Unit 3: Adler Flashcards
Adlerian therapy style
Relationship (cooperative throughout)
Analysis and assessment - analysis of early recollections, family constellation, and dreams
Interpretation of the comments of clients
Reorientation, takes the insights and interpretations that come from the client-therapist work and helps individuals find alternatives to previously ineffective beliefs and behaviors
Goals of therapy
Lifestyle changes
Changes in reporting early recollection (previous description –beginning of the therapy)
Reflection on lifestyle changes
Self-defeating behaviors and effective problem solving
Educative and preventive
Not pervasive sufficient
Increase client’s social interest
Therapeutic relationship
Respect and mutual trust –goals of the therapist and the client must be similar
If goals are different then the therapist can perceive the client to be resistant
Therapist educates the goals to the clients
If pt. reports he is not making progress, therapist has to find ways to make changes in attitudes, feelings and beliefs
Anticipation of success is important in therapy
Encouragement is impt. And helpful in applying Solution focused approach
PT. is encouraged to develop goals
Listen and observe as the pt.presents themselves
Unique individuals – actions have meaning
How the patient enters the office, sits, phrases questions, and moves his eyes can all be important material
Pt. could sabotage by playing games and making therapeutic process difficult
Interpersonal problems in personal life could be reflected in therapy
Therapist need not confront about sabotaging – ignore/educate later
Educating – self-defeating behaviors
Sabotaging therapy- should prevent therapist’s empathy
Empathy to both feelings and beliefs
As they understand pt –they get to know their lifestyle
Empathetic response often reflect on beliefs
For Adlerians, beliefs result in feelings
Respond not only to the feeling but also to the belief itself.
Family dynamics and constellation
Relationship among siblings, parents, teachers, and friends
Family represents society hence here –social interest is developed, frustrated, or thwarted.
Interested in –
Sibling relationship with the pt
Parent-child interaction
Changes in the family over time
Pt’s perception of the family decides the type of intervention and the therapeutic process
Parental relationship and significant events
Birth order
Regarding birth order,
Describe siblings as they remember them
Therapist also learns pt’s attitudes towards other members and how their lifestyle has developed as a result of this
If a male patient says that his older brother was both brighter and more athletically inclined, therapist looks at what did it make the pt feel and explore inferiority
Infor in terms of the interactive group – description of all the siblings, years separating them
Clients describe similar childhood and adult age similarly and this is also considered to be very important
Early recollection
Actual info patients are recollecting
In detail info
People do not randomly remember, - those that they remember have a lot of impact on them
It also influences how we live now
They reinforce and reflect our basic life views.
Obtaining early memories is relatively straightforward
Recollections through therapy rather than just in the beginning
Detailed info – several questions
Recent memories are impt. But oldest (4/5 yrs old), lifestyle was crystalized, and hence info will be very helpful
Analysis of dominant themes in memories
Situation in the memory important
Individuals are participating/observing
Feelings expressed in the memory
Dreams
Childhood dreams
Recent and recurrent dreams
Clts encouraged to relate dreams to the therapist
Purposeful – indicative of the lifestyle
Indicative of likes and dislikes of the individual
No fixed symbols – to interpret one must know the individual
Basic mistakes
Derived from early recollections refers to self-defeating aspects like avoidance, withdrawal, self- interest etc.
Overgeneralization -This includes words such as “all,” “never,” “everyone,”and “anything.” Examples of overgeneralizations are: “Everyone should like me,.”
False or impossible goals of security- The individual sees the society as working against him or her and is likely to experience anxiety. Examples are “People want to take advantage of me.”
Misperceptions of life and life’s demands. Examples are “Life is too hard” and “I never get a break.”
Minimization or denial of one’s worth- These include expressions of worthlessness such as “I am stupid”
Faulty values - This has to do primarily with behavior. Examples are “You have to cheat to get your way”
Challenges of basic mistakes
Although identifying Basic mistakes are helpful correcting them can be challenging
Individuals may have safeguarding process that interfere with correcting
People are completely unaware of having these basic views of themselves.
Although people may come to therapy for one basic mistake, they may have several interrelated mistakes.
In therapy, the therapist attempts to present basic mistakes clearly so that they may be understood
Further the patient can become aware in future situations when he is about to make a basic mistake.
Assets
Family constellation, early recollections, dreams, and basic mistakes – finds put what is wrong
It is also helpful to find what is going well
Analysis of individual can take several hours, discussion of assets can be helpful
In some it is obvious; in others patient is not aware
Assets can include - honesty, academic or vocational skills, relationship skills, or attention to family.
Insight and interpretations
During the analysis of dreams, recollections, and basic mistakes, the therapist also interprets to give insights.
Timing of interpretation depends on the client’s progress toward the goal
Interpretations are made on goals and purpose and not psychological conditions
Telling you are insecure/inferior not helpful as pt.s goals can change
Develop insights into mistaken goals and behaviors that interfere with achieving these goals.
When patients develop insights into their behavior, it is helpful to act on these insights.
The therapist often expresses interpretations to patients tentatively, no one can know a patient’s inner world or private logic.
Suggestions are often in the form of questions or statements that are made tentative with phrases
Reorientation
Makes changes in beliefs and behaviors to accomplish goals
Insights from recollections, constellations and dreams are used and may be altered as pt and therapist explore their lifestyle
Patients may take risks in changing via actions that they have never done before
Immediacy – what is happening this moment, pt. could communicate something about therapy
Communication should be tentative
Immediacy
Expressing what is happening in the moment
Verbal and non-verbal communication by the
Helpful to respond to the same
It may appear abrupt or out of nowhere
Often helpful to be tentative
Encouragement
Used throughout the process
Key in Alderian counselling
In reorientation helpful to bring about action and change
Beliefs and self-perceptions, the therapist can help the patient overcome feelings of inferiority and a low self-concept.
Client’s willingness to take risk and try new things is supported
Acting as if
Helps the pt. take action of something that they may believe that they will fail
Pt. is asked to act “as if “ the action will work
Pts will be asked to try the new role by acting like they are wearing a new suit
A new suit does not make them a new person but a new confident feeling
