Adlerian therapy - Psychodynamic Approaches

Question 1

Founder:

Answer 1

Alfred Adler

Question 2

Key Figure:

Answer 2

Following Adler, Rudolf Dreikurs is credited with popularizing this approach in the United States.

Question 3

Theory

Answer 3

This is a growth model that stresses assuming responsibility, creating one’s own destiny, and finding meaning and goals to create a purposeful life. Key concepts are used in most other current therapies.

Question 4

Basic Philosophies

Answer 4

Humans are motivated by social interest, by striving toward goals, by inferiority and superiority, and by dealing with the tasks of life. Emphasis is on the individual’s positive capacities to live in society cooperatively. People have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. Each person at an early age creates a unique style of life, which tends to remain relatively constant throughout life.

Question 5

Key Concepts

Answer 5

Key concepts include the unity of personality, the need to view people from their subjective perspective, and the importance of life goals that give direction to behavior. People are motivated by social interest and by finding goals to give life meaning. Other key concepts are striving for significance and superiority, developing a unique lifestyle, and understanding the family constellation. Therapy is a matter of providing encouragement and assisting clients in changing their cognitive perspective and behavior.

Question 6

Goals of Therapy

Answer 6

To challenge clients’ basic premises and life goals. To offer encouragement so individuals can develop socially useful goals and increase social interest. To develop the client’s sense of belonging.

Question 7

Therapeutic Relationship

Answer 7

The emphasis is on joint responsibility, on mutually determining goals, on mutual trust and respect, and on equality. The focus is on identifying, exploring, and disclosing mistaken goals and faulty assumptions within the person’s lifestyle.

Question 8

Techniques of Therapy

Answer 8

Adlerians pay more attention to the subjective experiences of clients than to using techniques. Some techniques include gathering life-history data (family constellation, early recollections, personal priorities), sharing interpretations with clients, offering encouragement, and assisting clients in searching for new possibilities.

Question 9

Applications of Approach

Answer 9

Because the approach is based on a growth model, it is applicable to such varied spheres of life as child guidance, parent–child counseling, marital and family therapy, individual counseling with all age groups, correctional and rehabilitation counseling, group counseling, substance abuse programs, and brief counseling. It is ideally suited to preventive care and alleviating a broad range of conditions that interfere with growth.

Question 10

Contributions of Multicultural Counseling

Answer 10

Its focus on social interest, helping others, collectivism, pursuing meaning in life, 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.

Question 11

Limitations of Multicultural Counseling

Answer 11

This approach’s detailed interview 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.

Question 12

Contributions of Theory

Answer 12

A key contribution is the influence that Adlerian concepts have had on other systems and the integration of these concepts into various contemporary therapies. This is one of the first approaches to therapy that was humanistic, unified, holistic, and goal-oriented and that put an emphasis on social and psychological factors.

Question 13

Limitations of Theory

Answer 13

Weak in terms of precision, testability, and empirical validity. Few attempts have been made to validate the basic concepts by scientific methods. Tends to oversimplify some complex human problems and is based heavily on common sense.

Question 14

Push Button Technique

Answer 14

Used with clients who know they are depressed but feel that the depression controls them and nothing can be done. Recognizes that control is a major theme in depression, and this intervention is designed to help the client regain a sense of control over the negative feelings that seem overwhelming.

Clients are asked to recreate an unpleasant memory, then followed by a recalling of a pleasant memory.

Aims to help clients become aware of their role in contributing to their unpleasant feelings.

Question 15

Birth Order

Answer 15

The oldest child - generally recieves a good deal of attention during the time they are the only child, some what spoiled and the center of attention

The second child - only of two is a different position - shares attentions - behaves as if there is a race, under full steam at all times

The middle child - feels squeezed out. Becomes convinced of the unfairness of life and feels cheated

The youngest child - baby of the family - most pampered - develops helplessness - puts others in their service

The only child - may not learn to share or cooperate

Question 16

Inferiority feelings

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Individual Psychology

Answer 17

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 unified by the person’s movement toward a life goal.

Question 18

Holistic Concept

Answer 18

We cannot be understood in parts; all aspects of ourselves must be understood in relation to each other.

Question 19

Fictional finalism

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Guiding self-ideal

Answer 20

Another term for fictional finalism, which represents an individual’s image of a goal of perfection.

