WHEN FREUD MEETS ADLER: A THEORETICAL DEBATE

Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis and Alfred Adler’s theory of individual psychology are
different in many ways. Like in the case of Ms Shreya we observed-

(I am writing things in point so that it becomes easy to refer to them)

Freud-
1.Freud emphasized on the role of unconscious and repressed memories in his theories. In Ms
Shreya’s case it can be seen that she has a lot of repressed sexual drives, where an individual
denies ever being sexually curious during her adolescence. She might have had feelings for her
father that she had suppressed. She might have used sublimation here where she started
idealizing her father and started seeking his approval.
2. There is a denial of sexual urges on the part of Shreya.
3. There is also some electra complex coming into play here as we can see the incident where
Shreya mentioned that when she was little, she enjoyed racing with her father on the cycle while
her mother was usually annoyed. Here we can see a part of Shreya who only cares about her
father and she wants his attention. It is also seen many times during the session where she
mentioned that she can't afford to make her father disappointed. This shows that she is
continuously searching for his approval.
4. Because of the electra concept being observed here we can say there are some unresolved
issues or fixation from the latency stage of development. Due to this we can see that Shreya
has difficulty forming any relationship with the other gender. In the session she mentioned
various times that her family won't accept him. She wants a partner whom her father can
approve of.
5. Penis envy might also come to play here as we can see how her parents have wanted a boy
and not a girl. She might be over compensating with her academics because she wasn't born a
male.

Adler-
1. Adler emphasized a lot on family constellations and in Shreya case we can see that she
is a single child.
2. Since her parents wanted a son and she was born a female. Her sex might have
impacted her and made her develop inferiority complex.
3. Her family atmosphere also played a huge part in it as the family was closed of and
everyone shied away from physical affection that might have led her to feel awkward
about the hug.
4. Due to all this she developed a functional finalism where she made her ideal self to be
an academic person with doctorate in physics. Her lifestyle and main goal in life became
to study. So much so that her only problem with her partner was that he is not ambitious
enough and doesn't concentrate on his studies.
5. Her inferiority can also be about how she is not an athletic person like her father wanted
her to be so she overcompensated for it by being focused on her academics.