PSY3120 - Week 4

Inferiority feelings

*A normal condition of all people, not necessarily bad. *A source of human striving. *A wellspring of creativity. *A motivation to strive for mastery, success, superiority and completion. *At age 6, our fictional perfect vision of ourselves becomes a life goal that we strive to achieve.

Adler's view of human nature

*Adler believed Freud was excessively narrow in his emphasis on biological and instinctual determination (dismissed determinism). We are self-determined by the meaning we attribute to our situations. *Adler believed that humans are motivated primarily by social relatedness rather than by sexual urges. *Adler believed that behaviour is purposeful and goals-directed, so therapy should focus on consciousness (not unconsciousness). *Adler stressed choice, responsibility, meaningg, striving for success, completion and perfection. *Adler believed that we are responsible for our own thoughts, feelings and actions; so people can change their feelings/ behaviours if they change their thinking (paved the way for CBT). *Humans have the capacity to interpret, influence and create events (genetics are not as important as what we choose to do with our abilities). *Adler believed that people can change through social learning, but acknowledged that biological/environmental conditions do still limit our capacity to do so. Our interpretation of events shapes our personality. *Optimistic view of people as creative, capable, unique and responsible.

Family constellation

*Adler emphasises that the family of origin/ birth order has an important factor in the formation of our personalities (even more important than the force of our parents). *Through this mechanism, people form their unique view of self, others and life, as well as cultural and familial values, gender-role expectations, and the nature of interpersonal relationships. *This mechanism includes conditions that prevailed in the individual's family when the individual was a child, birth order, parental relationships, family values, and extended family and culture. *Things like the favourite child, parental relationships, sibling relationships, childhood tendencies, parental disagreements, discipline, etc. *This is formed early and stays with us throughout our adult life; can inform us of our current struggles. *It is important to try to avoid stereotypes.

Striving for significance/ superiority

*Adler stressed that the recognition of inferiority feelings and the consequent striving for perfection are both innate. *They are two sides of the same coin. *To understand human behaviour, you have to understand the ideas of inferiority and compensation. *Every victory over inferioirity is a step towards superiority. *Adler stressed that the goal of success pulls people forwards towards mastery/ tenables them to overcome obstacles. *We can seek to change a weakness into a strength, and often we compensate for deficits in some areas and aim to excel in others (eg: making sure we can walk - not having a walking deficit vs. being really good at sport - excelling in that area specfically).

Inferiority complex

*Adler was the first person to coin this term. *If we fail to reach compensation, then this complex develops. *But not everyone who feels inferior develops this complex. *If you feel inferior, Adler believes it is because you did not manage to compensate in a correct way (so you're inferior feelings remain). *It is people who are pathologically trying to compensate for their inferiority.

Strengths of Adlerian therapy from diversity perspective

*Adlerian therapy is well-suited to counselling diverse populations. *Focuses on multicultural and social justice issues, and is poised to address concerns of a contemporary global society. *It is focused on the person in a social context, and how environments influence people's lifestyles and health. *It allows age, ethnicity, lifestyle, sexual orientation and gender differences to emerge in therapy and be addressed. *The therapeutic process is grounded in a client's culture and worldview, rather than trying to put them into preconceived models. *Its characteristics are congruent with values of many racial, cultural and ethnic groups (understanding the individual in a familial and sociocultural context). *Focuses on cooperation as opposed to individualiste values (so it's good for pluralistic society). *No fixed focus on particular set of procedures. *Heavy focus on family (good for lots of cultures). *Culture is also a vantage point from which life is experienced and interpreted according to Adlerian theory.

Therapeutic relationship

*Adlerians believe that a good therapeutic relationship is when both client and therapist are equals, and is based on cooperation, mutual trust, respect, confidence, collaboration, and alignment of goals. *Special value is placed on the counsellor's modeling of good communication and action. *Egalitarian relationship. *They formulate a plan/ contact to choose a direction, decide how change can occur together, put forts the goals of therapy and bring a tight focus (contract is not a requirent but a recommendation).

Inferiority complex treament

*Affirmations/ positive thinking does not work in treating this complex. *The solution is actually compensation in the right direction, fixing the problem itself (eg: a PhD will not compensate for your feelings of social or interpersonal inferiority). *Adler believed that stress contributes to feelings of inferiority, so art and drama could be used to relieve stress. *Also, social outings and involvement in social interest reduces feelings of inferiority. *Breathing exercises, focused meditation, self hypnosis, yoga, and humour relieve stress. *Encouragement (instillant the courage to be perfect) can combat sense of discouragement.

