Adlerian Therapy
PSYC235-Theories of Counseling & Psychotherapy
Christian Douaihy-Jihan Saleh
Ephrem Nassif-Nadeem Nasr
01
Key Concepts
Introduction
● Prominent figure in psychodynamic
approach
● Collaboration and departure from
Freud
● Founding of Society for Individual
Psychology
● Influence on later psychoanalysts
● Rudolf Dreikurs and popularization
in the U.S.
Key Concepts
● View of human nature: Social relatedness, purposeful behavior
● Subjective perception of reality: Phenomenological orientation
● Unity and patterns of human personality: Indivisible psychology
● Behavior as purposeful and goal-oriented: Teleological explanations
● Striving for significance and superiority: Mastery of life tasks
● Lifestyle: Formation of life goal and its significance
Lifestyle
● Journey from deficiency to improvement
● Formation of life goal and unification of personality
● Conscious shaping of lifestyle through awareness and choice
● Importance of understanding life patterns and reframing experiences
● Individuals as proactive agents in shaping social environments
Social Interest & Community Feeling
● Awareness of being part of human community
● Attitudes towards engaging with society
● Essential for mental health and well-being
● Drive for behaviors such as courage, empathy, and cooperation
● Influence on happiness and success
The Life Tasks
● Building friendships, establishing intimacy, contributing to society
● Essential for psychological well-being
● Implications for therapy and personal development
● Use of "The Question" to uncover underlying motivations
● Addressing avoidance tendencies in life tasks
Birth Order & Sibling Relationships
● Psychological positions within families
● Influence on individuals' traits and behaviors
● Importance of family dynamics and sibling relationships
● Caution against stereotyping based on birth order
● Childhood dynamics influencing lifelong personality trends
02
The Therapeutic Process
Therapeutic Goals
• Adlerian counselling and therapy rests on collaborative
arrangement
• Main goal of the therapy is to develop client’s sense of
belonging and developing attitudes and actions that
reflect concern for others and contributing positively to
society
Therapeutic Goals
● Adlerian favor growth model of personality
● Adlerian theory is optimistic
● Adler contend that clients are often discouraged
● Encouragement is most powerful method for changing
○ Person’s beliefs
○ Building self confidence
○ Stimulating courage
Therapeutic Goals
● New cognitive map:
○ Fostering social interest by helping clients connect with
their responsibility to their community
○ Overcoming discouragement
○ Modifying lifestyle; therefore adaptive, flexible, social
○ Modifying faulty motivation
○ Encouraging equality and acceptance of self and others
○ Helping people to become contributing of world community
Therapist Function & Role
● Discover and correct mistakes:
○ Mistrust
○ Selfishness
○ Unrealistic goals
○ Lack of confidence
○ Fears:
■ Being imperfect
■ Vulnerable
■ Disapproved
■ Suffering from past regrets
Therapist Function & Role
● Major task of therapist is to make a comprehensive assessment
of client’s functioning through:
○ Family constellation
○ Early recollections
○ Lifestyle assessment
After this process is completed the therapist and client have
targets for therapy
Clients’ Experience in Therapy
● Clients usually stick to their usual behaviors because:
○ Might not see their mistakes
○ Might not know how to change
○ Scared of new and unknown outcomes
○ Adlerian therapy work on understanding their private logic
that affect their behavior and social connections
○ Goal to help them know why they act in certain ways to
correct any wrong beliefs
Therapist & Client Relationship
● Relationship between 2 parties are based on:
○ Trust
○ Respect
○ Shared goals
○ Making plan for what they want to achieve
Therapeutic Techniques & Procedures
1. Establish the proper therapeutic relationship.
2. Explore the psychological dynamics operating in the client (an
assessment).
3. Encourage the development of self-understanding (insight into
purpose).
4. Help the client make new choices (reorientation and
reeducation).
