From the ground up ... an Adlerian primer??

[Henry Stein]

George, your contribution to this thread has been considerable. Judging by the current ratio of "viewers" and "posters" it is apparent that we have many readers, but only a modest number of comments or questions. A discussion forum is most dynamic when it generates a dialog. At the moment, perhaps the structure of threads focusing on weekly chapters from the volumes of The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler will provide the ongoing issues for commentary and discussion. Your vivid case example in the Volume 3 thread was very helpful.

Since most of the visitors to this forum seem to be unregistered guests, it would be helpful to the moderating team to find out more about our readers and their interest in Classical Adlerian psychotherapy. Please register and post a message telling us how we might be able help you gain a better understanding of Adler's ideas.

[Isobel Collins]

Hello George,
I was very interested to read about your plans for the Adlerian primer..
I am a member of The Adlerian Society of Wales in the UK and find there is so little information freely available about his theories, concepts and journals.
I myself am struggling to do my Certificate in Adlerian Counselling due to the lack of information. (Unless you have lots of money to buy his works!).
As a mother of two and student I have little of this, but enjoy my tutors rich and emotive lectures that encourage and enlighten 'us' each week.
I look forward to hearing more, though I am obviously not as 'learned/qualified' as many on this website.
Regards,
Isobel.

[George Neeson]

Isobel may I welcome you to the forum on behalf of us all. It is nice to have a new person involved in the activity. Adler's psychology is very deep indeed and there really is no textbook that teaches it. I doubt any such book could be produced. May I suggest that you could make a wonderful contribution to the forum by asking questions. There are people on it that know the theory deeply but it is hard to know where to begin any teaching program. For myself, who am far from well informed, I find questions both draw me out and also drive me deeper into this theory. I had this discussion with a colleague here in my community today. He was asking what books he should read. Of course the Ansbacher work is a wonderful place to start, but ultimately at a later time, it will be wonderful when you are able to purchase and read the new translations. The Ansbacher text pulls some things out of sequence for teaching purposes. There is nothing really wrong with that as long as you subsequently continue to look at the theory in its depth and breadth which I must warn you, will be a lifetime undertaking. Glad to have you posting with us. Please keep up your good work and see if you can ask us some questions that will increase the depth and scope of this forum.
Sincere regards,

[emillman]

Hi. My name is Eric Millman. I too am a beginner at this, andam not sure what kinds of questions I would want to ask. I just discovered this thread, which I think is a GREAT idea! I haven't had a chance to read through it yet, but am printing it up to read later this evening. I would like to mention that there is syllubus for a course offered by John F. Newbauer, Ed.D. called Principles of Individual Psychology. You can find it at
http://www.indpsych.com/401_syl.htm. I think it is an actual on-campus college course. What's nice about it is that it prescribes readings, particularly from Ansbacher & Ansbacher's THE INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY OF ALFRED ADLER, and SUPERIORITY & SOCIAL INTEREST, which they also edited. I believe the latter is out of print but can be found through Amazon. The other main text he utilizes is A PRIMER OF ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY: THE ANALYTIC-BEHAVIORAL-COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY OF ALFRED ADLER (Mosak, H. & Maniacci, M ) This book puts Adler's ideas in a modern context, and has review questions at the end of each chapter. The instructer even adds work projects to help facilitate the learning. Many of you are probably aware of this already, but neophyte that I am, I thought I would pass it on as an additional source for learning about Adler.

I am in my last semester in Loyola's M.S. program for Pastoral Counseling. It is only recently, however, that the Adler bug has taken it's hold on me, and I'm trying to learn as much as I can. I presently work as a addictions counselor at a methadone clinic in Baltimore, MD. I think Adler's ideas fit in very well with the approaches I've been using (12 Step, Cog.-Beh., Motivational Interviewing, etc.) I would like to learn how to utilize Adler's ideas more efficiently. I hope you will allow me to join this thread as I try to grasp Adler's approach to my own personal and professional work.

[George Neeson]

Eric thank you for yor posting. I have been holding fire on this thread to see what the interest really is. A forum needs to be an exchange of ideas and without questions, it really is not as beneficially as it might be. After you read the postings, your questions and comments would be very refreshing.