Only child

*Although this child shares characteristics of the first born (eg: high achèvement drive), they may not learn to share or cooperate. *They will learn to deal well with adults. *They are often pampered. *They may become dependently tied to one or both parents. *They may want centre stage at all time, and if challenged with this, will feel that this is unfair.

Youngest child

*Always the baby of the family. *Tends to be the most pampered child. *May develop 'helplessness as an art form'. *Expert of having others at their service. *Tend to be very sociable and independent, and may develop in ways no other family member has attempted. *May outshine everyone.

Insight

*An understanding of the motivations that operate in the client's life. *It is a special form of awareness that acts as a foundation for change. *But it is a means to an end, not an end in itself, ad requires action too.

Client's experience of Adlerian therapy

*Clients explore private logic (as their problems often arise from conclusions based on their private logic that don't conform to the requirements of social living). *Clients discoure the purposes of their behaviours or symptoms, and learn how to correct faulty assumptions and conclusions. *Clients are reoriented towards effective ways of being, and receive encouragement throughout. *Clients discoure that they have resources and options to use in dealing with issues/ life tasks.

Change and the search for new possibilities

*During reorientation, clients make decisions, solve problems and modify their goals. *They are encouraged to act as the people they want to be, and catch themselves when they are repeating old patterns of ineffective behavior. *Clients have to set tasks in everyday life, and transite their insights into concrete actions. *Therapists emphasise that real change happens outside of therapy. *Together, client and therapist consider possible alternatives and their consequences, and decide on a specific course of action.

Areas of influence of Adlerian therapy

*Education (Adler believed that we are being educated all throughout our lives). *Parent education/ parenting techniques (Adler was a pioneer of this). *Community health movement (rehab counselling, substance abuse programs, combatting poverty and crime). *Couples counselling. *Family counselling. *Group counselling. *School counselling (as it's a growth model, not a medical model). *Used for religion, business, culture. *The idea of time-limited, brief therapy. *Influences other therapy systems (feminist theory, existential, CBT). *Influenced other psychologists (Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, Victor Frankl, Rollo May, Karen Horney, Carl Rogers).

Focus of Adlerian therapy

*Emphasis on the growth model of personality (rather than the medical, [athology-based model). *Emphasis on health, strengths, wellbeing and prevention, not remediation. *Emphasis on providing information, teaching, guiding and offering encouragement to discouraged clients. *Emphasis on providing clients an opportunity to view things from a different perspective (which they can decide to accept) and working collaboratively with them to help them reach their self-defined goals. *Emphasis on providing clients with a new "cognitive map"; a fundamental understanding of the purpose of their behaviour.

Adlerian therapy

*First systemic therapy (maintaining that it is essential to understand people within the systems in which they live). *A subjective approach to psychology that focuses on internal determinants of behaviour: values, beliefs, attitudes, goals, interests, and individual perceptions of reality. *Holistic, social, goal oriented, systemic, humaniste approach. *Most distinctive concepts are social interest and community feeling. (also inferiority complex, and lifestyle) *Also key emphasis on working with famille dynamics. *Theory dictates that feelings are aligned with thinking, and are the fuel for behaviour. We think, then we feel, then we act. Thus, therapy pends time understanding this concept and offering encouragement to change thinking/ cognition.

Adlerian techniques

*Immediacy. *Advice. *Humour. *Silence. *Paradoxical intention. *Acting as if. *Catching oneself. *Push-button technique. *Externalisation. *Reauthoring. *Confrontation. *Stories/ fables. *Early recollection analysis. *Lifestyle assessment. *Encouragement. *Task setting. *Homework. *Summarising. *Techniques are diverse, and creatively employed to fit the client's needs.

Subjective interview

*In this interview, the counsellor helps the client tell his or her life story as completely as possible. *It is facilitantes through empathic listening and responding, and a sense of wonder, fascination and interest. *These interviews treat clients as the experts of their own lives, and allows them to feel completely heard. Example: "How would things be different if you did not have this problem?"

