PSY ELEC 2

ADLERIAN THERAPY
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Key figure/ Proponent

Alfred Adler

View of Man
Humans are motivated primarily by social relatedness rather than sexual urges.
Behavior is purposeful and goal-directed (consciousnèss, Nore than unconsciousness is the focus of therapy
Basic choice and responsibility, meaning in life, striving for success, completion, and perfection
Inferiority feelings - a normal condition of all people and source of all human striving; inferiority feelings can be
wellsprings of creativity. We are driven to overcome our sense of inferiority and strive for increasingly higher
levels of development
At around 6 years of age our fictional vision of ourselves as perfect or complete begins to form into a life goal.
(We)have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events.
Although they reject the deterministic stance of Freud, Adlerians recognize that biological and environmental
conditions limit our capacity to choose and to create
Adlerians put the focus on re-educating individuals and reshaping society
Adler was the forerunner of a subjective approach to psychology that focuses on internal determinants of
behavior such as values, beliefs, attitudes, goals, interests, and the individual perception of reality -
understanding necessary for a change in character.
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Therapeutic Goals:
fostering social interest
helping clients overcome feelings of discouragement and inferiority
modifying clients' views and goals, changing their lifestyles
changing faulty motivation
encouraging the individual to recognize equality among people
helping people to become contributing members of the society

Therapist's Function and Role

Therapists tend to look for major mistakes in thinking and valuing such as mistrust, selfishness, unrealistic
ambitions, and lack of confidence.
Adlerians assume a non-pathological perspective. The major function of the therapist is to make a
comprehensive assessment of the client's functioning through a questionnaire on the client's family
constellation, which will give a picture of the individual's early social world.
Counselor also uses Early Recollections stories of events that a person says occurred (one time) before he
or she was 10 years of age; specific incidents that clients, along with the feelings and thoughts that
accompanied these childhood incidents.
Lifestyle assessment - involves learning to understand the goals and motivations of the client. Adler viewed
dreams as a rehearsal of possible future courses of action.
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Client's Experience in Therapy
Generally, people fail to change because they do not recognize the errors in their thinking or the purposes of their
behaviors, do not know what to do differently, and are fearful of leaving old patterns for new and unpredictable
outcomes. Private logic - concepts about self, others, and life that constitute the philosophy on which an
individual's lifestyle is based. After a lifestyle assessment is completed, basic mistakes are identified Instead of
being seen as mentally ill or emotionally disturbed, clients are seen as mainly discouraged.

Relationship between Therapist and Client

based on cooperation, mutual trust, respect, confidence, collaboration, and goal alignment special value on the
counselor's modeling of communication and acting in good faith therapists strive to maintain an egalitarian
therapeutic alliance

Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures

Phase 1: Establish the Relationship.

collaborative, deep sense of caring, involvement, and friendship; alignment of clearly defined goals between
therapist and client person-to-person contact; counselors help clients become aware of their assets and strengths
rather than dealing continually with their deficits and liabilities counselors provide structure and assist clients to
define personal goals, they conduct psychological assessments, and offer interpretations
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Phase 2: Explore the Individual's Psychological Dynamics.
This assessment phase uses 2 interview forms:
1. Subjective interview - The counselor helps the client to tell his or her life story as completely as possible; it
often ends with "The Question:" "How would your life be different, and what would you be doing differently if
you did not have this symptom or problem?"
2. Objective interview - seeks to discover information about (a) how problems in the client's life began; (b) any
precipitating events; (c) a medical condition; (d) social history; (e) reasons for choosing therapy at the time; (f)
the person's coping with life tasks; and (g) a lifestyle assessment.

Exploration of the Family Constellation - Adlerian assessment relies heavily on an exploration of the client's
family constellation, including the client's evaluation of conditions that prevailed in the family when the person
was a young child (family atmosphere), birth order, parental relationship and family values, and extended
family and culture.
Early recollections - Adler reasoned that out of the millions of early memories we might, have we select those
special memories that project the essential convictions and even the basic mistakes of our lives. Purposes of
early recollections: assessment of the person's convictions about self, others, life, and ethics; assessment of
the client's stance in relation to the counseling session and the counseling relationship; verification of coping
patterns; assessment of individual strengths, assets, and interfering ideas. Basic mistakes which are an
integration of Adlerian psychology and cognitive behavioral theory:
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Basic mistakes which are an integration of Adlerian psychology and cognitive behavioral theory:
1. Overgeneralizations
2. False or impossible goals of security
3. Misperceptions of life and life's demands
4. Minimization or denial of one's basic worth
5. Faulty values

Phase 3: Encourage Self-Understanding and Insight.

