Counseling and Psychotherapy T & P C.5 Adlerian Therapy

Copyright © 2009 Wadsworth Group.
Brooks/Cole is an imprint of the Transparency

Wadsworth Group, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.
Theory and Practice of Counseling
and Psychotherapy
Chapter 5
Learning
Gerald Corey
nBrooks/Cole,
nCengage
division of
nby
nA
Alfred Adler
- Grew up in Vienna,
Germany
- Most of the time sick while

growing up
- Pampered by
mother/developed trusting
relationship with Father
- Poor student but rose at the

top of his class
Alfred Adler
- Started as a medical doctor
then specialized to neurology
and psychiatry
- Passion for child-rearing

practices, school reforms,
child guidance clinics
- Wrote Understanding of
Human Nature
- Died of heart attack because of

an overcrowded life
Alfred Adler
- INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
- ADLERIAN THERAPY
View of Human Nature
Copyright © 2009 Wadsworth Group. Brooks/Cole is an imprint of the
Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology
n Based on the holistic concept
n A phenomenological approach
n Social interest is stressed
n Birth order and sibling relationships
Transparency
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 5 (1)
The Phenomenological Approach
n Adlerians attempt to view the world from the client’s subjective
frame of reference
u How life is in reality is less important than how the individual believes
life to be
u It is not the childhood experiences that are crucial –
it is our present interpretation of these events
n Unconscious instincts and our past do not determine our behavior
Transparency
Phenomenological Approach
Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology
n Therapy as teaching, informing and encouraging
n Basic mistakes in the client’s private logic
n The therapeutic relationship—a collaborative

partnership
n Systemic Therapy
Transparency
Lifestyle
n A life movement that organizes the client’s reality, giving meaning
to life
u “fictional finalism” or “guiding self ideal”
u Psychiatric symptoms are “failed attempts” at achieving our lifestyle
u Adlerian therapy helps clients to effectively navigate lifestyle tasks
n Lifestyle is how we move toward our life goals

u “private logic”
u Values, life plan, perceptions of self and others
u Unifies all of our behaviors to provide consistency
Transparency
u Makes all our actions “fit together”

Social Interest
n Adler’s most significant and distinctive concept
u Refers to an individual’s attitude toward and awareness of being a part

of the human community
u Embodies a community feeling and emphasizes the client’s positive

feelings toward others in the world
u Mental health is measured by the degree to which we successfully share

with others and are concerned with their welfare
Transparency
u Happiness and success are largely related to social connectedness

Mastery of 3 Universal Tasks
Striving for Significance and
Superiority
Inferiority and Superiority
n Inferiority Feelings
u Are normal
u They are the wellspring of creativity.
u Develop when we are young--characterized by early feelings of hopelessness
n Superiority Feelings
u Promote mastery
u Enable us to overcome obstacles
n Related Complexes
Transparency
u Inferiority Complex
u Superiority Complex

Birth Order
n A concept that assigns probability to having a certain set of
experiences based on one’s position in the family
n Adler’s five psychological positions:

u 1) Oldest child– receives more attention, spoiled,
center of attention
u 2) Second of only two– behaves as if in a race, often opposite to first
child
u 3) Middle– often feels squeezed out
u 4) Youngest– the baby
u 5) Only– does not learn to share or cooperate with other children, learns
Transparency
to deal with adults

The Therapeutic process
n Develop client’s sense of belonging
n Assist in the adoption of behaviors and process characterized by

community feeling and social interest
n Growth Model vs. Medical Model
n From being Discouragement to Encouragement
Transparency
Therapeutic Goals
n Foster Social Interest
n Help Clients overcome feelings of discouragement and inferiority
n Modifying client’s views and goals --- that is, changing their lifestyle
n Changing faulty motivation
n Encouraging the individual to recognize equality among people
n Helping people to become contributing members of a society

Therapist’s Function and Role
n Look for major mistakes in thinking and correct them
n Do not label client’s as pathological
n Help client become self-aware, challenge, help modify through

teaching, informing, re-education
n Make a comprehensive assessment (family constellations, early

recollection, lifestyle assessment)
n Interpret dreams
n Developing a contract is not a requirement

Four Phases of Therapy
n Phase 1: Establishing the Proper Therapeutic Relationship
u Supportive, collaborative, educational, encouraging process
u Person-to-person contact with the client precedes identification of the problem
u Help client build awareness of his or her strengths
n Main Techniques are: Fit Techniques according to client’s needs
n Attending and listening with empathy

n Following subjective experience of the client as closely as possible
n Identifying and clariying goals
n Suggesting hunches about purpose in client’s symptoms, actions and goals
Transparency
n Phase 1: Establishing the Proper Therapeutic Relationship
u Supportive, collaborative, educational, encouraging process
u Person-to-person contact with the client precedes identification of the problem
u Help client build awareness of his or her strengths
n Phase 2: Exploring the Individual’s Psychological Dynamics

u Lifestyle assessment
• Subjective interview
• Objective interview
• Family constellation
• Early recollections
Transparency
• Basic Mistakes

Exploring the problem through
Subjective Interview
“How would your life be different?
What would you be doing

differently if you did not have this
symptom or problem?
Objective Interview
 How problems began in the client’s life?
 Any precipitating events
 Medical history
 Social history
Objective Interview
 Reasons why client chose to be in therapy at this
time
 Coping with life tasks
 Lifestyle assessment
Assessment of Early Recollections
Counselor: “ I would like to hear about your early
memories. Think back to when you were young
(before the age of 10). Tell me something that
happened one time.
After each memory is said. Ask “What stands out?”,

