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  #1  
Old May 3rd, 2005, 04:07 PM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. I-III (Delinquency, Guidance Centers)

Ch. I in Volume 5 of the CCWAA Where the Struggle Against Delinquency Should Begin (1921) is a discussion of the delinquency-problem. Adler’s answer is: everywhere. The social situation in Vienna was evidently very bad, because Adler mentions all possible actors: parents, teachers, caregivers, and government. Adler thinks that the depressed standard of life is one of the reasons for the low moral standards. Adler is very critical toward the results achieved so far with the help of punishment and the threat of punishment--strategies. Adler writes that most institutions, including family and the legal system, are hardly able correct the situation. What is left are the schools, even if Adler perceives a number of problems even there. However, “the school is the only institution qualified to check delinquency.” However, Adler wants to see a number of changes in the school-system. Adler advocates a new techer-training and says that the delinquency really starts with the failure at school.

Ch. II, Educational Guidance Center (1922), continues the argument where the previous chapter left it. Adler argues that classroom assistants are needed with training in Individual Psychology. Adler refers with approval to the school-reforms started by Otto Glöckel (b.1873), minister of education. On Otto Glöckel’s background, see Hoffman (pp. 126-128). Adler tells that Individual psychology is practiced only in connection of the Vienna “Volksheim” (this was in 1921) where an Educational Counseling Center was established. In the end of his paper, Adler presents seven theses for the work of the Guidance centers. You find them here in a shortened form: 1) Do not involve any authorities, 2) Identify the origin of the problem, 3) Pay attention to the rights of the delinquent, 4) Uncover vanity, 5) Develop social feeling, 6) Reject the myth of talent, 7) Each of these points must be worked with empathy.

Ch. III, Introductions to “Heilen und Bilden”, Both Editions, & Postscript (1922). Introduction to the first edition was written by Carl Furtmüller. He says that the physician’s advice and teachings are indispensable for the educator. The tasks of the psychotherapist are, according to Furtmüller: to study what in the life-plan of the client has gone wrong and become untenable, what has forced the client into an insolvable disparity wih reality. Then the therapist should help the client to shed his unrealistic life-plan and replace it with another that will enable him to adjust to the reality.

Introduction to the second edition was written by by Erwin Wexberg in 1922. Wexberg comments on the war that crippled international scientific relationships in Europe. Wexberg says that Individual Psychology has emerged as an independent discipline that is different from psychoanalysis. W. speaks of a “clean separation” between the schools that would be a mutual interest, according to Wexberg.

A postscript was added by Alfred Adler in 1922. There Adler says that “For us, Individual psychology is that artistic striving which allows us to view all expressions in the context of a unified development. … by illuminating the unrecognized lifeplan and by revising it, by sharpening the sense of reality, the sick and asocial manifestations of the self-created system can be eliminated, and the road toward reconciliation can be taken.”

To order your copy of Volume 5, go to http://www.Adlerian.us/cwaa-v5.htm.
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Last edited by Henry Stein; February 27th, 2010 at 11:25 AM..
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  #2  
Old May 5th, 2005, 10:28 AM
Manu Jaaskelainen Manu Jaaskelainen is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. I-III (Delinquency, Guidance Centers)

What we see here, is really a kind of latter-day enlightment. The Viennese fin de siècle has been characterized in many different ways, but one method is to study it from the perspective of the Enlightenment. Adler's programmes - spreading psychological knowledge, establishing counseling centers, and training medical and and educational professionals - contain all the elements of the Enlightenment. Compare with Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Kant, and many others. Adler's ideas about freedom and democracy place him into the society of some of the best minds of previous centuries.
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Old May 5th, 2005, 06:40 PM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. IV-VI (French Revolution, Teleology, Life's Tasks

On May 9th, we will begin a discussion of The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler, Volume 5, Chapters IV-VI. The following chapter summaries were prepared by Manu Jaaskelainen.

Ch. IV in Vol. 5, Danton, Marat, Robespierre: A Character Study (1923) is a paper on the French Revolution. In this paper, Adler comments on the personalities of three important figures in this revolution. Probably he was inspired to this study by the tremendous historical turning-points that had shook the world: World War I, Russian Revolution, revolutions in Germany and in Austria. The paper is a short but very thought-provoking study of the personalities and processes of the French Revolution. A small sample from Adler's text: "At school he (Robespierre) was always a model student and his university studies produced a prized paper. He lived a clean and highly moral life, but in all his virtuousness he hid an ambition that would not allow for mistakes or corruption. Like a model student, he saw revolution as an academic contest for which he would be crowned at the end. His political tactics were always the same: he skillfully maneuvered one opponent to destroy another. When he and his followers finally faced the last opponent, his quick-wittedness deserted him. He also died under the guillotine, as Danton had prophesied, while on his own last walk toward death."

