Adlerian Psychotherapy

Question 1

Holism

Answer 1

Adler believed that people should not be broken into parts. He preferred to look at people and not break them into parts. The field of study is the whole person in the person’s social network.

Question 2

Teleology

Answer 2

Adlerian psychology is concerned with purposes. To understand a thing, it must be analyzed according to the following four cases: Material, Efficient, Formal, Final

Question 3

Creativity

Answer 3

People are viewed as actors, not merely reactors. They are co-creators of their worlds. All relationships are bidirectional. (People are aware of how other people affect them, but not always aware of how the affect people.)

Question 4

Phenomenology

Answer 4

It is important to know how children perceive what they were born with. It is important to understand children’s perceptions into their situations to gain insight. Adlerians want to know the objective situation, but the subjective situation is far more helpful.

Question 5

Soft Determinism

Answer 5

“A most often leads to B, if that is of use to the person and that is how the person perceives the situation.” Soft determinism stresses influences, not causes; speaks of probabilities, not certainties. Life has limits and given those limits, we still have some choice. Adlerians point out those choices and instead of blaming them, teach them new choices.

Question 6

Social Field Theory

Answer 6

Adlerians closely examine the social field where the behavior takes place.

Question 7

Motivation as Striving

Answer 7

People are motivated to move from a “minus situation” to a “plus situation.” Minus situations may be labeled: inferior, weak, hated. Plus situations may be labeled: superior, perfection, power. The principle objective of Adler’s growth model is striving.

Question 8

Idiographic Orientation

Answer 8

Emphasis is on the idiographic rather than the nomothetic nature of people. The specifics of the case are more important than the generalities. i.e. one person’s major depressive disorder arises when her children go to school in the fall, another person’s arises when her husband is trying to control her.

Question 9

Psychology of Use

Answer 9

It is important to know what “use” a person makes of what they have. Specific emotions are not as important as how those emotions are used. i.e. Many people may be intelligent, but how are they using their intelligence, for what purposes?

Question 10

Acting “As If”

Answer 10

People form maps of their worlds and act “as if” those maps are accurate representations of reality. It is of interest the extent to which a person clings to their maps. Adlerians tend to analyze how useful people’s maps are given the particulars of their lives. Their “lifestyle” provides clues to the maps individuals act on.

Question 11

The four main components of lifestyle

Answer 11

Self-Concept, Self-Ideal, Worldview, Ethical Convictions

Question 12

Self-Concept

Answer 12

All the instructions about who I am or am not

Question 13

Self-Ideal

Answer 13

All the instructions about who I should be or should not be

Question 14

Worldview

Answer 14

All the instructions about people, life, and the world

Question 15

Ethical Convictions

Answer 15

All the instructions about what is right or wrong, good or bad

Question 16

Psychopathology

Answer 16

Can be conceptualized, in part, as a matter of goodness of fit between the terrain and the map. The better the fit, the less likely behavior will appear as maladaptive.

Question 17

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 17

“Believing is seeing.” When people act “as if” their maps were real and correct, they actively shape the feedback they receive. i.e. If they act as if people are hostile, then they often get back hostile responses.

Question 18

Optimism

Answer 18

Human nature is neutral, which leads to psychotherapeutic stance of optimism. Everybody can be better than they are at any given point, regardless of how dysfunctional they may appear to be. Hope, faith, and compassion are crucial to optimism and these traits must be modeled for clients.

Question 19

Lifestyle

Answer 19

Adlerian psychology describes personality from the perspective of lifestyle. The use of personality, traits, temperament, and psychological and biological processes in order to find a place in the social matrix of life.

Question 20

Temperament

Answer 20

Primarily genetic inborn characteristics that makes up one’s predisposition. Temperaments are quickly modified through learning and socialization.

Question 21

Personality

Answer 21

A collection of traits and characteristics children develop through the process of socialization. (Personality develops as a combination of temperamental predispositions and early childhood experiences.)

Question 22

Factors influencing the development of lifestyle

Answer 22

Degree of activity, organ inferiority, birth order and sibling relationships, family values, family atmosphere, and parenting style.

