Chapter 3: Individual Psychology: The Therapeutic Approach of Alfred Adler Flashcards
Adler’s Family Constellation
Second of six children
Health Status of Adler
Sickly child, suffered from rickets, trwice run over in the street, and experienced a spasm of the glottis; contracted pneumonia at 4
Early Childhood Experience of Adler
Brother died next to him when he was 3
Adler’s Relationshhip with Parents
Encouraged by his Father
Educational Attainment
Medical Degree in Ophthalmology at University of Vienna
Adler’s wife
Raissa Timofeyewna Epstein; Socialist an Feminist; working throughout their marriage
Adler’s Orientations
Powerfully influenced by social, familial, an cultural factors; response to human problems was characteristically ethical and practical; he identified with common people, he was also a feminist (upbringing an marriage), compassion for the sick, oppressed, and downtrodden
Adler’s Key to Psychological Health and Well-Being
Encouragement
Adler’s Road to Psychological Ill Health
Paved with Discouragement
Adlerian Theory that Primary Reason to Gather a Client’s History
To uncerstand the impact it has on today or his or her future.
The Whole Person
Adler emphasized unity of thinking, feeling, acting, attitudes, values, the conscious mind, the unconscious mind. How does the individual use body and mind in pursuit of goals?
Attitude Toward Life
Composed of a delightful combination of individual human choice and indiviual sense of purpose
Striving with Purpose
Behavior can be analyzed with respect to its purpose; we move toward specific goals in life
Striving for Superiority
Individuals strive for a perceived plus in themselves and their lives; Striving for completeness; Our natural state is forward moving
Goals of Children’s Misbehavior
To get attention
To get power or control
To get revenge
To display inadequacy
Idiographic Approach
The psychology of the single, unique, whole individual
Soft Determinism
Midpoint between deterministic, cause an effect thinking and noneterminism, which assumes no causal connections
Human Behavior from Individual Psychology Perspective
No single direct causal factor that produces a single behavior. Many contributing factors; Does not blame individuals for misdeeds; possible that an individual may not completely unerstand or be conscious of the potential consequences of her actions
Community Feeling
Experience of a deep sense of connection to tohers, an awareness of being a member of the human community
Social Interest
Community feeling in action; goal of therapy for many clients; increases capacity for emplathy and altruism
Fictional Goals/Fictional Finalism
Future-oriented concept that influences an individual’s present behavior; endpoint of purposeful striving
Individual’s Style of Life (Lifestyle)
Conscious and unconscious; Subjective cognitive map of how the world works; Includes general conceptions about yourself, how the world works, and personal eithical convictions
Basic Mistakes
Beliefs about the self, world, and others that cause them emotional pain and distress.
Phenomenology
Individual’s experience is a subjective fiction based on each individual’s perception; the individual actively creates an adapts his or her own personal reality
Freedom to Choose
Choosing from a limited set of options; Humans are fully responsible for their choices although they may make uneducated choices due to bad information or a lack of information;
Role of Education According to Adler
It can help facilitate healthy, free choice and personal responsibility
Early Cognitive Map
The individual map each of us uses to navigate through life is established in childhood; referred to as lifestyle
Lifestyle
Our personality; give us our continuity and tells us about ourselves, others, and how the world works; can be deficient in some ways, can be modified through therapeutic, educational experiences, including counseling or psychotherapy
Optimism
Adler was hopeful that the pull toward community feeling and the drive toward completeness would help individuals live together peacefully and happily
Interrelated Life Tasks or Challenges According to Adler
Work or Occupation Social Relationships Love & Marriage Self Spirituality Parenting & Family
Work or Occupation
If a person is unable to wrk cooperatively, divide labor responsibilities, and maintain friendly relations, he or she is likely to struggle in the area of work. A person who sees work as an easy guarantee of superiority will never be happy.
Social Relationships
Establishing healthy social relationships was the key to solving work or occupational problems; Humans are independent; It is only when we accept this interdependence and develop empathy and concern for others that social relationships can prosper; clients’ social problems stem from inappropriate expectations, beliefs, andinterpersonal habit imbedded in their individual lifestyles
Love & Marriage
Each partner must be more interested in the other than himself for the love and marriage to be successful; there must be equality; no partner must feel subdues or overshadowed; fundamental guaranteee of the marriage is the feeling you are worthwile, that you cannot be replaced, that your partner needs you, that you are acting well, and that you are a fellow man and a true friend.
Road to Recovery for People With Intimacy Problems
Modify the Lifestyle
Develop Empathy for Others (Community Feeling)
Take decisive action by thinking and acting differently in everyday life
Dimensions of the Self Life Task
Survival of Self - Am I taking good care of my physical, psychological, & social selves?
Body Image - Is my perception of my body reasonable and congruent with my actual body?
Opinion - What is my opinion of me? I ______ me.
Evaluation - Am I good or am I bad?
Optimal Resolution of Self Task
Characterized by good self-care, an accurate perception and expectations of one’s body, a reasonably accurate and positive opinion of oneself, and a balanced view of oneself as not overly good or overly bad
Spirituality
Relationship to God Religion Relationship to the Universe Metaphysical Issues Meaning of Life
Relationship to God
Does the individual believe in God? If so, what kind of God does he or she perceive? If not, then what does he or she believe in?