03
Application: Therapeutic
Techniques & Procedures
Phase 1: Establish the Relationship
● Collaborative Relationship
● Alignment of Goals
● Focus on Personal Issues
● Person-to-Person Contact
● Establishing a Positive Relationship
● Support as an Antidote to Despair
● Focus on Subjective Experiences
● Active Counseling Role
● Understanding Verbal and Nonverbal Messages
● Goal Focus and Perspective Broadening
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
Aim: Assessment:
to understand
to gain a deeper
client’s identity and
understanding of
how that identity subjective interview objective interview
an individual’s
relates to the world
lifestyle
at large
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Subjective Interview:
○ The counselor helps the client tell his or her life story as completely as
possible
○ Facilitated by a generous use of empathic listening and responding
○ The subjective interview must follow from a sense of wonder,
fascination, and interest
○ Treat clients as experts in their own lives, allow clients to feel
completely heard
○ “Is there anything else you think I should know to understand you and
your concerns?”
The subjective interview should extract patterns in the person’s life, develop hypotheses about what
works for the person, and determine what accounts for the various concerns in the client’s life
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Subjective interview
○ “How would your life be different, and what would you be doing
differently, if you did not have this symptom or problem?”
=> differential diagnosis
○ The symptoms or problems experienced by the client help the client
avoid something that is perceived as necessary but from which the
person wishes to retreat, usually a life task.
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Objective interview:
○ how problems in the client’s life began
○ any precipitating events
○ a medical history, including current and past medications
○ a social history
○ the reasons the client chose therapy at this time
○ the person’s coping with life tasks
○ a lifestyle assessment
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Objective interview:
○ Lifestyle assessment:
■ starts with an investigation of the person’s family
constellation and early childhood history
■ the person’s early memories, seeking to understand the
meaning that she or he has attached to life experiences
Holistic narrative of the person’s life, to make sense of the way the person copes with life tasks, and to
uncover the private interpretations and logic involved in that coping
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● The Family Constellation:
○ Through the family constellation that each person forms his or
her unique view of self, others, and life.
○ The client’s evaluation of conditions that prevailed in the family
when the person was a young child (family atmosphere), birth
order, parental relationship and family values, and extended
family and culture.
○ The questions are always tailored to the individual client with
the goal of eliciting the client’s perceptions of self and others, of
development, and of the experiences that have affected that
development.
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Early Recollections (projective technique):
○ The client’s earliest memories, including the age of the person
at the time of the remembered events and the feelings or
reactions associated with the recollections
○ One-time occurrences, usually before the age of 10, that can be
pictured by the client in clear detail
○ Can help with the understanding of how we view ourselves, how
we see the world, what our life goals are, what motivates us,
what we value and believe in, and what we anticipate for our
future
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Early Recollections (projective technique):
I would like to hear about your early memories. Think back to when
you were very young, as early as you can remember (before the age
of 10), and tell me something that happened one time. Be sure to
recall something you remember, not something you were told about
by others.
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Early Recollections (projective technique):
○ assess the client’s convictions about self, others, life, and ethics
○ assess the client’s stance in relation to the counseling session
and the counseling relationship
○ verify the client’s coping patterns
○ assess individual strengths, assets, and interfering ideas
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Early Recollections (projective technique):
I am in the second or third grade,
maybe 8 or 9. I am asked to come to
I was 4 years old. We were I am 8 years old. It is summer.
the blackboard and work out a
staying at grandma and My father wants to take me with
problem. I remember how to do it
grandpa’s house. I got to sleep him to a baseball game, but I am
mostly. I get almost to the end, but I
in the attic, and it had a neat not around. I am off playing
cannot complete it. Someone else has
hole from which I could spy on where I should not be, and my
to come up and complete it, and I miss
the adults below. I could see and mom can’t find me. I miss out on
out on getting to the right answer. I am
hear them, but they could not going with my dad. I cry when I
watching Gary Snitley complete the
see me. I love being sneaky. am told, and I am sad.
problem, and I am disappointed that I
didn’t remember it.