Question 21

Lifestyle

Answer 21

The core beliefs and assumptions through which the person organizes his or her reality and finds meaning in life events. Our perceptions of self, others, and the world. Our characteristic way of thinking, acting, feeling, living, and striving toward long-term goals.

Question 22

Social Interests

Answer 22

A sense of identification with humanity; a feeling of belonging; an interest in the common good.

Question 23

Community Feeling

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Life Tasks

Answer 24

• Social Task (friendships)
• love-marriage Task
• Occupational Task (contributing to society)

Question 25

Basic mistakes

Answer 25

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 influential in shaping personality.

Question 26

Family constellation

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

Early recollections

Answer 27

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 early recollections, it is possible to understand mistaken notions, present attitudes, social interests, and possible future behavior.

Question 28

Lifestyle assessment

Answer 28

The process of gathering early memories, which involves learning to understand the goals and motivations of the client.

Question 29

Private logic

Answer 29

Basic convictions and assumptions of the individual that underlie the lifestyle pattern and explain how behaviors fit together to provide consistency.

Question 30

Family atmosphere

Answer 30

The climate of relationships among family members.

Question 31

ABT (Adlerian Brief Therapy)

Answer 31

1. Establish the relationship – based on a sense of interest that grows into caring, involvement and friendship. Must deal with personal issues the client recognizes as significant and is willing to explore and change. Adlerian therapists focus on making person to person contact the clients rather than starting with the problem. A positive relationship is created by listening, responding, demonstrating respect for the clients capacity to understand purpose and seek change and exhibiting hope and caring. They lack faith in their ability to cope with the tasks of life and they often feel discouraged.
2. Assessing the Individuals Psychological Dynamics – 2 interview forms – subjective interview and objective interview. In subjective interview the counsellor helps the client tell his life story as completely as possible. This process is facilitated by a generous use of empathic listening and responding. Must follow from a sense of wonder, fascination and interest. Throughout the interview, Adlerian counsellors are listening for clues to the purposive aspects of the clients coping and approaches to life.
   The objective interview seeks to discover information about a) how problems in the clients life began, b) any precipitating events, c) a medical history, d) social history, e) reasons the client chose therapy at this time f) the persons coping with life tasks, g) a lifestyle assessment starts with an investigation of the persons family constellation or early childhood history.
   Questions that may be explored:
   - Who was the favorite child
   - What was your fathers relationship with the children

Early recollections – another assessment procedure used by Adlerians is to ask the client to provide his or her earliest memories, including the age of the person with recollections.
Adlerian therapists use early recollections as a projective technique and to a) assess the clients convictions about self, other, life and ethics, b) assess the clients stance in relation to the counselling session and the counselling relationship, c) verify the clients coping patterns, d) assess individuals strengths, assets and interfering ideans. Adlerians may consider questions like:
- What part does the client take in the memory? Is the client an observer or a participant?

3. Encourage Self-Understanding and Insight – Adlerian therapists interpret the findings of the assessment as an avenue for promoting self-understanding and insight. Self-understanding is only possible when hidden purposes and goals of behaviour are made conscious. Insight without action is not enough, it’s a means to an end and not an end in itself. People can make rapid and significant changes without much insight. Interpretation deals with clients underlying motives for behaving the way they do in the here and now.
4. Reorientation and Reeducation – The final stage of therapeutic process is the action-oriented phase known as reorientation and reeducation: putting insights into practice. Helping clients discover a new and more functional perspective. Client can choose to adopt a new style of life based on the insights they gained in the earlier phases of therapy.

The encouragement process – encouragement literally means to build courage. Encouragement is process of increasing the courage needed for a person to face difficulties in life. Therapists helps clients focus on their resources and strengths and to have faith that they can make life changes, even though life can be difficult.

Making a difference – That difference may be manifested by a change in behaviour or attitude or perceptions. Alderians use many different techniques to promote change, some of which have become common interventions in other therapeutic models.

Question 32

The application to group counseling

Answer 32

As the Adlerian perspective views problems as mainly social in nature, group counselling can provide a context through which members can develop their sense of belonging, social connectedness and community. The value-forming mechanism of groups allows for feelings of inferiority to be challenged, promoting social interest through the role of altruism by helping others in the group. Early recollections can be shared to promote connectedness and group cohesion, and participants are encouraged to act like the person they want to be in a space that encourages challenging erroneous beliefs about themselves, life, and others, and consideration of different beliefs, behaviours, and attitudes. Adlerian group therapy can communicate to clients that change can occur within a short space of time due to its brief and time limited nature.