Adler and Other Family Approaches

Adlerian Theory
& Family Systems Theory

Meeting 4
© Cheung, M., & Leung, P. (2008). Multicultural practice and evaluation: A case
approach to evidence-based practice. Denver, CO: Love.
Instructors who adopt this book may use this PowerPoint to teach your course without
prior permission. Please address questions and comments to mcheung@uh.edu.
© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

1 & Patrick Leung
Adlerian Approach
Alfred Adler in his

as a Young Man (Before 1900) 60's
as a Soldier (1891, Age 21)

as a Student (1885, age 15)

2 & Patrick Leung
Adlerian Theory
 Assumes:
– Positive view of human nature
– Social influence is significant (much more so than
biological)
– People can create a distinctive lifestyle at an early
life
– Consciousness is the center of personality

3 & Patrick Leung
Goals of Adlerian Therapy
 Challenge clients’ mistaken notions and

faulty assumptions so that they can develop
the useful side of life
 Provide encouragement to help develop
socially useful goals

4 & Patrick Leung
Techniques
 Family Constellation Analysis

– Birth order
– Family atmosphere
– Parental relationship
– Family values
– Extended family and culture
 Life Script Questionnaire
– Early recollections
5 & Patrick Leung
Practice: Adlerian Techniques
 In pairs, practice with the script

– Issue #1: Personal Connections to Family Issues
(p. 120)

6 & Patrick Leung
Practice: Family Constellation
Practice the questions on the top of p.134.

If your partner is a single child, practice from this list:
 What was your father’s/mother’s relationship with you?
 Which part of you was most like your father/mother? Name a
characteristic.
 What were you like as a child?
 How did your parents get along when you were about 10?
 How did your parents settle disagreements when you were
about 10?

7 & Patrick Leung
Practice: Adlerian Techniques
 In pairs, practice with the script

– Issue #2: Sibling Relationships (p.121)

8 & Patrick Leung
Practice: Lifestyle Assessment
 In pairs, take turns asking questions from the

assessment tool (starting with Three Wishes
on p.134).
 Don’t attempt to provide answers for this
practice
 Identify one question to which you would
provide an answer and share with your
partner
9 & Patrick Leung
Family Systems Theory
 Intergenerational or
Transgenerational
Models of Practice
 Murray Bowen’s Family
Therapy

10 & Patrick Leung
Bowen’s 8 Interlocking Concepts
1. Differentiation of self
2. Triangles
3. Nuclear family emotional system
4. Family projection process
5. Emotional cutoff
6. Multigenerational transmission process
7. Sibling position
8. Societal regression

11 & Patrick Leung
1. Differentiation of Self
 Ability to
– Separate feelings from thinking
– Distinguish between the intellectual process and the feeling
process
– Experience the difference between intimacy and autonomy
– Balance objectivity and subjectivity
– Pull self from fused relationships when needing to see
things clearly away from their influence
– Separate self from FOO in a healthy way

12 & Patrick Leung
2. Triangles
 Pull relationship with help from a third person

 Reach out and pull in the other person so that
emotions can flow into that person
 Create emotional tensions because of the three-way
relationship
 Act as a building block in a family’s relational system
 Balance unhealthy relationship between 2 individuals
 Maintain involvement and yet separate emotions
when using it well

13 & Patrick Leung
3. Nuclear Family Emotional System
 People seek partners that likely have the same level

of differentiation as theirs
 They repeat the patterns of relationship as
established in the FOO
 They will continuously seek ways to reduce tension
through relationships
 Intense fusion between partners will cause
instability in the nuclear family emotional system
– Physical or emotional dysfunction in a spouse
– Overt, chronic, or unresolved marital conflict
– Psychological impairment in a child

14 & Patrick Leung
4. Family Projection Process
 Levels of undifferentiation can be passed

from one generation to the next
 Parents transmit their values to the most
susceptible child
 Intensity of projection is related to
– Degree of immaturity or undifferentiation of the
parents
– Level of stress the family experiences
15 & Patrick Leung
5. Emotional Cutoff
 A flight of extreme emotional distancing from FOO

 A way to break emotional ties
 An effort to deal with unresolved fusion with one or
both parents (or siblings)
 A denial defense to a problem or unresolved conflict
 A way to free self from unfinished business that may
effect current relationships

16 & Patrick Leung
6. Multigenerational Transmission
 Values, conflicts, and unresolved anxiety

may be passed from one generation to the
next
 Severe dysfunction may be the result of
chronic anxiety transmitted over several
generations

17 & Patrick Leung
7. Sibling Position
 Birth order and personality has a connection

 Birth order predicts certain roles and
functions an individual plays
 Functional position is more important than
the actual birth order
 Sibling position may affect the nuclear family
emotional system

18 & Patrick Leung
8. Societal Regression
 Society’s emotional functioning is similar to

the family emotional system in that there are
always two opposing forces toward
undifferentiation and individuation
 Consider the importance of society’s value
toward individuation and check its cultural
value toward an individual

19 & Patrick Leung
Practice: Family Systems
 Issue #1: Family History (pp. 138–140)

 In groups of three, role-play from the script
Discussion:
 Identify techniques that you may want to try

20 & Patrick Leung
Daily Affirmation
 Genuine beginnings begin

within us, even when they are
brought to our attention by
external opportunities.
– William Bridges

21 & Patrick Leung
FOS—Family of Origin Scale
 Think of a specific age that has significant

meanings to the client
 Fill out the FOS
 Calculate the scores
 Discuss and address questions about
childhood learning

22 & Patrick Leung
Family of Origin Scale: Your Practice
Reference: Fischer, J., & Corcoran, K. (2007). Measures for clinical practice
and research. Oxford Press. (pp. 306–308)
 Step 1: Fill out the FOS in reference to you when you were 12.
 Step 2: Reverse score the following items so that 5=1, 4=2, 3

unchanged, 2=4, and 1=5 (e.g., if you score 1 in item #2, cross out 1
and write 5 next to it)
2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 33, 37, 39
 The reverse score is only a psychometric method to calculate your

FOS score. It is not to change your answer.
 Bring your FOS to class next week for further assessment procedures.
23 & Patrick Leung
References
 Cheung, M., & Leung, P. (2008). Multicultural practice and

evaluation: A case approach to evidence-based practice. Denver,
CO: Love.
 Fischer, J., & Corcoran, K. (2007). Measures for clinical practice and
research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Goldenberg, H., & Goldenberg, I. (2008). Family therapy: An overview.
Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

24 & Patrick Leung

Adler and Other Family Approaches

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Adlerian Theory

& Family Systems Theory

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

Alfred Adler in his

as a Soldier (1891, Age 21)

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Challenge clients’ mistaken notions and

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Family Constellation Analysis

 In pairs, practice with the script

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

Practice the questions on the top of p.134.

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 In pairs, practice with the script

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 In pairs, take turns asking questions from the

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Pull relationship with help from a third person

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 People seek partners that likely have the same level

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Levels of undifferentiation can be passed

 A flight of extreme emotional distancing from FOO

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Values, conflicts, and unresolved anxiety

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Birth order and personality has a connection

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Society’s emotional functioning is similar to

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Issue #1: Family History (pp. 138–140)

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Genuine beginnings begin

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Think of a specific age that has significant

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

 Step 2: Reverse score the following items so that 5=1, 4=2, 3

 The reverse score is only a psychometric method to calculate your

 Cheung, M., & Leung, P. (2008). Multicultural practice and

© Love Publishing: Monit Cheung

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