Ch. V Progress in Individual Psychology - Part I (1923) discusses some basic axioms of individual psychology. In this paper, Adler defines man's inner life as a teleological process: "The development of man's inner life occurs with the help of a presumed teleology, by which a goal is established under pressure of a teleological apperception. Therefore, we will find in all psychological phenomena the characteristic of goal-striving that incorporates all forces, experiences, judgments, desires and fears, deficiencies and abilities. From this we conclude that a true understanding of a psychological phenomenon, or of a person, can be gained only when teleologically examined in a context." Thus, the goal of a person's inner life becomes the conductor, the causa finalis, that pulls all emotions into the stream of psychological existence.

Ch. VI The Capacity of the Human Psyche (1923) is a very short paper on the problem of human capacity. Here, Adler defines first the three tasks facing everyone: social world, work, and sexuality. Neurotically disposed people are characterized by a wrong attitude toward these tasks. The capacity of human psyche depends on the strength of the individual's ties to the community. "Its capacity is measured best when a person is about to make decision or is confronted by a test." In therapy, the client's striving for dominance is the starting point. Therapy becomes a reconciliation with reality, and engendering encouragement.

To order your copy of Volume 5, go to http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/cwaa-v5.htm.
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http://www.Adlerian.us

Last edited by Henry Stein; May 8th, 2005 at 09:08 AM.. Reason: Minor corrections.
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  #4  
Old May 10th, 2005, 09:30 AM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. IV-VI (French Revolution, Teleology, Life's Tasks

Maximilien Robespierre, a mild-mannered 5'3" provincial lawyer who only lived to be 36, seized the imagination of many authors, having been included or featured in ten films (1921-1989), seven plays, and twelve novels. According to Peter Vansittart in Voices of the Revolution:
Robespierre, so unimaginable in sabots and red cap, has been rated as the first modern dictator, Rousseau in action, a paranoic and a constipated eunuch, a morose Hamlet. To Hamel he displayed democracy at its loftiest and noblest; for Acton he was the most hateful celebrity since Machiavelli and the Renaissance; for George Sand 'the greatest man not only of the Revolution but of all known history'; for Victor Hugo, 'the algebra of the Revolution--the immense power of the straight line.' (Elsewhere, Hugo remarked that a straight line is unique in its brutality) Robespierre has been considered a suffering Messiah, speaking of enemies 'preparing me the hemlock.' Southey called him a ministering angel sent to kill thousands in order to save millions. Robespierre himself entrusted his reputation 'to the belated help of Time.' His own bi-centary provoked fury in the French Assembly.
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  #5  
Old May 12th, 2005, 08:01 PM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. VII-X (Isolation, World View, Punishment)

On May 16th, we will begin a discussion of The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler, Volume 5, Chapters VII-X. The following chapter summaries were prepared by Manu Jaaskelainen.

Ch. VII The Dangers of Isolation (1923) is a study on the problems caused by social isolation. "The path to ameliorating childhood insecurity is quite clearly prescribed by logic; it leads to the human community. Its support along with the feeling of belonging can banish the insecurity of the child. Therefore, the task of raising and educating a child and his education is to promote the process "taking root" and to awaken a feeling of being at home on this earth." According to Adler, the right preparation for life is possible only in society, just as learning to swim is possible only in water.

Ch.VIII Individual Psychology and World View - I (1923) is a report based on a paper presented in the Congress for Individual Psychology in Munich 1922. There are two basic feelings that guide the relationship between man and his environment: feelings of insecurity and feelings of community. Human organisms have a teleologically definable relationship with nature - to overcome the dangers and obstacles that threaten his existence as a species. For human beings, professional and social competence, positive development and the strength of the family relationships are important means to counteract the forces of degeneration, diseases, and perversion. This means that the capacity for social cooperation is essential for the survival of human species.