Insight - "understanding translated into constructive action". Interpretation - clients' underlying motives for
behaving the way they do in the here and now.

Phase 4: Reorientation and Reeducation.

i. putting insights into practice
ii. Reorientation- involves shifting rules of interaction, process and motivation
iii. Reeducation - Adlerians teach, guide, provide information, and offer encouragement to clients who are
discouraged.
iv. Encouragement is the most distinctive Adlerian procedure; entails showing faith in people, exploring them to
assume responsibility for their lives, and valuing them for who they are.
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Areas of Application
Because Individual Psychology is based on a growth model, it is applicable to such varied spheres of life as:
child guidance;
parent-child counseling;
couples counseling;
individual counseling with children, adolescents, and adults;
cultural conflicts;
correctional and rehabilitation counseling; and
mental health institutions

Additional Cognitive Techniques

Lifestyle assessment and analysis - evaluation of the client’s lifestyle
Future autobiography - The client is asked to write a story about how the rest of their life might look.
Push-button techniques - Asks clients to remember a pleasant incident that they have experienced, become aware
of feelings connected to it, and then switch to an unpleasant image and those feelings.
Paradoxical intervention - A client is directed by the therapist to continue undesired symptomatic behavior, and even
increase it, to show that the client has voluntary control over it.(negotiation. ex: so how about trying, 10-minutes or 5
minutes rules...)
Acting as if technique - Clients may wish for traits they don’t currently possess. The therapist can prompt them to act
as if they do have them by asking clients, “How would it look if you had X?” (for example, more confidence or
assertiveness).
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Adlerian Worksheets
1. Understanding Siblings
The Understanding Siblings worksheet helps gain insight into the family relationships formed during childhood and
an understanding of how birth order may have affected beliefs and behavior (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-
Flanagan, 2015).
Follow-up questions dig a little deeper, such as:
Who took care of each other?
Who played with each other?
Who was most like you?
Who was least like you?

2. Catching Oneself
The Catching Oneself worksheet is used for reflection purposes to help the client recognize when they act or think
in ways that lead to angry outbursts or a loss of control (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2015).
Ask the client to think of times over the last week when they became angry or had an outburst.
When was it? What happened?
Has this happened before?
What typically triggers this sort of outburst?
What could you do to reduce the likelihood of it happening or its severity?
By better identifying when outbursts occur and why, they will become more able to avoid the situation or control
their feelings.
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3. Reflecting As If
The Reflecting As If intervention can help change behaviors (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan,
2015).
The client is asked:
How would it look if you were watching yourself on video acting in the way you would like to?
What would be the first signs that you had begun to act in that way?
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Sample of Adlerian Therapeutic Questions
What brings you to see me today?
What kind of person would you like to be in six months?
How would you like things to be in a year?
What would your life be like if you didn’t have this problem?
Of the problems you have shared today, which is most upsetting or troubling for you?
What would need to happen for the work to be nearing completion?
Candidates
can be applied to almost anyone at any time
people experiencing anxiety or conduct disorder
discipline concerns
family issues and concerns
role confusion
problem with thinking patterns
people experiencing lifestyle adjustments
inferiority concerns
sensitive
people who survive by avoiding real life problems
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Contributions
Its focus on social interest, helping others, collectivism, pursuing the meaning of life, the importance of
family, goal orientation, and belonging is congruent with the values of many cultures.
Focus on person-in-the-environment allows for cultural factors to be explored.

Limitations
Detailed interviews about one's family background can conflict with cultures that have injunctions against
disclosing family matters.
Some clients may view the counselor as an authority who will provide answers to problems, which
conflicts with the egalitarian, person-to-person spirit as a way to reduce social distance.