Adlerian Flashcards
An intervention that
is concise, deliberate, direct, effi cient, focused,
short-term, and purposeful.
Adlerian brief therapy
Faulty, self-defeating perceptions,
attitudes, and beliefs that may have been
appropriate at one time but are no longer useful.
These are myths that are infl uential in shaping
personality.
Basic mistakes
Adler identifi ed fi ve psychological
positions from which children tend to view life:
oldest, second of only two, middle, youngest, and
only. Actual birth order itself is less important than a person’s interpretation of his or her place
in the family.
Birth order
An individual’s awareness
of being part of the human community. Community
feeling embodies the sense of being connected
to all humanity and to being committed
to making the world a better place.
Community feeling
Childhood memories (before
the age of 9) of one-time events. People retain
these memories as capsule summaries of
their present philosophy of life. From a series of
____________, it is possible to understand
mistaken notions, present attitudes, social interests,
and possible future behavior.
Early recollections
We cannot be understood
in parts; all aspects of ourselves must be understood
in relation to each other.
Holistic concept
Another term for fi ctional
fi nalism, which represents an individual’s image
of a goal of perfection.
Guiding self-ideal
A congruence between the client’s
and the counselor’s goals and the collaborative
effort of two persons working equally toward
specific, agreed-on goals.
Goal alignment
An imagined central goal
that gives direction to behavior and unity to the
personality; an image of what people would be
like if they were perfect and perfectly secure.
Fictional finalism
The social and psychological
structure of the family system; includes
birth order, the individual’s perception of self,
sibling characteristics and ratings, and parental
relationships. Each person forms his or her
unique view of self, others, and life through the
_________.
Family constellation
The process of increasing
one’s courage to face life tasks; used throughout
therapy as a way to counter discouragement and
to help people set realistic goals.
Encouragement
Adler’s original name
for his approach that stressed understanding the
whole person, how all dimensions of a person
are interconnected, and how all these dimensions
are unifi ed by the person’s movement toward
a life goal.
Individual psychology
The early determining
force in behavior; the source of human striving
and the wellspring of creativity. Humans
attempt to compensate for both imagined and
real inferiorities, which helps them overcome
handicaps.
Inferiority feelings
An individual’s way of thinking, feeling,
and acting; a conceptual framework by which
the world is perceived and by which people are
able to cope with life tasks; the person’s personality
Style of life
A strong inclination
toward becoming competent, toward mastering
the environment, and toward self-improvement.
The striving for perfection is a
movement toward enhancement of self.
Striving for superiority
A sense of identifi cation with
humanity; a feeling of belonging; an interest in
the common good.
Social interest
The phase of the counseling
process in which clients are helped to discover
a new and more functional perspective and are
encouraged to take risks and make changes in
their lives.
Reorientation
Basic convictions and assumptions
of the individual that underlie the lifestyle
pattern and explain how behaviors fi t together to
provide consistency.
Private logic
A special form of awareness that
facilitates a meaningful understanding within
the therapeutic relationship and acts as a foundation
for change.
Insight
Focus on the
way people perceive their world. For Adlerians,
objective reality is less important than how people
interpret reality and the meanings they attach
to what they experience.
Phenomenological approach
Adlerians seek basic information
about the client’s life as a part of the
lifestyle assessment process.
Objective interview
