Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler (February 7 1870 – May 28 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor and psychologist, founder of the school of individual psychology.
Life
Born in Penzig, a suburb of Vienna, Austria in 1870 and raised in Vienna, he was the third child of a Jewish grain merchant and his wife. Childhood illnesses and the traumatic death of a younger sibling influenced Adler's decision to pursue a medical career. He trained as a doctor at the University of Vienna Medical School and qualified in 1895. There he met his wife Raissa Timofeyewna Epstein, an intellectual and social activist from Russia. In 1897 they were married and later parented four children, two of whom became psychiatrists.
In his early career, Adler became interested in psychology as it related to physical disorders. In 1899 he met Sigmund Freud, with whom he formed the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society with Adler as a president. This close association was short-lived as Adler became a vocal opponent to many of Freud's theories.
Adler was a frequent lecturer in Europe and the United States, becoming a visiting professor at Columbia University in 1927. In 1932, after most of his Austrian clinics were closed due to his Jewish heritage, Adler left Austria for a professorship at the Long Island College of Medicine. His death from a heart attack in Aberdeen, Scotland during a lecture tour in 1937, was a blow to the influence of his ideas although a number of them were taken up by neo-Freudians.
Adler disputes Freud's Theories
Adler soon distanced himself increasingly from the mainstream of Freudian psychoanalytic thought as he disagreed with many of Freud's theories. Adler contended with Freud's belief in the dominance of the sex instinct as the root of neurosis, and whether ego drives were libidinal; he also attacked Freud's ideas over repression. Adler believed that feelings of helplessness during childhood can lead to an inferiority complex. Many neurotic symptoms, he stated, could be traced to overcompensation for these inferiority feelings. While Freud characterized neurosis as unavoidable, Adler perceived it as correctable. Adler asserted that a single "drive" or motivating force behind all our behavior and experience was not sex, but the striving for what he termed superiority, (which he later defined as striving for perfection). This is similar to Maslow's theory of self-actualization. It is the striving to fulfill our potential, to come closer and closer to our ideal.
In addition, Freud's theory of the id, ego and superego tended to divide up the person into theoretical concepts. Adler was influenced by the writings of Jan Smuts, the South African philosopher and statesman who felt that it was important to understand people as unified wholes in the context of their physical and social environment. Adler adopted this view based on holism, and decided to label his approach indivudual psychology. Individual literally means "un-divided". Ultimately, Adler and a group of followers severed ties with Freud's circle, left the Vienna Society, and began developing the concept of individual psychology, first outlined in Ü ber den nervösen Charakter (1912; The Neurotic Constitution).
Social Context
In Adler's book Understanding Human Nature, he writes:
We cannot judge a human being except by using the concept of social feeling as a standard. Every individual within the body of human society must subscribe to the oneness of that society. We have to realize our duty to our fellow human beings. The degree to which social feeling has developed in any individual is the only universally valid criterion of human values.
While Adler included analysis of early childhood, he emphasized and focused on positive social interaction as part of his treatment. He believed that humans have an unconscious sense of social unity which must be nurtured to survive. His is a values-oriented psychology and he used the social feeling (originally called Gemeinschaftsgefuhl or community feelling) of connectedness as an index and goal of mental health. The opposite, a lack of social concern, was Adler's definition of mental illness. He taught that the quality of empathy needs to be supported by parents and the culture at large. In this sense Adler was a pioneer in the field of prevention through the use of character development and education, in the family, school and community.
Contributions
Adler was a pioneer in creating a holistic view of human psychology. He explained human development in the context of the whole - how the human being exists and interacts within the family, society, nation, and cosmos. He definined mental health as a feeling of human connectedness, and a willingness to develop oneself fully and contribute to the welfare of others. When these qualities are underdeveloped, an individual experiences feelings of inferiority, or an attitude of superiority which may antagonize others. The perception of superiority leads to self-centered behavior and the individual may become emotionally or materially exploitive of other people. When the feelings of connectedness and the willingness to contribute are stronger, a feeling of equality emerges, and the individual will become more public-minded, self-transcending and behave more beneficially to others.
He was also a pioneer in the field of child guidance and opened the first child guidance clinic in Vienna in 1921. Adler found that there were two parenting styles that could cause problems in adulthood:
- Pampering – overprotecting or spoiling a child. Child will be ill equipped to deal with reality and may doubt own abilities.
