FREE ESSAY ON ADLERIAN PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN OVERVIEW OF THEORY AND PRACTICE

ADLERIAN PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN OVERVIEW OF THEORY AND PRACTICE

Abstract
Understand, interpret, direct. This statement is an oversimplification of sorts, but
defines the essence of Adlerian psychotherapy. From this minimal overview of Adlerian
theory, we can begin to elaborate and explore the intricacies of individual psychology.
Adlerians are concerned with understanding the unique and private beliefs and strategies
of the individual (private logic and mistaken notions) that we create in childhood, and
which serve as a reference for attitudes, private views of self, others and the world,
and behavior (lifestyle). Therapeutic work with clients involves short-term and intensive
work to increase social interest, to encourage a greater sense of responsibility for
behavior, and to support behavioral change. Insight is used therapeutically as an
analytical tool to facilitate deeper self-understanding and personal growth.
Concept of the Person
Adlerian Psychotherapy employs a holistic approach to understanding the individual. Adler
provides us with an all-encompassing view of the human being, who is a primarily
conscious, rather than unconscious creature. Adlerians believe that the most important
life problems are social and therefore, the individual must be considered within the
social context (Daniels, 1998). Adlerian theory proposes that a human's principle motive
in life is to strive for perfection and that his or her opinion of self, and the world,
influences all of the individual's psychological processes. "Adlerian counseling seeks to
correct mistakes in perception and logic that people make in their effort to fit into
social relationships and to overcome feelings of inferiority" (Brown & Srebalus 1998).
Once the individual has adopted a "mistaken goal", he or she will formulate other
misconceptions to support the "faulty logic" (Brown & Srebalus 1998). Adlerian theory
studies the whole person and how that person experiences life. 
According to this theory, the individual possesses four "life-style convictions" (Mosak
1995). These are: "The self-concept - the convictions I have about who I am; the
self-ideal - the convictions of what I should be or am obliged to be to have a place; the
weltbild, or 'picture of the world' - convictions about the not self and what the world
demands of me; and the ethical convictions- personal 'right-wrong' code" (Mosak 1995).
When there is conflict between the self-concept and the ideal, inferiority feelings
develop. It is important to note that Adlerians do not believe that these feelings of
inferiority are abnormal. In fact, this theory proposes that, "to live is to feel
inferior" (Mosak 1995). However, when the individual begins to act inferior rather than
feel inferior, the individual is engaging in "discouragement" or the inferiority complex
(Mosak 1995). "To oversimplify, the inferiority feeling is universal and 'normal'; the
inferiority complex reflects the discouragement of a limited segment of our society and
is usually 'abnormal'" (Mosak 1995). This theory views the healthy and "ideal" individual
as one who engages in life experiences with confidence and optimism. "There is a sense of
belonging and contributing, the 'courage to be imperfect,' and the serene knowledge that
one can be acceptable to others, although imperfect" (Mosak 1995). 
This theory uses subjectivity for understanding the person. In order to understand the
individual, we must understand his or her cognitions. Harold Mosak (1995) identifies five
underlying assumptions to the Adlerian theory. He states, "a) the individual is unique,
b) the individual is self-consistent, c) the individual is responsible, d) the person is
creative, an actor, a chooser, and e) people in a soft-deterministic way can direct their
own behavior and control their destinies" (Mosak, 1995, p.87). According to Adlerian
theory, people strive to attain goals that provide them with a place in this world, in
turn giving them security and enhancing self- esteem. 
"If strivings are solely for the individual's greater glory, he (Adler) considers them
socially useless and, in extreme conditions, characteristic of mental problems. On the
other hand, if the strivings are for the purpose of overcoming life's problems, the
individual is engaged in the striving for self-realization, in contribution to humanity
and in making the world a better place to live" (Mosak, 1995, p. 53).
Concept of Intervention
Like all therapies it is assumed that the individual's present way of living may accord
safety but not happiness, and because there are not any guarantees in life, one must risk
some 'safety' for the possibility of greater happiness and self-fulfillment. How each
therapy goes about moving the client from a place of 'safety' to a place of relative
'risk taking' may differ. Adlerian psychology addresses the complete range of human
experience, from optimal to pathological, and sees the 'therapeutic' relationship as a
friendly one between equals (Stein, 1996). At the foundation of Adlerian theory and
practice is an optimism about human nature and the premise that the primacy of a feeling
of community (connectedness) is an index and goal of mental health (Stein, 1996). 
