Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology PDF

A L F R E D A D L E R INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY The goal of human soul is conquest, perfection, security, superiority. Every child is faced with so many obstacles in life that no child ever grows up without striving for some form of significance  OBJECTIVES ❏ To know more about...

A L F R E D A D L E R INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY The goal of human soul is conquest, perfection, security, superiority. Every child is faced with so many obstacles in life that no child ever grows up without striving for some form of significance  OBJECTIVES ❏ To know more about Alfred Adler ❏ Understand better Individual Psychology ❏ How Individual Psychology explains existence  OVERVIEW INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY Presents an optimistic view of people while resting heavily on the notion of social interest - that is - a feeling of oneness with all humankind. ❏ Freud reduced all motivation to sex and aggression, Adler saw people being motivated by social influences and by their striving for superiority and success. ❏ Freud assumed that people have little or no choice in shaping their personality, whereas Adler believe that people are largely responsible for who they are ❏ Freud’s assumption that present behavior is caused by past experiences, whereas Adler’s notion that present behavior is shaped by people’s view of the future ❏ Freud placed a very high emphasis on unconscious components of behavior whereas Adler believe that psychologically healthy people are usually aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it.  ALFRED ADLER Born : Mariahilfer Straße, Rudolfsheim, a village on the western fringes of Vienna, Austria Died : 28 May 1937 (aged 67) Aberdeen, Scotland Parents : Pauline Beer and Leopold Adler Spouse : Raissa Epstein Children(s) : Alexandra Adler, Kurt Alfred Adler, Valentine Adler, Cornelia Adler Profession : Ophthalmologist, Psychotherapist, Psychiatrist INTRODUCTION TO ADLERIAN THEORY ❏ The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior is the striving for success or superiority ❏ People’s subjective perceptions shape their behavior and personality ❏ Personality is unified and self-consistent ❏ The value of all human activity must be seen from the viewpoint of social interest ❏ The self-consistent personality structure develops into a person’s style of life ❏ Style of life is created by people’s creative power STRIVING FOR SUCCESS OR SUPERIORITY The sole dynamic force behind people’s actions is the striving for success or superiority  ❏THE FINAL GOAL According to Adler, people strike of a final goal of either personal superiority or the goal of success for all humankind. Has great significance because it unifies personality and renders all behavior comprehensible.  ❏THE STRIVING FORCE AS COMPENSATION People strive for superiority or success as a means of compensation for feelings of inferiority or weakness.  ❏ STRIVING FOR PERSONAL SUPERIORITY Some people strive for superiority with little or no concerns for others. Their goals are personal ones, and their strivings are motivated largely by exaggerated feelings of personal inferiority or the presence of inferiority complex. ❏STRIVING FOR SUCCESS In contrast to people who strive for personal gain are those psychologically healthy people who are motivated by social interest and the success of all humankind.  SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS People’s subjective perceptions shape their behavior and personality  ❏FICTIONALISM Our most important fiction is the goal of superiority or success, a goal we created in life and may not clearly understand. ❏ PHYSICAL INFERIORITIES Because people begin life small, weak and inferior, they develop a fiction or belief system about how to overcome these physical deficiencies and become big, strong and superior. UNITY AND SELF- CONSISTENCY OF PERSONALITY Personality is unified and self- consistent.  ❏ ORGAN DIALECT The whole person strives in a self- consistent fashion toward a single goal, and all separate actions and functions can be understood only as parts of this goal.  ❏ CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS Conscious thoughts are those that are understood and regarded by the individual as helpful in striving for success, whereas unconscious thoughts are those that are not helpful.  SOCIAL INTEREST The value of all human activity must be seen from the viewpoint of social interest. German ; Gemeinschaftsgefuhl or social feeling  ❏ ORIGINS OF SOCIAL INTEREST Social interest is rooted as potentiality in everyone, but it must be developed before it can contribute to a useful style of life.  ❏ IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL INTEREST Social interest was Adler’s yardstick for measuring psychological health and is thus “the sole of criterion of human values”. To Adler, social interest is the only gauge to be used in judging the worth of a person.  STYLE OF LIFE The self-consistent personality structure develops into a person’s style of life. Is the term Adler used to refer to the flavor of a person’s life.  THE CREATIVE POWER OF THE SELF Style of life is molded by people’s creative power. Each person is empowered with the freedom to create her or his own style of life. ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENT Adler believed that people are what they make of themselves. The creative power endows humans, within certain limits, with the freedom to be either psychologically healthy or unhealthy and to follow either a useful or useless style of life.  ❏ GENERAL DESCRIPTION According to Adler the one factor underlying all types of maladjustments is underdeveloped social interest. Besides lacking social interest, neuroticism tends to ❏ Set their goals too high ❏ Live in their own private world ❏ Have a rigid and dogmatic style of life  ❏ EXTERNAL FACTORS IN MALADJUSTMENT Why do people create some maladjustments? Adler recognized three contributing factors, anyone of which is sufficient to contribute to abnormality; ❏ Exaggerated physical deficiencies ❏ Pampered style of life ❏ Neglected Style of life ❏ EXAGGERATED PHYSICAL DEFICIENCIES Exaggerated physical deficiencies, whether congenital or the result of injury or disease, are not sufficient to lead maladjustment. This subjective feelings may be greatly encouraged by a defective body, but they are the progeny of creative power. ❏ PAMPERED STYLE OF LIFE A pampered style of life lies at the heart of most neuroses. Pampered people have weak social interest but a strong desire to perpetuate the pampered. ❏ NEGLECTED STYLE OF LIFE The third external factor contributing to maladjustments is neglect. Neglect is a relative concept. No one feels totally neglected or completely unwanted.  ❏ SAFEGUARDING TENDENCIES Adler believed that people create patterns of behavior to protect their exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public disgrace. This enable to hide their inflated self-image and to maintain their current style of life.  The three principal safeguarding tendencies are: ❏ EXCUSES ; which allow people to preserve their inflated sense of personal worth ❏ AGGRESSION ; which may take the form of depreciating other’s accomplishments, accusing of others being responsible for one’s own failures or self accusation ❏ WITHDRAWAL ; which can be expressed by psychologically moving backward, standing still, hesitating or constructing obstacles ❏ COMPARISON OF SAFEGUARDING TENDENCIES WITH DEFENSE MECHANISM ADLER FREUD Limited mostly to the construction of a neurotic style of life Found in everyone Protect the persons fragile self-esteem from public disgrace Protect the ego from the pain of anxiety Can be partly conscious Operate only on unconscious level Common types include; Common types include; -repression A. Excuses -reaction formation B. Aggression -displacement -depreciation -fixation -accusation -regression -Self accusation -projection C. Withdrawal -introjection -moving backward -sublimation -standing still -hesitating -constructing obstacles  ❏ MASCULINE PROTEST The psychic life of women is essentially the same as that of men and that a male-dominated society is not natural but rather an artificial product of historical development; Cultural and social practices - not anatomy - influence many men and women to overemphasize the importance of being manly.  ❏ ORIGINS OF THE MASCULINE PROTEST Both men and women place an inferior value on being a woman; The epitome of success for boys is to win, to be powerful, to be on top while girls often learn to be passive and to accept an inferior position in the society.  ❏ ADLER, FREUD AND THE MASCULINE PROTEST In contrast to Freud’s views on women, Adler assumed that women - because they have the same physiological and psychological needs as men- want more or less the same things that men want.  APPLICATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY Individual Psychology is divided into four areas; ❏ Family Constellation ❏ Early Recollections ❏ Dreams ❏ Psychotherapy ❏ FAMILY CONSTELLATION Adler asked patients about their family constellation, that is their birth order, the gender of their siblings and the age spread between them; Adler did for some general hypotheses about birth order. ❏ADLER’S VIEW OF SOME POSSIBLE TRAITS BY BIRTH ORDER POSITION FAMILY SITUATION CHILD CHARACTERISTICS Birth is a miracle. Parents have no Can be over protected and spoiled. Likes being the center previous experience and may be of attention.Often has difficulty sharing. Prefers adult ONLY timid or anxious. Retains 200% company and prefers adult language. Disappointed if attention from both parents through abilities not promptly recognized and rewarded. Maybe childhood. Matures early. socially inept with peers. Dethroned by next child; feels lost of Feels power is his right and strives to gain it back. power and control. has to learn to Overemphasizes importance of authority, rules, laws. May share. Parents expectations are OLDEST usually very high. Often given extra become authoritarian or strict. Many are "problem" kids, but can become helpful if encouraged. Often focus on the responsibility and expected to set an past. Pessimistic about the future. example.  Parents ease up or tend to demand or IS competitive and ambitious.Sets high goals. Competition expect less. Has a "peacemaker" in can deteriorate into rivalry. Can be more successful or the older sibling, who may be seen as SECOND a model or a threat. Language and talented than other siblings, but may give up if older consistently excels. Often more optimistic than other motor skills develop faster than older siblings. child. Is "sandwiched" in. May feel Maybe open-tempered. "take it or leave it" attitude. May squeezed out of a position of privilege MIDDLE and significance. Always has to share have trouble of setting or reaching goals, or finding a place in the world. May become a fighter or injustice. never gets first pick. Wants to be bigger than the others. Highly motivated to Has many mothers and fathers. Older excel, but often sets unrealistic goals. Has huge plans that children try to educate him/. Never never seems to work out. Because of desire to succeed in YOUNGEST dethroned, but never experiences real everything, never develops one central ambition. Adreamer, power either. Often spoiled or has trouble establishing independence. May be helpless pampered by parents and siblings. under pressure, and may have a good deal of unrealized potential. One is usually stronger or more Can have identity problems. Strives to separate self from TWIN active. Parents may see one as older other; to be independent. May lack direction or be a or more mature. follower. Stronger one may become a leader.  Child may exploit mother's over concern for his or her well- Child born after the death of the first being, or may rebel or protest the feeling of being compared GHOST CHILD child may have a ghost in front of him. to an idealized memory. Struggles to be his or her own Mother may become over protective person. Child may become very spoiled and demanding. Child may Parents may be so thankful to have a come to resent the adoptive parents and idealize the child that they spoil him. They may try ADOPTED CHILD to compensate for the loss of the adoptive parents, or child may resent received abandonment by the biological parents and strive to feel child's biological parents. worthy of love. May try to prove he is the man in the family and develop ONLY BOY AMONG Usually with women all the time if hyper-masculine characteristics, or may become GIRLS father is away. effeminate. Older brother may act as her ONLY GIRL AMONG Can become very feminine, dependent and helpless. Or protectors. May try to please the BOYS may become a tomboy and try to outdo the brothers. father. If mother wanted a girl, can be ALL BOYS dressed or treated as a girl. Child may capitalize on assigned role or protest vigorously. ALL GIRLS Maybedressed or treated as a boy. Child may capitalize on assigned role or protest vigorously. ❏ EARLY RECOLLECTIONS To gain an understanding on patient’s personality, Adler would ask them to reveal their early recollections (ERs).  ❏ DREAMS Although dreams cannot foretell the future, they can provide clues for solving future problems; Adler applied the golden rule of Individual Psychology to dream work namely “Everything can be different”.  ❏ PSYCHOTHERAPY To enhance courage, lessen feelings of inferiority and encourage social interest.  Thank You! To be human means to feel inferior ~ Alfred Adler