Objective interview

*In this interview, therapists seek to discoure information about: a) how the client's problems began. b) precipitating events. c) medical history. d) social history. e) reasons client chose to undertake therapy. f) how they cope with life tasks. g) lifestyle assessment (ask about family constellations, early recollections). h) provide an overall summary.

Encourage self-understanding and insight

*In this technique, therapists interpret the findings of the assessment as an avoue for promoting self-understanding and insight. *Disclosure and well-timed interpretations (these techniques facilitate the process of gaining insight). They create awareness of one's direction, goals, purposes, private logic and behaviour. *Throught this process, both the counsellor and client eventually come to understand the client's motivations/ how they maintain problems/ what the client can do to correct the situation (the limits of the lifestyle they have chosen).

Purposeful/ goal-oriented behaviour

*Individual psychology assumes that all human behaviour has a purpose and is goal-oriented. *We only think ,feel and act in relation to our goal; we can only be fully understood by knowing the purposes of our goals. *Adlerians believe that most decisions are based on a person's experiences of the present/ the direction they are moving towards, with past experiences still having an influence, just the least amount.

Integration and summary

*Once material has been gathered from early recollections/ interviews, integrated summaries of the data are developed. *Common ones are a narrative summary of the person's subjective experience and life story, a summary of the family constellation and developmental data, a summary of early recollections, personal strengths and interfering ideals, and a summary of copine strategies. *These summaries are presented to the client and discussed, while collaboratively refining specific points (allows for discussion of specific topics/ questions to be raised).

Holistic concept explanation

*People can only be understood as integrated and complete beings. *All dimensions of a person are interconnected components. *More emphasis on interpersonal relationships than on the internal psychodynamics of a person. *An implication of this concept is that the client is an integral part of a social system. *The human personality is unifier through the development of a life goal.

Superiority complex

*People with this complex are overly anxious and worried about what people think of them. *They are neurotic individuals striving for personal superiority over others, rather than seeking better conditions for all of society. *Eg: dictators like Hitler.

Limitations of Adlerian therapy from diversity perspective

*The Adlerian approach tends to focus on the self as the locus of change and responsibility, but many cultures have different conceptions of change. *Lots of focus on nuclear family, ignores extended family. *Lots of cultures aren't interested in exploring early memories, family experiences or dreams, nor the purpose of their lifestyle (because it's the absolute truth for them). *Many cultures want the 'expert' therapist to give them direct advice. *Some cultures might think it is inappropriate to reveal family information.

Social interest explanation

*The action line of one's community feeling. *Involves being as concerned about others as one is about oneself. *Capacity to cooperate and contribute something bigger than oneself/ give and take/ contribution to the welfare of others and the betterment of society. *Requires contact with the present to make moves towards a meaningful future. *Adler believed that we are not healthy if we are only concerned about our own lives. *As such, it's a sign of good health to be doing things to make a difference in society. So, social interest is an indicator of mental health. *Similar to existentiel therapy; engaging in a search for meaning in life. *Socialisation process begins in childhood, helps children find a place in society and acquire a sense of belonging. *So social interest is innate, but it must also be learned, developed and used. *As these feelings develop, feelings of inferiority diminidh. *It is expressed through shared activity, cooperation, participationin common good and mutual respect.

Assessing the individual's psychological dynamics

*The aim of this technique is to get a deeper understanding of the individual's lifestyle, their identity, and how their identity relates to the world at large. *Involves subjective and objective interviews.

Group counselling

*The rationale for this setting is the premise that most problems are mainly of a social/ interpersonal nature, and that people's goals can be best undesrtood in the framework of social purposes. *So, this context allows members to develop a sense of belonging, social connectedness, and community. *This approach is a brief form of Adlerian treatment; rapid establishment of strong therapeutic alliance, clear problem focus and goal alignment, rapid assessment, etc. In this setting: *Inferiority feelings can be challenged and counteracted effectively. *Mistaken concepts/ values that are the root of social and emotional problems can be deeply influenced. *Social interest is promoted (as group cohesion is developed, which is a parallel). *Early recollections are mutually shared to form connections.

Establishing the proper therapeutic relationship

*Therapists work collaboratively with clients, which grows into caring, involvement and friendship. *Focus is on the person-to-person interactions. *Not starting with the problem (you're interested in the person, creating a rapport with them, making feeling comfortable to talk). *Instill hope and faith. *Attending, listening with empathy. *Therapist provides structure and assists with defining goals - goals must be clearly defined to have true progress. *Therapists help clients become aware of their assets and strengths, rather than dealing continually with deficits/ liabilities. *Therapists provide support (antidote to despaire and discouragement).