Ch. IX Punishment in Child Rearing (1924) is a paper on the art of child-rearing. Adler starts criticizing the old ways of education. Adler rejects all forms of physical punishment, and is very critical against the use of punishment in general. If kindness was of no avail, one may question whether it was the right kind of kindness. However, kindness as such is not the correct method, but it serves as a starting-point. "The most serious failure with the principle of punishment is that it touches only the superficial manifestations of a failed psychological attitude; it deals only with its forms of expression. ... Seen from a broader perspective, it should be understood that children subjected to a system of punishment do not grow into independently thinking and acting people."

Ch. X Progress in Individual Psychology - Part II (1924) continues the argument of Chapter V (Part I). Adler begins presenting some observations on a manic-depressive client. Adler tells us how he had to correct the wrong attitudes and the wrong lifestyle of the client. Then it was necessary to encourage him before sending him back to life. Adler reflects on the psychological problems connected with physical ailments and concludes that both are correlated - the physical problems reflect the lifestyle of the client. Furthermore, it is the discouragement that makes the illness appear again, it is not the physical illness as such. "In certain way, all neurotics are victims of errors of our culture. ... The final cause of neurosis and psychosis is the superstition about the fundamental inequality of human beings. This forms the basis of the feeling of inferiority and the morbid striving after fictitious superiority."

To order your copy of Volume 5, go to http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/cwaa-v5.htm.
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http://www.Adlerian.us
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  #6  
Old May 13th, 2005, 09:48 AM
Manu Jaaskelainen Manu Jaaskelainen is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. IV-VI (French Revolution, Teleology, Life's T

Another important theme in Chapter V is the idea that neurosis is a manifestation of persons who are discouraged in life - "discouraged relative to the real demands of the everyday life". According to Adler, these people may be helped encouraging them into the activities of cooperative working, loving and playing which the logic of communal life and the division of labor imply. "A rational therapy should not carry the individual into mystic fields of the mind, thus affording him at once escape from these real demands..."
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  #7  
Old May 16th, 2005, 08:45 AM
Trevor Hjertaas Trevor Hjertaas is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. VII-X (Isolation, World View, Punishment)

In chapter X, I thought Adler's insight that the manic phase of bipolar disorder was just as much a retreat as the depressive phase was very important. Without the awareness of the necessity of engaging with the tasks of life in a useful manner, a clinician could easily believe that the individual who was manic was merely living too intensely (purely due to biochemical factors) and would thus miss the underlying psychological purpose of the "illness." (Which is not, of course, to completely dismiss the physiological either - Adler was one of the original biopsychosocial theorists).

Adler's emphasis on the underlying personality (style-of-life) of such individuals is also vital. He seems to understand bipolar disorder as arising from a dysfunctional lifestyle (a similar point also made by Henry in a recent interview he gave to the Canadian Journal of Adlerian Psychology). This line-of-thought continues in the most sophisticated ideas in psychopathology today, as in Theodore Millon's understanding of axis I disorders such as manic depression arising out of - or at least being strongly influenced by - axis II (personality) dysfunction.

Trevor Hjertaas, Psy. D.
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Old May 20th, 2005, 09:27 AM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. XI-XIII (Dreams. Causality, Crime)

On May 23th, we will begin a discussion of The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler, Volume 5, Chapters XI-XIII. The following chapter summaries were prepared by Manu Jaaskelainen.

Ch. XI Change of Neurosis and Training in the Dream (1924) is a case-study of a boy with neurotic fear of heart trouble. He was a mother's boy; the father was strict, domineering, and sometimes drunk. The mother suffered from nervous heart ailment. Gradually, the boy developed a generalized fear-syndrome; he could not go anywhere alone. He preferred long stays at home for health-reasons. Adler presents a dream of the boy and analyzes some traits in the dream. The boy has a pampered child - syndrome, and wants to evade all challenges. According to Adler, the dream reveals typical methods the patient is using in order to avoid challenges presented by the school, or by work. "In connection with his dream-life, we recognise how all symptoms and dreams are the effects of training. ... Behind the scenes of his life ... stands the uneliminated feeling of inferiority ..."

Ch XII, Psychic Causality (1924) is a short paper on a big question. The paper is actually a summary from a paper presented in a congress: Adler presents some very important insights here: "We cannot cure an illness that is causally determined; what we can eliminate is the mistaken belief." "People can elevate organ inferiorities to rank and honor and make them into a cause." So, basically, causality is psychological fiction; we should be careful in making these fictions into firm dogmas.