The process (intervention) is really one of life-style investigation. The therapist tries
to understand the patients life-style, how the individual engages his life, and how that
life-style affects the client's current functioning. The goal of treatment is not merely
symptom relief, but the adoption of a contributing way of living (Stein, 1996). Adlerians
view pain and suffering in a client's life as the result of the choices the client has
made. This value-based theory of personality hypothesizes that the values a client holds
and lives their life by, are learned, and when they no longer work (evidenced by
suffering or lack of happiness), the client can re-learn values and life-styles that work
more 'effectively'. 
Adler taught that a client's life-style can be viewed as a personal mythology. These
mythologies are true for the individual and so the individual acts accordingly. These
mythologies are "truths" and "partial truths," but they can also be myths that one
confuses for truths. Adler calls these basic mistakes. Overgeneralizations such as
'people are hostile', 'life is dangerous' as well as misperceptions of life, 'life
doesn't give me any breaks', are all myths that one confuses for truth. These mythologies
or life-styles are expressed in the client's physical behavior, language, dreams,
interpretations, etc. The intervention in Adlerian therapy is re-education and
reorientation of the client to myths that work 'better'. The actual techniques employed
are used to this end. Adlerians are highly action orientated. They believe the concept of
insight is just a proxy for immobility. Insight is not a deep understanding that one must
have before change can occur. For Adlerians, insight is understanding translated into
action. It reflects the client's understanding of the purposeful nature of behavior.
Concept of Change/Development
According to Adler's theory of change, the therapist uses a variety of strategies that
help the client to identify his specific needs. The client is unique; therefore, the
technique used must fit the situation of the client. Thinking, feeling, emotion and
behavior can only be understood as subordinated to the individual's style of life, or
consistent patter of dealing with life (Marino, 2000). The individual is not internally
divided or the battleground of conflicting forces. Adler believed that humans possess the
freedom to act, determine our fate, determine our personality, and affect our style of
life. Humans have the creative power of self to consciously shape our personalities and
destinies. Adler was oriented toward the future and looked to our expectations, rather
than to the past, to explain and modify behavior. The goal of the therapy is to stimulate
cognitive, affective and behavior change. Although the individual is not always fully
aware of their specific goal, through analysis of birth order, repeated coping patterns
and earliest memories, the psychotherapist infers the goal as a working hypothesis. 
The client approaches control of feelings and emotions. First, the client recognizes what
kind of feeling he or she is having (angriness, sadness, frustration, etc). Once the
client sees and knows the feeling; then he or she will try to imagine or think of
something pleasant that had happened to him or her, replacing the bad feeling for a good
one. By doing this, the client is in control of his or her emotions and can change the
mood only by thinking differently. It is believed by Adlerians that thinking different
thoughts can effectively change mood states (Marino, 2000). The client is helped by the
therapist to see life from another perspective. The client tries to put him or herself
into another role. Change occurs when the client is able to see his or her problem from
another view, so he or she can explore and practice new behavior. As the therapist
explores the thinking, feeling and acting of the client, he or she directs the client
into a new philosophy of life. Thus, the client is able to think about a new philosophy
of life. He or she makes decisions and conclusions about his or her own life.
Adlerian psychotherapy can be broken down into three basic phases: 1) Understanding he
specific style of life of the patient, 2) Explaining the patient o himself or herself,
and 3) Strengthening the social interest in the patient (Daniels, 1998). It attempts to
bring each individual to an optimal level of personal, interpersonal, and occupational
functioning. The objective of therapy is to replace exaggerated self-protection,
self-enhancement, and self-indulgence with courageous social contribution. The
Therapeutic Spiral, developed by Henry T. Stein, Ph.D., is a cohesive model of the tasks
facing the Adlerian psychotherapist (attached). It provides a detailed outline of the
steps to attaining self-actualization using Adler's theory. If people have developed
social interest at the affective level, they are likely to feel a deep belonging to the
human race and, as a result, are able to empathize with their fellow comforts as well as
the discomforts of life" (Marino, 2000).
