adlerian therapist .
Yeah , yeah . They'd probably argue that it's the most important . I don't know that you could call it a technique exactly , but it's more of a way of being , an attitude the therapist has with the client , because a lot of clients a way an Adlerian would look at it is that they've been discouraged .
You know in their life and that's kind of creating this multitude of issues . And so , an Adlerian , the most profound thing that they can do with somebody is to offer encouragement .
OK , Stacy , let's go ahead and sum everything up .
All right . So we have the key concepts in Adlerian therapy , which include a holistic view of the individual .
Right Social interests of the individual .
We have inferiority and superiority complexes .
And then another grouping , which is early childhood experiences , subjective perception , basic mistakes and encouragement . So those are the key concepts that you need to take into consideration when you're looking at a case study or narrative , and also when you're answering a question that deals specifically with Adlerian therapy and , as we always say , it's in there .