Phase 2: Assessing the Individual’s
Psychological Dynamics
● Integration and Summary:
○ integrated summaries of the data are developed
■ a narrative summary of the person’s subjective experience
and life story
■ a summary of family constellation and developmental data
■ a summary of early recollections, personal strengths or
assets, and interfering ideas
■ a summary of coping strategies
○ The summaries are presented to the client and discussed in the
session, with the client and the counselor together refining
specific points.
Phase 3: Encourage Self-
Understanding & Insight
● Interpretation of the findings of the assessment to promote as an
avenue for promoting self-understanding and insight.
● Insight: an understanding of the motivations that operate in a client’s
life.
● Self-understanding is only possible when hidden purposes and goals
of behavior are made conscious.
● Insight as a special form of awareness that facilitates a meaningful
understanding within the therapeutic relationship and acts as a
foundation for change.
Phase 3: Encourage Self-
Understanding & Insight
● Interpretation: clients’ underlying motives for behaving the way they
do in the here and now, facilitates insight (should be well-timed).
● Adlerian interpretations are suggestions presented tentatively in the
form of open-ended questions that can be explored in the sessions.
● Both counselor and client eventually come to understand the client’s
motivations
Phase 4: Reorientation & Reeducation
● The action-oriented phase: putting insights into practice.
● Clients figure out how to reorient their current style of living to the useful side
of life, increasing their community feeling and social interest.
○ People acting on the useless side of life become less functional and are
more susceptible to psychopathology.
● Reorientation involves shifting rules of interaction, process, and motivation.
● Focus on reeducation.
● Encouragement is essential.
Phase 4: Reorientation & Reeducation
● The Encouragement Process:
○ “To build courage”, a process of increasing the courage needed for
a person to face difficulties in life.
○ Therapists help clients focus on their resources and strengths and
to have faith that they can make life changes, even though life can
be difficult.
○ Key in activating social interest.
○ Discouragement is the basic condition that prevents people from
functioning.
○ Adlerians use a variety of techniques: relational, cognitive-
behavioral, emotional, experiential.
Phase 4: Reorientation & Reeducation
● The Encouragement Process
In the reorientation phase:
Counselor: Let me see if I understand this. You were in a familiar family setting. Your father was berating you
about a minor difference of opinion, really trying to push your buttons, and you managed not only to stay calm
but also offered to help him sort some materials in his office. You must feel so proud of yourself, triumphant
even. What a transformation of your normal interactions.
Client: Yes, and I even walked away feeling I had made a difference in his life. I did not lose my temper. I did not
strike back. I actually just heard him in a different way, knew he needed to feel right and important, and when I
let that happen, everything changed between us.
Counselor: You even know the steps that got you there.
Client: Yes, I do.
Counselor: Achieving a change in long-held family patterns is one of the hardest things to attain. You have a
right to feel delighted.
Phase 4: Reorientation & Reeducation
● The Encouragement Process
In the relationship phase: In the assessment phase:
Client: I almost didn’t come . . . Clients are encouraged to recognize that they
are in charge of their own lives and can make
Counselor: . . . but you did. different choices based on new understandings
Client: Yes, but I just don’t know. Maybe it
would have been better just to end it all, not
even bother.
Counselor: So you are in a lot of pain, even
thinking about ending it all, but still you came.
That took a lot of courage, How did you
manage to summon that courage and then act
on it?
Phase 4: Reorientation & Reeducation
● Change & the Search for New Possibilities:
○ Commitment is an essential part of reorientation.
○ Clients should strive to transform insights into concrete actions.
○ Real change happens between sessions, and not in therapy itself.
○ The best alternatives and new possibilities are those generated by
the client.
Nadeem Farris Nassim Wafa Nassim Nasr Al-Hafid’s part
Yes that’s actually my full name, yes it has caused issues.
Making a Difference (1/2)
Adlerian therapists aim to change clients' behavior, attitudes, or
perceptions through various techniques, such as immediacy,
advice, humor, silence, paradoxical intention, acting as if,
catching oneself, push-button technique, externalization,
reauthoring, confrontation, stories, fables, early recollection
analysis, lifestyle assessment, encouraging, task setting,
giving homework, and terminating and summarizing.