Tools and Techniques
Once the initial analysis has been completed and goals for treatment have been set,
Adlerians employ a variety of techniques to encourage individuals to move forward and
elicit change. Most of the techniques are action-oriented, focusing on facilitating
life-style changes while working to help the individual learn to counteract
discouragement, enhancing self-efficacy and increasing self-esteem. Treatment may occur
in the form of multiple psychotherapy (whereby several therapists treat a single
patient), individual psychotherapy, and/or group therapy. Additional settings and
treatment strategies include the Therapeutic Social Club (as found mental hospital
settings), Marriage Counseling, and a focus on broader social problems via
Interindividual and Intergroup Conflict Resolution.
Within the therapeutic relationship, the therapist is said to represent values the
patient may attempt to imitate. In serving as models for their patients, Adlerian
therapists therefore characterize themselves as "being for real"- genuine, fallible, and
able to laugh at themselves. An emphasis on humor as an important asset is frequently
utilized in treatment since "if one can occasionally joke, things cannot be so bad
(Moreno, 1987)". Other verbal techniques include giving advice while taking care to
discourage dependency; frequent use of encouragement and support; and utilizing language
that avoids moralizing by referring to behaviors as "useful" and "useless" as opposed to
"good" and "bad".
Some of the more action-oriented techniques include creative and dramatic approaches to
treatment such as role-play, the empty-chair, acting "As if", and psychodrama. Other
techniques include task setting, creating images, catching oneself, and the Push-Button
Technique. Dramatic techniques such as Role-play, the Empty Chair, and Acting "as if",
are all utilized to help the patient practice useful skills and behaviors as they "try
on" new roles and styles of living. While these techniques provide valuable opportunities
for patients to rehearse new life-skills, they also allow for the patient to make choices
as to which roles they wish to discard, and which they wish to use in their every day
life. Psychodrama is technique that occurs exclusively in a group setting, whereby the
internal struggles of a single patient (or "protagonist") are worked though dramatically.
The process occurs with the active participation (and support) of other members of the
group who are employed by the protagonist to represent challenging aspects of his or her
inner life, while he or she attempts to move "successfully" through it (Moreno, 1987).
A unique approach to Task Setting has the Adlerian therapist making two suggestions as
necessary for the patient to apply concurrently, outside of the therapeutic setting, over
the course of several weeks. First, "Only do what is agreeable to you"; second, "Consider
from time to time how you can give another person pleasure". According to Adler,
successful employment of these two tasks are an effective strategy in helping people feel
"useful and worthwhile", thus enhancing their self-esteem and improving their quality of
life. Another task-oriented technique, called catching oneself, requires patients to
catch themselves "with their hand in the cookie jar". The goals of this approach are not
only to increase patient awareness of their "old" behaviors and provide an opportunity to
replace them with new ones, but to learn to anticipate situations before they occur
(Moreno, 1987). 
Creating images is another technique utilized by Adlerians in eliciting change. Based on
the premise that "one picture is worth a thousand words", patients are given (or
generate) images to describe themselves. Use of this technique maintains that remembering
this image, the patient can remember goals, and in later stages, can learn to use the
image to laugh at oneself (Dayton, 1994). The Push-Button Technique also utilizes the
patients' own imagination in service of therapeutic goals. After being instructed to call
upon two specific life experiences- one pleasant experience, and one unpleasant
experience- patients are encouraged to focus on the feelings each of these incidents
evoke. This process is utilized to teach patients that they can create whatever feeling
they wish by deciding what they think about. As a result, the patient finds that he is
the creator, not the victim of his emotions, and the power of self-determination is
enhanced (Dayton, 1994). 
Conclusion
Adlerian psychology is a vigorously optimistic and inspiring approach to psychotherapy.
As a values-oriented psychology, it is more than a collection of techniques; it
establishes philosophical ideals for individual and group development. Adlerians attempt
to capture the absolute uniqueness of each individual, while teaching individuals to live
in harmony with society. To encourage insight, Adlerians work with early recollections,
birth order, dreams and metaphors. Adlerian counseling and psychotherapy favors a
therapeutic relationship that is cooperative, supportive, empathic, non-dogmatic, and
common-sensical. Through a respectful Socratic dialogue, clients are challenged to
correct mistaken assumptions, attitudes, behaviors, and feelings about themselves and the
world (Stein, 1997). Adlerian psychotherapy is a system of theory and practice built upon
psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, existential, and humanistic principles. 
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