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?
Religion
Addressing the issue of organized reliegion is different from addressing the issue of God. Does the individual embrace religious belief or avoid it? How are guilt and repentance dealt with?
Relationship to the Universe
What is the nature of the relationship of humans to the rest o the world and the universe?
Metaphysical Issues
How do individuals view issues on heaven, hell, reincarnation, karma, salvation, etc.? Does the individual’s lifestyle conform to beliefs in this area?
Meaning of Life
Healthy individuals lead meaningful lives in cooperative relationship to other members of the human community?
Parenting & Family
Individual parents develop strong feelings and beliefs about how children should be raised; how individuals face this task is both a function of and a challenge to the lifestyle
Adlerian’s Definition of Psychopathology
Discouragement; When an individual is unable or unwilling to approach and deal with essential life tasks
Demands of Life
Pursuit of a useful occupation with faith and courage
Adjustment of one’s sexual life in accordance with good social feeling
Making friends with society
Symptomatic Patients
Suffer from the effects of their inaccurate or mistaken lifestyles; Symptoms help individuals avoid facing life tasks for which they feel ill-perpared or inadequate
Poor Interpersonal Relationships
Products of misperceptions, inaccurate conclusions, and unwarranted anticipations incorporated in the lifestyle
Effects of Maladaptive Lifestyle
Cause the client to experience:
Disappointments, Feelings of Inferiority, and eventually discouragement
First Rule of Adlerian Therapy
Win the patient, for the psychologist never to worry about his own success; if he does so, he forfeits it
Main Goal of Adlerian Therapy
To counter the client’s unhelpful lifestyle-based expectations
Poor Interpersonal Relationships
Products of misperceptions, inaccurate conclusions, and unwarranted anticipations incorporated in the lifestyle
Effects of Maladaptive Lifestyle
Cause the client to experience:
Disappointments, Feelings of Inferiority, and eventually discouragement
First Rule of Adlerian Therapy
Win the patient, for the psychologist never to worry about his own success; if he does so, he forfeits it
Main Goal of Adlerian Therapy
To counter the client’s unhelpful lifestyle-based expectations
General Therapeutic Strategy
Be a friendly, supportive model for your clients.
use encouragement to help clients have more success potential and faith in themselves.
Help clients have insight into their style of life and fictional finalism.
Help clients modify their basic mistakes using a broad range of educational procedures
Phases of Adlerian Therapy
Forming the therapeutic relationship.
Lifestyle assessment and analysis
Interpetation and Insight
Reorientation
Forming the Therapeutic Relationship
Win the patient; Relationship should be egalitarian and characterized by effective listening and caring; therapy is conducted collaboratively; Steps need to be taken to enhance collaboration and to communicate interest in the client as a person
Questions to ask in Adlerian Therapy
What do you want me to know about you?
Alignment of Goals
The therapist shows the client respect by working hard to understand the client as a person and the client’s goals for therapy; therapist and client must align their therapeutic goals
Goals for Adlerian Therapy
Fostering client social interest or community feeling
Helping clients overcome their feelings of inferiority and discouragement
Helping clients change the basic mistakes imbedded in their lifestyle
Shifting client motivation from a self-focused superiority to a more adaptive community focus
Helping clients believe and feel like they are equals in their relationships
Helping clients to become contributing members to society
Family Constellation Interview
Helps obtain pertinent information about the client’s childhood experiences that shaped lifestyle development; Includes descriptions of each family member, descriptions of how the different family members interactions with one another; how each family member was viewed by the client (in relation to the client), who fought, who didn’t fight; birth order as a predictor of lifestyle
Focusing on the Positive
Focus on the person’s strengths and problems, especially positive personal qualities (best traits as a child or stories of childhood successes); establish an environment characterized by encouragement
Initial Lifestyle Interpretation
Tell the client something you’ve learned about him toward the end of the first session; furthers the connection between therapist and client and begin the process of a deeper analysis of problems than the client has participated in previously; more of a guess
Assessment Strategies of Adlerian Therapists
The Family Constellation Interview
The Question
Earliest Recollections
Dream Analysis
Family Constellation Interview
Helps obtain pertinent information about the client’s childhood experiences that shaped lifestyle development; Includes descriptions of each family member, descriptions of how the different family members interactions with one another; how each family member was viewed by the client (in relation to the client), who fought, who didn’t fight; birth order as a predictor of lifestyle
The Question
How would your life be different if you were well? What would you be doing in our life if you no longer had your sumptoms (problem)?; used to determine if the client is obtaining special treatment or secondary gain for having problems; used to determine which life tasks the client may be avoiding by virtue of his or her symptoms
Earliest Recollections
Significance of early memories in understanding the client’s lifestyles and fictional goals; seen as a projection; continuity or message from the past, still active in the client’s present life;
Questions to help therapists judge the meaning of the earliest recollection
Is the individual active or passive?
Is he or she an observer or participant?
Is he or she giving or taking?
Does he or she go forth or withdraw?
Is he or she alone or with others?
Is his or her concern with people, things, or ideas, (or animals)?
What relationship does he or she place himself or herself in with others? Inferior? Superior?
What emotion does he or she use?
Are detail and color mentioned?
Do stereotypes of authorities, subordinates, men, women, old, young, reveal themselves?