[emillman]

One thing I'd be curious to hear about is how Adlerian approaches could be used with Motivational Interviewing and the Stages of Change model. I know that Adler would assess and interpret what the Pt.'s Lifestyle & Fictional Goal were. He would then "interpret the client to the client." Then he would "encourage" the client to make appropriate changes to his/her Lifestyle towards a more "Common Sense" goal. (I'm throwing in the terminology as I remember it off the top of my head!) With the Stages of Change model utilized by Miller & DeClemente, the therapist helps the client to assess herself. But this approach seems to focus more on the present situation, and does not specifically deal with the Pt.'s history (Family Constellation, Birth Order, etc.) Then there are ways to help the client increase her readiness toward positve change and move through the stages of Preconemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action & Maintenance. I'm curious to know if there are any Adlerians out there who have utilized & synthesized the Stages of Change model and Motivational Interviewing techniques along with Adlerian concepts and techniques. If there are, I would love to get some feedback. To me this is important, because there are a lot of new models and approaches that we havebeen exposed to that weren't around in Adler's day. I want to utilize the new information that is out there along with what I am learnng from Individual psychology. Your feedback is most appreciated.

[Ricahrd Oest]

Excuse the typo in my name and I'm not even sure I should be on this site as I'm not a practitioner or a physician. I'm reading 'What Life Should mean for you' and Adler's got me pretty much pinned in the neurotic mode i.e. accepting lesser challenges than the rough and tumble of the three ties that bind us to life. My question- and maybe you could put me onto a more appropriate site, is whether Adler saw a neurotic as an immutable type who was perpetually stuck or did he see degrees of neurosis or did he see it as a phase? One theme I'm picking up is that community action or looking out for the common good or looking after someone lifts one out of the neurotic state. Another is that 'encouragement' is the relevant therapy to dispel ingrained 'discouragement'.

[George Neeson]

The neurotic is a person moving in a wrong direction away from social interest toward his personal goal of "fictional superiority". Under pinning this movement is his "feeling of inferiority". The vector quality, if you will, of the movement to superiority is in direct relationship to the depths of the inferiority feeling. As you read Adler more, you will see that he is advancing the notion that "social interest" when properly applied, will always dissolve away the neurotic's need to elevate himself above his fellows. By the way, the construction is often antithetical. For example this person may conclude,"If I can not be the greatest saint, then I will be the greatest sinner" ... but always away from social interest and fellow man. The neurotic has a very limited sense of "fellowmanship". Thus the key intervention is not exposing the flawed logic (that may come later), but rather is to encourage very accurately and continuously, this deeply wounded fellowman. Keep on reading. Adler is tough reading, but boy he grows on you!

[Rita Schaad]

It’s been far between posts and I’m catching up with reading some of the last entries.

Yes I agree with George – boy indeed, isn’t reading Adler growing on you!

I am intrigued with the neurotic ‘condition’. Reading in some of Adler’s papers he stresses many times, that to redirect such a patient it needs the professional intervention of -partly or both - a medic and a IP Therapist. And this I believe to be quite logical since so much skill and knowledge of the whole person is needed to be a good guide out of the maze.
I wonder though, how far ‘healthy’ or less incumbered souls (people) can be an influence on others by living a balanced life, encouraging that social interest, affirming the successes (however small or insignificant) and demonstrating a goal that is outward oriented – (global consciousness ?)
It’s just that people really needing help out of the maze never dream of seeing a ‘Therapist’. What do we as community-members do, when such people are within our circle of influence and concern. (Because it's difficult to deal and live with such people !!) Maybe ‘understanding’ and other ‘pro-social’ activities might not be enough..........but maybe they act like water on dry clay – soften it up for the potter’s work.
I think I just need to have a glimmer of hope sometimes................
What do you think?
Rita

[George Neeson]

Wonderful to hear from you again Rita. My ISP was down for over two weeks and other problems have intervened so I have not been as active (a wonderful new puppy ... Belgian Tervuran Shepherd ). If I were pressed to the wall and asked to make only a single intervention in the world, or if I were asked what single thing I could do to help any individual and therefore mankind, it would be to encourage my social interest and demonstrate to others how wonderful this is so that by my example they could se that this can be done and is not a hardship. That is the utter magic of Adler. He sees each of us in the community of mankind and would encourage all of us to contribute our fair share from the perspective of our personal uniquness. Should we all do that, many societal and interpersonal problems are gone and the world would move in a direction toward which it has never yet moved. Egocentricity with its toll of terrible damage would vanish like the early morning mist, and peace and compassion would spread like the wonderful pink warmth of the rising sun!!!