Chap 5

• Adler's theory starts with inferiority feelings, seen as a normal condition of all people and a source of human striving
• Inferiority feelings can be a wellspring of creativity, motivating us to strive for mastery, success (superiority), and completion
• Adlerians view the world from the client’s subjective frame of reference, an orientation described as phenomenological
• Subjective reality includes perceptions, thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, convictions, and conclusions
• Adler chose the name Individual Psychology for his theoretical approach to avoid Freud’s reductionist divisions like ego, id, and superego
• Individual Psychology implies that all aspects of ourselves must be understood in relationship to family, culture, school, and work
• Adler's theory assumes all human behavior has a purpose, with decisions based on experiences, present situation, and the direction the person is moving
• Adlerians use the term "guiding self-ideal" and "goal of perfection" to account for striving towards superiority or perfection
• Adler stressed that recognition of inferiority feelings and striving for perfection are innate and two sides of the same coin
• Adler taught that successfully mastering life tasks like building friendships, establishing intimacy, and contributing to society unifies the personality and core beliefs
• Adlerians emphasize relationships within the family as influential in shaping personality, with birth order and sibling relationships playing a significant role
• Adlerian therapy aims to develop the client’s sense of belonging and assist in adopting behaviors characterized by community feeling and social interest
• Therapists in Adlerian counseling focus on helping clients discover and correct their basic mistakes, such as mistrust, selfishness, unrealistic ambitions, and lack of confidence
• Adlerian counseling involves a collaborative arrangement between the client and the counselor, focusing on mutual respect and a holistic psychological investigation
• Adlerian counseling focuses on desired outcomes and a resilient lifestyle that can provide a new blueprint for clients' actions
• In therapy, clients explore private logic, which involves convictions and beliefs that may hinder social interest and constructive belonging
• Feelings in Adlerian counseling are seen as aligned with thinking and as the fuel for behaving
• Adlerians consider a good client-therapist relationship to be based on cooperation, mutual trust, respect, confidence, collaboration, and alignment of goals
• Adlerian therapists strive to establish an egalitarian therapeutic alliance and a person-to-person relationship with their clients
• Developing a contract is not a requirement of Adlerian therapy, but it can bring a tight focus to therapy by setting forth the goals of the therapeutic process and specifying the responsibilities of both therapist and client
• Adlerian counseling is structured around four central objectives that correspond to the four phases of the therapeutic process
• Phase 1 of Adlerian counseling involves establishing a collaborative relationship with clients based on clearly defined goals and dealing with personal issues recognized as significant by the client
• Phase 2 of Adlerian counseling aims to assess the individual's psychological dynamics through subjective and objective interviews
• Adlerian assessment heavily relies on exploring the client's family constellation, including the family atmosphere, birth order, parental relationship, and family values
• Adlerian therapists use early recollections as a projective technique to assess the client's convictions about self, others, life, and ethics
• Integrated summaries of data gathered from subjective and objective interviews with the client are developed in Adlerian counseling
• Phase 3 of Adlerian counseling focuses on promoting self-understanding and insight through interpreting assessment findings and facilitating awareness of underlying motives for behavior
• Adlerian interpretations are presented tentatively in the form of open-ended questions that can be explored in therapy sessions
• During Phase 4 of Adlerian counseling, known as reorientation and reeducation, clients put insights into practice by shifting rules of interaction, process, and motivation
• Encouragement is a central Adlerian procedure that helps clients focus on their resources and strengths to make life changes
• Adlerian family therapy focuses on increasing awareness of the interaction of individuals within the family system
• Adlerian group counseling is based on the premise that problems are mainly of a social nature, and it promotes social interest and a sense of belonging through mutual sharing and action strategies