Making a Difference (2/2)
Contemporary Adlerian practitioners are diverse and can creatively
employ various techniques as long as they are philosophically
consistent with Adlerian psychology. They focus on motivation
modification over behavior change and encourage holistic changes
on the useful side of living. Making a difference depends on the
therapist's ability to win the client's cooperation.
Button-Pushing (1/4)
Counselor: “I am sure we can end your depression rather easily.
Let’s start with what you really need to do with your life” [the set
up].
Client: “Wait a minute. If you can get rid of my depression easily,
let’s do it.”
Button-Pushing (2/4)
Counselor: “Well, OK. You will have to close your eyes. I want you to think
about the worst, most awful thing that has happened to you recently. When
you have it in mind, I want you to raise your right hand.” [The client pauses
for a few moments and then raises his hand.]
“Now, I would like you to add the feeling you feel when you think about this
horrible part of your life.” [Taking the client’s right hand, the counselor
presses the index finger onto the client’s leg.] “We will call this your
depression button. Now, I want you to think about the best thing that has
happened to you or could happen to you or you would love to have happen
to you. Raise your left hand when you know what that is.”
Client: “I can’t really think of anything.”
Button-Pushing (3/4)
Counselor: “You may have to go back to an earlier time to remember a
really good time that you would like to have in your life now, but I know you
can do it.” [A minute later the man raises his left hand.] “Now, add the
feeling you have thinking about that happy time.” [Taking the client’s left
hand, the counselor presses the index finger onto the client’s other leg.]
“So you have a depression button on your right leg, and you can push it
and think about everything horrible, awful, or worse, and feel depressed. Or
you can push the happy button on the other leg, think about wonderful
things or events or people, and feel happy. If you come in next week and
tell me you have felt depressed, I will simply ask you why you decided to
push the depression button rather than the happy button.”
Button-Pushing (4/4)
The push-button technique is an intervention aimed at helping clients
regain control over overwhelming negative feelings in depression. It
involves giving clients, particularly children or adolescents, a physical push-
button to carry as a reminder.
Areas of Application
Adler, a prominent figure in the helping professions, advocated for
therapists to become social activists and address social conditions that led
to human problems. His writings highlight his experiences of discrimination
and social inequality. Adler's work on mental health prevention led him to
advocate for Individual Psychology in schools and families. This growth
model, applicable to various spheres, has been incorporated into school
psychology, counseling, community mental health movements, and parent
education. Adlerian principles have been applied to substance abuse
programs, social problems, poverty, crime, the elderly, school systems,
religion, and business. Adlerian ideas have also gained international
acceptance.
Areas of Application:
Application to Family Counseling
Adler's approach to family therapy emphasizes the family constellation,
fostering harmony and therapist freedom. Adlerians focus on the family
atmosphere, the family constellation, and the interactive goals of each
member. The atmosphere, including parents' attitudes, gender roles,
decision-making, and conflict resolution, influences children's growth. The
therapeutic process aims to increase awareness of individual interactions
within the family system, aiming to understand the goals, beliefs, and
behaviors of each family member.
Areas of Application:
Application to Group Counseling
Groups can challenge inferiority feelings and deeply influence mistaken
concepts and values at the root of social and emotional problems. Adlerian
group counseling posits that our problems are mainly social, and the group
provides a sense of belonging, connectedness, and community. Participants
in group counseling often realize that their problems are interpersonal, their
behavior has social meaning, and their goals can best be understood within
the framework of social purposes. Group counseling promotes social
interest, with altruism playing a core therapeutic factor. The process of
developing group cohesion parallels social interest and community feeling,
which are primary goals of Adlerian therapy.
Areas of Application:
Application to Group Counseling
Adlerian group counseling uses early recollections to help individuals
understand their mistaken notions, attitudes, social interests, and future
behavior. This process fosters a sense of connection among group members,
increasing group cohesion and acting as an agent of change. Adlerian group
counselors implement action strategies during sessions, particularly during the
reorientation stage, where new decisions and goals are made. Members are
encouraged to act as if they were the person they want to be, recognizing that
change requires setting tasks, applying group lessons to daily life, and finding
solutions. This final stage involves group leaders and members working
together to challenge erroneous beliefs and considering alternative beliefs.
