Adlerian Psychotherapy Prioritizing social interest History of Adlerian Theory

Social Interest

• Adler’s most significant and distinctive concept
• Refers to an individual’s attitude toward and awareness of being a part of the human community
• Mental health is measured by the degree to which we successfully share with others and are concerned with their welfare
• Happiness and success are largely related to social connectedness

• Gemeinshaftsgefuhl – the state of social connectedness and interest in the well-being of others that characterizes psychological health.

Impact of Birth Order

• Adler’s five psychological positions:

Oldest child

Second of two

Middle

Youngest

Only

favored, spoiled, center of attention, pseudo-parent, high achiever

behaves as if in a race, often opposite to first child (rivalry)

often feels squeezed out

the baby (more pampered), creative, rebellious, revolutionary, avant-garde

may not learn to share or cooperate with other children, learns to deal with adults

Encouragement

• Encouragement is the most powerful method available for changing a person’s beliefs
• Helps build self-confidence and stimulates courage
• Discouragement is the basic condition that prevents people from functioning
• Clients are encouraged to recognize that they have the power to choose and to act differently

• Note: Reassurance is not encouragement.

Nature of maladjustment

• A person has a mistaken opinion of self and world
• Inferiority complex: Individual overwhelmed by inadequacy, hopelessness
• Superiority Complex: Individual’s very high opinion of self lead him/her to insist that personal solutions to problems are best
• A person engages in neurotic behavior to protect own opinion of self (e.g., when threatened with failure and insecurity)

• The person becomes self-centered rather than other-centered
• Conflict: “one step forward and one step backward movement” which has the net effect of maintaining an individual at a “dead center” point
• People experience themselves as “stuck” but actually create the antagonistic feelings, ideas, and values, because they are unwilling to change (if-only…)
• Safeguarding: Symptoms developed to safeguard the fictional goal (e.g., It’s my job to keep the peace in the family)
• Family constellation: birth order mediates genetic and constitutional factors
• The individual may be unconscious of these events