Middle child

*This child often feels squeezed out. *They can become convinced of the unfairness of life and feel cheated. *Can become a problem child and have a 'poor me' attitude. *Can become the mediator/ peacemaker who holds the family together. *In a family of 4, this is the 2nd child.

Oldest child

*This child receives a great deal of attention. *They are typically the centre of attention when they are the only child. *They are ousted from their favoured position with the birth of a new sibling. *Reassert their rightful place on the throne by being a model child, bossing around their younger siblings, being high achieving (or at least exhibiting achievement oriented drive).

Second child of two

*This child typically acts as if in a race, generally full team ahead at all times. *From birth, this child must share the attention with the oldler child. *Comptetitive struggle influences their later course of life. *The expose weaker points of the jodler sibling, and achieve successes that the older sibling has not. *Often opposite to the first born (chalk and cheese).

Community feeling explanation

*This feeling embolies the feeling of being connected to all of humanity (past, present, future), and to being involved in making the world a better place. *We all are motivated by a desire to belong and not be isolated. *Without a sense of belonging, anxiety results; we feel discouraged, useless. *Only when we feel united with others are we able to act with courage to deal with our problems. *This entails the evolutionary need to belong, and manifeste in courage, empathy, caring, compassion, engagement and coopération.

Adlerian Therapeutic Goals

*This form of therapy rests on a collaboration between the client and the counsellor. *It involves 1. Forming a relationship based on mutual respect. 2. A holistic psychological investigation/ lifestyle assessment. 3. Disclosing mistaken goals or faulty assumptions with the person's lifestyle. 4. A reeducation or reorientation of the client towards the useful side of life. 5. The client's self-awareness is increased, and their life goals/ fundamental basic concepts are challenged and modified. 6. Fostering social interest/ responsibility to community; helping clients become contributing members of the world community. 7. Helping clients to overcome feelings of discouragement and inferiority. 8. Modifying clients' lifestyles in the direction of being more adoptive, flexible and social. 9. Changing faulty motivation. 10. Encouraging equality and acceptance of self/others.

Reorientation and reeducation

*This technique is action-oriented, and is interested in putting insights into practice to adopt a more functional perspective/ new lifestyle. *It helps clients increase their community feeling and social interest, gives them a sense of belonging and value, an interest in others, courage, acceptance of imperfection, confidence, humour, willingness to contribute, and outgoing friendliness. *It seeks to help clients gain courage, and connect to strengths within themselves. *Of utmost importance is courage to an Adlerian therapist; this instils hope, makes people understand that things aren't hopeless.

Push-Button technique

*This technique is used with clients who know they are depressed but feel that the dépression controls them and nothing can be done. *The goal of this technique is to help clients become aware of their role in contributing to their unpleasant feelings. *Clients are asked to re-create an unpleasant memory, which is followed by recalling a pleasant memory. *They then create a "dépression button" which they associate with depressed feeligns, which they "push" to feel horrible; and a "happy" button that they associate with positive feelings, which they can push to feel good. They are encouraged never to push the depression button again, and only push the happy button. *This technique emphasises that control is a major theme in depression, and helps clients regain a sense of control over overwhelming negative feelings. (Adlerians think that dépression

Individual psychology

*This term is a translation error, and was actually intended to be "indivisible psychology". *Used the latin word 'individuum' meaning 'indivisible'. *It was created to view individuals holistically, and not through Freud's reductionist devisions of the id, ego and superego. *Adler emphasised the unity and indivisibilité of the person, and stressed understanding the whole person in the context of their life. Interconnected components are unified by the person's striving towards a life goal.

Therapist's function and role

1. Adlerian therapists look for major mistakes in thinking and values; such as mistrust, selfishness, unrealistic ambitions or lack of confidence (because they realise that these problems make clients discouraged and dysfunctional). 2. Therapists help clients explore their fears. 3. Therapists make a compréhensive assessment of the client's functioning (their lifestyle, their family constellation, their birth order, early recollections). 4. They provide support and pay more attention to subjective experiences than using techniques. Counsellors fit the techniques to the needs of each client. 5. Therapists are active, provide structure, define goals, conduct assessments, and offer interpretations.

