Adlerian Theory of Counselling: A Comprehensive Overview, Lecture notes of Psychology

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Adlerian Theory of

Counselling

Alfred Adler 1870-

 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

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

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

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

The 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

 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

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

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