Question 23

Degree of Activity

Answer 23

Is partially learned and partially a product of temperament. (Some children are more active than others.) The degree of activity children display in childhood often becomes the amount of energy adults have in solving problems later on in life.

Question 24

Organ Inferiority

Answer 24

Can influence the development of lifestyle. Can shape the process directly, for example, through the law of compensation, or indirectly, through the perceptions and attitudes of parents and siblings, etc.

Question 25

Organ Inferiority. The law of compensation will begin along these three dimensions:

Answer 25

Somatic: One organ will become overactive to compensate for the weaker one. Sympathetic: The body may change the way it moves to protect the weaker body part, such as a limp. Psychic: The brain or mind may develop a belief system that over- or underemphasizes certain bodily functions, for example, a man with a club foot may become a world class athlete.

Question 26

Birth Order

Answer 26

Only:  Tend to be perfectionists.
Oldest:  Become leaders.
Second born: Rebellious
Middle children:  Pleasers
Youngest:  Attention seekers

Question 27

Sibling Relationships

Answer 27

Sibling relationships and the role children carve out for themselves in childhood often manifest later in life as the stance adults take toward socialization across different contexts and roles.

Question 28

Family Values

Answer 28

Family values influence lifestyle. May be:
Maternal: Held by the mother or mother figure.
Paternal: Held by the father or father figure.
Family: Held by both parents and is binding. To accept means fitting in; to reject allows no ally and no bonding with mother or father figure. (Family values that are accepted or rejected become psychosocial stressors in adulthood.).

Question 29

Family Atmosphere

Answer 29

An emotional tone that characterizes the family. Children’s reactions to family atmosphere helps set their moods as adults.

Question 30

Parenting Style

Answer 30

Can be autocratic, democratic, or permissive. Adlerians advocate for a democratic style of parenting because it influences the characteristics of belonging, cooperation, and bonding that is crucial to society.

Question 31

Other features important to lifestyle

Answer 31

School, religion, economics, peers, and culture.

Question 32

Lifestyle Interview

Answer 32

After inquiring about the factors that contribute to lifestyle, Adlerians will formulate core structures:

1. Self-concept, such as, “I am small and weak.”
2. Self-ideal, such as, “I should be big and strong.”
3. Worldview, such as, “The world is tough and only real men survive.”
4. Ethical convictions, such as, “It is better to be top dog than eaten by other dogs.”

Question 33

Goals of Adlerian Psychotherapy

Answer 33

1. Fostering community feeling.
2. Decreasing feelings of inferiority, and therefore, psychological symptoms
3. Modifying the lifestyle to make it more adaptive, flexible, and prosocial
4. Changing faulty motivation and destructive values
5. Encouraging equality and acceptance of self and others
6. Helping the person be a contributing member to society

Question 34

Levels of Comprehensive Treatment Plan

Answer 34

1. Crisis stabilization
2. Medical and somatic interventions
3. Short-term goals
4. Long-term goals
5. Ancillary services

Question 35

Example of crisis stabilization

Answer 35

Homicidal or suicidal ideation

Question 36

Example of Medical and Somatic Interventions

Answer 36

An underlying medical issue that requires a physician’s attention.

Question 37

Example of Short-Term Goals

Answer 37

Goals that provide immediate relief from pain and discomfort.

Question 38

Example of Long-Term Goals

Answer 38

Goals that are directed at modifying lifestyle issues in longstanding personality dynamics, which can take awhile.

Question 39

Teleology: Analyzing according to the MATERIAL cause

Answer 39

What is it made of? (i.e. rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, shortness of breath, perspiration.)

Question 40

Teleology: Analyzing according to the EFFICIENT cause

Answer 40

What caused it to be? (i.e. exposure to fearful childhood situations)

Question 41

Teleology: Analyzing according to the FORMAL cause

Answer 41

What shape does it take? (i.e. an anxiety disorder diagnosis, such as panic disorder)

Question 42

Teleology: Analyzing according to the FINAL cause

Answer 42

What purpose does it serve? (i.e. a signal to self to take charge and stay in control, the final cause of love is to move toward something, the final cause of hate is to move away from something.). The FINAL cause is unique to Adlerian theory.