Adlerian group counseling is a brief approach to treatment, focusing on
establishing a strong therapeutic alliance, clear problem focus, goal alignment,
rapid assessment, active and directive interventions, client strengths and
abilities, optimism, present and future, and tailoring treatment to clients' unique
04
Adlerian Therapy From A
Multicultural Perspective
Strengths From a Diversity Perspective
Adlerian therapy emphasizes cooperation and social values, making it
suitable for multicultural and pluralistic societies. Native American clients
value cooperation over competition, and Adlerian therapy can be easily
adaptable to cultural values that emphasize community. Adlerians apply
cognitive and action-oriented techniques to help clients explore their
practical problems in a cultural context. They conduct lifestyle assessments
focusing on the structure and dynamics within the client's family,
respecting their heritage and understanding their impact on personal
development. Adlerians investigate culture as a vantage point from which
life is experienced and interpreted, providing a way to grasp the subjective
and experiential perspective of an individual. Different cultures offer
opportunities for viewing the self, others, and the world in multidimensional
ways.
Strengths From a Diversity Perspective
Adlerian theory is a social justice approach that is well-suited for counseling
diverse populations and addressing multicultural issues. It focuses on the
person in a social context, encouraging clients to define themselves within
their social environments and understand how these environments influence
their lifestyle and health. Adlerians allow broad concepts of age, ethnicity,
lifestyle, sexual/affectional orientations, and gender differences to emerge in
therapy, addressing these issues. The therapeutic process is grounded within
a client's culture and worldview, rather than fitting them into preconceived
models. Arciniega and Newlon (2003) argue that Adlerian theory holds
promise for addressing diversity issues, as it emphasizes understanding the
individual in a familial and sociocultural context, social interest, and
belonging.
Shortcomings From a Diversity
Perspective
The Adlerian approach, a Western model, emphasizes the self as the locus of
change and responsibility, which may be problematic for clients from
different cultural backgrounds. The theory's assumptions about the Western
nuclear family may not be relevant or need reconfiguration for those from
extended family contexts. Adlerian theory has drawbacks for clients who are
not interested in exploring past childhood experiences, early memories,
family experiences, and dreams. It also has limited effectiveness for clients
who do not understand the purpose of lifestyle analysis when dealing with
life's current problems. Additionally, some clients may view the counselor as
the "expert" and expect the counselor to provide solutions. Adlerian
therapists may face challenges in discussing areas of their lives that are not
connected to their struggles, and understanding culturally constructed beliefs
about disclosing family information is crucial.
05
The Case of Stan
- Holistic View: Stan's case will be explored through family dynamics, social relationships,
and personal experiences.
- Individual Psychology: Stan's therapist will explore his unique perspective on his current
challenges, examining how his beliefs, perceptions, and values influence his thoughts and
behaviors.
- Striving for Significance: Stan's therapist will delve into his life goals, aspirations, and
purpose to understand his pursuit of significance and address his current challenges.
- Inferiority and Compensation: The therapist will investigate Stan's coping mechanisms,
such as overachievement, to address his feelings of inadequacy or inferiority.
- Family Dynamics: Stan's therapist may investigate his family background, birth order, and
early relationships to identify potential patterns and influences that contribute to his current
challenges.
- Encouragement and Social Interest: The therapist will focus on enhancing Stan's social
interest, fostering stronger connections and fostering a sense of community support.
- Goal-Oriented Approach: The therapist would work together to set goals to tackle his
challenges and work towards a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
- Life Tasks: Stan's therapist will evaluate his approach to tasks and assist him in devising
strategies to navigate and achieve satisfaction in these areas.
Adlerian Therapy holistically addresses Stan's unique experiences, focusing on future goals,
social interest, and life tasks to promote a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