Ch XIII, Neurosis and Crime (1924) is a study on the psychological conditions of crime. Adler starts his presentation stating that man is essentially a being who needs fellowship, i.e. social connectedness. Harmful acts that violate other human persons, go against the logic of human communal living. Adler seems to think that cruel education may be a contributing cause in the development of criminal personality, but it cannot be the one and only explanatory concept. More important is, how much the hardships experienced during the "tender years" are in conflict with the person's real feeling of himself. "... I am confronted time and again by early childhood behavior and by the lack of preparation for life." However, for the development of social feeling, the mother seems to have a very important role. The mother transmits to her child an awareness of the absolute dependence of a human being; therefore, her presence is indispensable. Loveless childhood, or a childhood that was a very pampering, are equally problematic. "Both styles of life lead children away from the community."

To order your copy of Volume 5, go to http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/cwaa-v5.htm .
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http://www.Adlerian.us
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  #9  
Old May 25th, 2005, 05:54 PM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. XIV-XVI (Sadism, Meaning of Life, Depression)

On May 30th, we will begin a discussion of The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler, Volume 5, Chapters XIV-XVI. The following chapter summaries were prepared by Manu Jaaskelainen.

Chapter XIV A Frequent Root of Sadism (1924) bears a somewhat outdated name. Today, we would probably use the term "aggression". However, I find it probable that there might be a small difference in the meanings of "aggression" and "sadism", as used by Adler. A close study of the contexts could possibly reveal these differences, if there are any. There is again an important reference to Shakespeare, to his play Richard III. The personal problems of the educators may instigate aggression in children and young people. Adler warns that the use of physical and psychological punishment may induce aggression in children. In many cases, these educators suffered under terrible pressure in their childhood, whether real or felt. They cannot erase the horror of their childhood from their minds, and they seem to think: "The others should have it no better than I had."

Chapter XV Critical Considerations on the Meaning of Life (1924) is Adler's first contribution on a theme that would become one of the central themes in his later production. Adler begins his paper with a grand idea: "If we understood the purpose of life, the goal-oriented progress of mankind could not be stopped. We would then have a common goal to which everyone would dedicate himself ..." Adler criticizes the short-term goals that are customary in everyday life. Adler seems to think that there really are hidden goals that exist in order to be found. If these hidden goals would be found, "The false values of our days would then wither quickly and collapse before the certain judgment of our increased self-confidence." There are many problems; one of them is the striving for power. People are not living in isolation, they live in societies. This is Adler's key to the meaning of life. Another important feature is that people are aiming always at the future.

Chapter XVI A Case of Melancholia (1924) is a case-study of a depression. It tells of some difficulties in the family life of two persons in Vienna. The story looks very usual, and one may probably find problems of the same kind today. Discussing marriage, Adler concludes that some generosity of spirit is needed in marriage of the two parties. Adler recommends to advance (in the therapy) modestly and with caution. It is not possible to force the clients to give up their neurotic fictions. In some cases, the client may fight back to show that even the therapist is unable to help. In the text, Adler refers to Dostoyevsky's short story "Netochka Nesvanova".

To order your copy of Volume 5, go to http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/cwaa-v5.htm .
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http://www.Adlerian.us
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  #10  
Old May 29th, 2005, 10:38 AM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 5, Chapt. XI-XIII (Dreams. Causality, Crime)

(Re: Ch XII, Psychic Causality)

Adler's conception of "future causality" also uncovers the often presumed mysteries of feelings and emotions. They are generally not caused by events, circumstances, or bio-chemical changes, but by the goal of the individual. In this respect, Adler offers a unique perspective on our affective life--he infers the purpose of feelings, emotions, and moods, interpreting them as movements toward a goal.

In The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, edited by Heinz and Rowena Ansbacher, page 226, he states: "The feelings of an individual bear the impress of the meaning he gives to life and of the goal he has set for his striving. ...... "In every individual, we see that the feelings have grown and developed in the direction and to the degree which were essential to the attainment of his goal. His anxiety or courage, cheerfulness or sadness, have always agreed with his style of life."

Adler also describes disjunctive emotions as intensified movements the individual uses when other possibilities for changing a situation do not seem possible. "There is no rage without an enemy, this emotion can only have victory over him for its goal." By contrast, the conjunctive emotions like joy, love, and sympathy, draw us into a closer connection to others.

A Classical Adlerian life style analysis permits us to see the fascinating unity of cognitive, affective, and behavioral movements. Essentially, we only find those feelings, emotions, and character traits that lead toward a single (unconscious) fictional final goal in the future.
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