What was the most vivid part of your memory?,
If you played the memory like a movie and stopped it
in one frame, what would be happening?
What’s your reaction?
Assessment on Family Constellation
n Who was the favorite child?
n What was your father’s relationship with children? Your mothers?
n Which child was most like your father? Your mother? In what
respects?
n Who among the siblings was most different from you? In what
ways?
Assessment on Family Constellation
n Who among the siblings was most like you? In what ways?
n What were you like as a child?
n How did your parents get along? In what did they both agree? How
did they handle disagreements? How did they discipline their
children?
CASE SCENARIO
A chronically depressed man came into therapy. The
assessment when completed shows basic mistakes in
which the man holds on to:
n He has convinced himself that nobody could really care about him.
n He rejects people before they have a chance to reject him.
n He is harshly critical of himself, expecting perfection.
n He has expectations that things will rarely work out well.
n He burdens himself with guilt because he is convinced he is letting

everyone down.
n Phase 3: Encouraging Self-Understanding/Insight

u Interpret the findings of the assessment
u Hidden goals and purposes of behavior are made conscious
u Private logic are made conscious/discovered
u Therapist offers interpretations to help clients gain insight into their
lifestyle
n Phase 4: Reorientation and Re-education (Making Choices)

u Action-oriented
Transparency
u Useful vs. unhelpful

Use of Interpretation in Therapy
n Create Awareness
n Suggestions that facilitate insight building
n Open-ended questions
n Hunches or guesses that begin with:
Transparency
u I could be wrong, but I am wondering if. . .
u Could it be that . . .
u Is it possible that. . .
Change and Search for New

Possibilities
n Act as if
n Catch themselves
n Set tasks for themselves every day
n Do something specific about their problems
Transparency
Encouragement
n Encouragement instills self confidence by expecting clients to
assume responsibility for their lives and embrace the fact that they
can make changes
n Encouragement is the most powerful method available for

changing a person’s beliefs
u Helps build self-confidence and stimulates courage
u Discouragement is the basic condition that prevents people from
functioning
u Clients are encouraged to recognize that they have the power to choose
and to act differently
Transparency
Application to Group Counseling
n Group provides a social context in which members can develop a
sense of community and social-relatedness
n Sharing of early recollections increases group cohesiveness
n Action-oriented strategies for behavior change are implemented to

help group members work together to challenge erroneous beliefs
about self, life and others.
n Employs a time-limited framework
Transparency
Limitations of the Adlerian Approach
n Adler spent most of his time teaching his theory as opposed to
systematically documenting it
u Hence, some consider Adlerian theory simplistic
n Many of Adler’s theoretical constructs (i.e. lifestyle) are difficult to

measure and require empirical testing
n Research on treatment efficacy is limited
Transparency
Adlerian Family Therapy

Treatment Goals
n Unlock mistaken goals and interactional patterns
n Engage parents in a learning experience and a collaborative

assessment
n Emphasis is on the family’s motivational patterns
n Main aim is to initiate a reorientation of the family
Transparency
Activity
n In what situations do you feel inferior? Have you overcome it? If

Yes, How?
n Create your own Road of map.
n What are your goals in life? Have you achieved them? Why or why
not?

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Copyright © 2009 Wadsworth Group.

Brooks/Cole is an imprint of the Transparency

- Most of the time sick while

- Poor student but rose at the

- Passion for child-rearing

- Died of heart attack because of

n Based on the holistic concept

n Social interest is stressed

n Birth order and sibling relationships

n Unconscious instincts and our past do not determine our behavior

n Therapy as teaching, informing and encouraging

n Basic mistakes in the client’s private logic

n The therapeutic relationship—a collaborative

n Lifestyle is how we move toward our life goals

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 5 (4)

u Refers to an individual’s attitude toward and awareness of being a part

u Embodies a community feeling and emphasizes the client’s positive

u Mental health is measured by the degree to which we successfully share

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 5 (3)

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 5 (5)

n Adler’s five psychological positions:

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 5 (6)

n Assist in the adoption of behaviors and process characterized by

n Growth Model vs. Medical Model

n From being Discouragement to Encouragement

n Help Clients overcome feelings of discouragement and inferiority

n Changing faulty motivation

n Encouraging the individual to recognize equality among people

n Helping people to become contributing members of a society

n Do not label client’s as pathological

n Help client become self-aware, challenge, help modify through

n Make a comprehensive assessment (family constellations, early

n Developing a contract is not a requirement

n Main Techniques are: Fit Techniques according to client’s needs

n Attending and listening with empathy

n Phase 2: Exploring the Individual’s Psychological Dynamics

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 5 (7)

“How would your life be different?

What would you be doing

 Any precipitating events

 Coping with life tasks

After each memory is said. Ask “What stands out?”,

n What was your father’s relationship with children? Your mothers?

n What were you like as a child?

n He rejects people before they have a chance to reject him.

n He is harshly critical of himself, expecting perfection.

n He has expectations that things will rarely work out well.

n He burdens himself with guilt because he is convinced he is letting

n Phase 3: Encouraging Self-Understanding/Insight

n Phase 4: Reorientation and Re-education (Making Choices)

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 5 (8)

n Suggestions that facilitate insight building

n Hunches or guesses that begin with:

Wadsworth Group, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

n Set tasks for themselves every day

n Do something specific about their problems

n Encouragement is the most powerful method available for

n Sharing of early recollections increases group cohesiveness

n Action-oriented strategies for behavior change are implemented to

n Employs a time-limited framework

n Many of Adler’s theoretical constructs (i.e. lifestyle) are difficult to

n Research on treatment efficacy is limited

Wadsworth Group, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

n Engage parents in a learning experience and a collaborative

Counseling and Psychotherapy T & P C.5 Adlerian Therapy

Counseling and Psychotherapy T & P C.5 Adlerian Therapy