- Neglect – child is not protected from the world and is forced to face life's struggles alone. May grow up to fear the world, have a strong sense of mistrust for others and have a difficult time forming intimate relationships.
He was the first to describe the importance of birth order as a contributing factor in psychological development. However, he also speculated that birth order differences would begin to disappear when families became less competitive and autocratic, and more cooperative and democratic. A brief summary of birth order characteristics follow:
- The only child is more likely than others to be pampered, as parents are more likely to take special care — sometimes anxiety-filled care — of their only child. This child loves being the center of adult attention and may have difficulty sharing with their peers. If the parents are abusive, on the other hand, the only child will have to bear that abuse alone.
- The first child begins life as an only child, with all the attention to him- or herself. As things are getting quite comfortable, the second child arrives and "dethrones" the first. Initially the child may battle for his or her lost position. He or she might try acting like the baby — since that seems to work for the baby! — only to be rebuffed and told to grow up. Some become disobedient and rebellious, others sullen and withdrawn. Adler believed that first children may become strict or authoritarian. More positively, first children are often precocious, and they may also become helpful if encouraged. They tend to be relatively solitary and more conservative than the other children in the family.
- The second child is in a very different situation: He or she has the first child as a sort of "pace-setter," and tends to become quite competitive, constantly trying to surpass the older child. Other "middle" children will tend to be similar to the second child, although each may focus on a different "competitor." The competition can often deteriorate into rivalry. Some middle children may be more even-tempered with a "take it or leave it" attitude. Others may have trouble finding their place and may become a fighter of injustice.
- The youngest child is likely to be the most pampered in a family with more than one child. He or she is the only one who is never dethroned! The youngest may also feel incredible inferiority, with everyone older and "therefore" superior. But, with all those "pace-setters" ahead, the youngest can also be driven to be better than all of their siblings.
Adler's work went beyond intervention as he designed parenting tools and education programs in an effort to prevent mental health problems in later life. The following are current successful parenting education programs based on the work of Alfred Adler:
- Active Parenting
- Alyson Schafer's Principles, Rules, and Tools for Parenting
- Connexions Press, publisher of Raising Kids Who Can Series
- Cooperative Discipline
- Positive Discipline
- STEP
Adler's influence continues in several schools dedicated to carrying on the work of Alfred Adler such as The Adler School of Professional Psychology which was founded as The Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago by Adler's protégé, Rudolf Dreikurs, and the Alfred Adler Institutes of San Francisco and Northwestern Washington, dedicated to Adler's original teachings and style of psychotherapy. The rapidly growing field of life coaching has drawn its techniques and tools primarily from the work of Alfred Adler, such as: using the Socratic method to clarify meaning and gain insight; providing support through empathy and relationship; encouragement to stimulate movement in new directions; facilitate client insight of what needs to be changed; support change by converting insights into new attitudes and behaviors; support the development of social interest, cooperation and empathy to others; challenge client to adopt new values and lifestyle; and strengthen feeling of connectedness and promote a path of continual growth for self and others. There are also various organizations promoting Dr. Adler's orientation towards mental and social wellbeing. These include (ICASSI) and the North American Society for Adlerian Psychology (NASAP).
Publications
Adler, Alfred (1924). The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology. Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc. ISBN 0710030150
Adler, Alfred (1998).Understanding Human Nature . Hazelden Publishers, (Original work published 1927). ISBN 1568381956
Adler, Alfred (1982). The Pattern of Life. Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago (Original work published 1930). ISBN 0918560284
Adler, Alfred (1931). What Life Should Mean to You. Boston, Little, Brown, and Company. ISBN 1568382286
Adler, Alfred (1998). Social Interest: A Challenge to Mankind. Oneworld Publications (Original work published 1933). ISBN 1851681566
Adler, Alfred (1970). Superiority and social interest; a collection of later writings. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0810100371
External links
- Adlerian Society UK, ASIIP
- Alfred Adler Institutes of San Francisco and Northwestern Washington
- International Committee For Adlerian Summer Schools and Institutes
- Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, IL
- Classical Adlerian Photograph Gallery Photographs of Alfred Adler, his family, and friends
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