Prepare a headline that captures the essence of the event
Look for themes and an overall pattern
Look for a corroboration in the family contstellation information
Oldest Child
Initially spoiled and later dethroned; bossy, strict, authoritarian as if with a right to power, feels exceptionally responsible for others; strongly identifies with father for support after birth of 2nd child
Second Child
Always has an older rival making him competitive; challenged to develop a unique identity; may end up being a rebel; unfulfilled wish to be bigger, stronger, smarter, and more capable
Middle Child
Even-tempered; develops take it or leave it attitude; overly sensitive to plights of overlooked and underprivileged; feel cheated out of position of privilege and harbor resentments; quietly manipulates others to get her way; has trouble finding her niche in life
Youngest Child
Never dethroned, feels he should be treated like royalty; has unrealistic aspirations; Dreams of being bigger and more powerful than everyone else; no follow-through to achieve these dreams; chronically frustrated; may choose to be the baby
Only Child
Plenty of attention from adults; feels special; likes attention from adults; problems with peer relationships due to lack of experience with give and take and tolerance; believe she should be taken care of
Only Boy Among Girls
Need to prove he’s a man; Sensitive to feminine issues; may be treated like a hero; hold high expectations of himself; strong expectations that everyone will immediately recognie his special qualities and feel deep disappointment when he’s treated like everyone else
Only Girl Among Boys
Overly feminine or a tomboy; trying to compete with brothers; feels she has a special designation; depending upon her relations with brothers, may expect abuse from males or may expect them to be her protectors
Dream Analysis
Dreams represent an effort by the individual to solve immediate life problems; no generic symbolic meaning; Dreams are purposeful
Adlerian Dream Interpretation
What function might this dream serve in the dreamer’s overall life? Dream is both a metaphorical expression of a problem and a self-deception
Dreams as Self-Deception
Having thoughts and feelings in the form of a dream allows individuals to distance themselves from their own thoughts and feelings
Use of Dream Analysis
To understand the meaning of the dream within the context of an individual’s lifestyle and then help him to approach and successfully address the thoughts and feelings in his waking life
Examples of Basic Mistakes
Overgeneralization: No fairness in the world; Always the one who has to take care of everything
False or Impossible Goals: I have to be the boss to be acceptable, or others should always take care of my needs.
Misperceptions of life and life’s demands: The world is against me, or the world is my oyster.
Denial of One’s Basic Worth: I totally suck or no one could ever love me
Faulty Values: Set of values at odds with social interest; I must win and be the best no matter how much it hurts others
Future Autobiography
Useful for clients who like to write, draw, or tell stories; Can be used as an assessment tool; looking at who the client is now and projecting his life into the future as he wants it; can help identify one’s life goals and determine which goals are facilitating or hampering his or her daily functioning; Can help client take greater conscious responsibility for directing and shaping his or her life; If used for therapy, used after gathering information about the client’s past and lifestyle;
Purpose of Interpretation
To demonstrate continuity of an inaccurate, maladaptive lifestyle; it’s not important to show a causal connection between past and present; Continuity should be revealed in a way the client can understand
Reorientation
Encouraging thepatient to act in lieu of talking and listening
Push-Button Technique
Designed to help clients have greater emotional control; Involves digging into the client’s memory and retrieving a very pleasant memory, Remember how wonderful the experience was; Retrieve a horrible incident, remember how terrible it was; Retrieve another pleasant memory; ABA reversal experimental design that teaches the clients the power of thoughts and images over feelings;
Future Autobiography
Useful for clients who like to write, draw, or tell stories; Can be used as an assessment tool; looking at who the client is now and projecting his life into the future as he wants it; can help identify one’s life goals and determine which goals are facilitating or hampering his or her daily functioning
Creating New Images
Use short phrase to visually and metaphorically capture client’s behavior, attitude, or value; Self-generated image used to replace older more negative, disturbing, or maladaptive self-images
Acting As If
Used when clients express a desire to be different; What if you were self confident? How would that look? For the rest of the therapy time and the rest of the week, suggest that the client act as if he were filled with ______. Allows the client to try on new ways of being
Push-Button Technique
Designed to help clients have greater emotional control; Involves digging into the client’s memory and retrieving a very pleasant memory, Remember how wonderful the experience was; Retrieve a horrible incident, remember how terrible it was; Retrieve another pleasant memory; ABA reversal experimental design that teaches the clients the power of thoughts and images over feelings;
Spitting In The Client’s Soup
Metaphor for spoiling the client’s use of a particular avoidance or neurotic strategy;
Catching Oneself
Designed to help clients become aware of maladaptive behavior patterns and goals; Involves coaching the client on how to catch himself when he or she slips into old, unhelptful behaviors;
Task Setting and Indirect Suggestion
Suggest that the client does only what is agreeable to the him. Then sugest that there is something the client can do but that it is more difficult and that you are not sure if the client can follow it. Reverse psychology.
Paradoxical Strategies
Generally involves prescribing the symptom; if client is self-critical, suggest that she negatively analyze and criticize herself at even a higher rate and intensity; gives the clients the feeling of being more in control than they did
Advice, Suggestion, and Direction
Associated with reorientation stage of counseling
Techniques to Apply based on Family Constellation Interview
Acting as If
Spitting in the Client’s Soup
Creating New Images
Encouragement
Process whereby one focuses on an individual’s resources to build a person’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and feelings of worth
Ways People Encourage Others
Role Modeling Seeing Strengths and Abilities Supporting over the long haul (consistency) Seeing people as special Supporting during crises Supporting what people are interested in Encouraging career choices