Therapeutic objectives

1. Establish the proper therapeutic relationship. 2. Explore the psychological dynamics operating the client (in assessment). 3. Encourage the development of self-understanding (insight into purpose). 4. Help the client make new choices (reorientation and reeducation). *Not linear/ do not progress in rigid steps.

Contributions of Adler's approach

1. Incorporates integrated approaches/ flexible in its use of methods/ does not just offer a narrow view of humans. 2. Therapists are more concerned for the person than the problem (very empathetic). 3. Introduced the concept of time-limited, brief therapy. 4. The 'earliest memory' technique is very time efficient and minimizes sessions required as you get "right to the point". 5. Coined the 'magic and' question: "if I had a magic wand that would eliminate your symptom immediately, what would be different in your life?" 6. Paved the way for existential therapy, CBT, REBT, reality therapy, solution-focused brief therapy, feminist therapy, and family therapy (with the fundamental understanding that if clients can change their thoughts, they can change their feelings/ behaviours).

Limitations of Adler's approach

1. Tends to focus on the self being the locus of change and responsibility, but some cultures do not view the self as autonomous (this is a very Western, middle class mentality). 2. Some cultures view the counsellor as the expert and therefore expect solutions to be given to them. 3. The theory makes assumptions about the nuclear family, but what about extended family households? 4. Adler taught and practiced before writing a well-defined and systematic theory, thus many people at the time considered his ideas too loose and simplistic. 5. A large part of his theory still requires empirical evidence. 6. This therapy works best with highly verbal and intelligent/ insightful clients (leaves others out). 7. Adlerians don't like to make diagnoses, which makes it hard on today's expectations of psychologists (to provide diagnoses).

Brief therapy

1. Time limitation. 2. Focus. 3. Counsellor directiveness. 4. Symptoms as solutions. 5. Assignment of behavioural tasks.

Fictional finalism/ guiding self-ideal

An imagined life goal that guides a person's behaviour. *This term was replaced with "guiding self-ideal" and "goal of perfection". *Very early in life, we envisage what we might like to be if we were successful, whole or perfect. *So a guiding self-ideal might be expressed as "only when I am important will I be accepted". *Represents our image of a goal of perfection.

Social interest definition

An individual's attitudes in dealing with the social world. *A sense of identification and empathy with others; "to feel with the heart of another".

Community feeling definition

An individual's awareness of being part of the human community.

Phenomenological

An orientation in which therapists attempt to view the world from the client's subjective frame of reference. *The client's "subjective reality" includes their perceptions, thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, convictions and conclusions. *So objective reality is less important than how we interpret reality. *Behaviour is understood from this perspective.

Approach to life

Approach: 1. By first 6 years of life one forms an 'approach to life'. 2. Behaviour is purposeful and goal-oriented. 3. Humans are motivated by social goals rather than sexual urges. 4. Focus on the conscious rather than the subconscious.

Life tasks

Humans must successfully master three universal life tasks: 1. Building friendships (social). 2. Establishing intimacy (love-marriage). 3. Contributing to society (occupational). *Impairment in any of these tasks is often an indication of psychological disorder (usually why people seek therapy). *Personality is the result of the stances we have taken in relation to the life tasks we face.

Encouragement

Literally means "to build courage". *This process increases the courage a person needs to face life's difficulties. *The most powerful method available for changing a person's beliefs, which helps clients build self-confidence. *It is key in promoting and activation social interest. *This is achieved using a variety of relational, cognitive, behavioural, emotional and experiential techniques to help clients identify and challenge self-defeating cognitions, and make use of their strengths and assets. *During reorientation, this comes when new possibilities are generated and clients are acknowledged and affirmed for taking positive steps to changing their lives.

Lifestyle

Our perceptions regarding self, others and the world, which includes connecting themes and rules of interaction that give meaning to our actions. *It is the characteristic way we think, feel, perceive and live. How we handle our problems and interpersonal relations (everything ties into it). *The life movement that is guided by one's core beliefs and assumptions, and organises our reality/ gives meaning to life events. *It is person's opinion of self and worl, and their unique wat of striving for their personal goals. *It is equated with self or ego, a unity of personality. *Usually set into motion by ages 4/5.

Holistic concept definition

The concept that we cannot be understood in parts, as all aspects of ourselves must be understood in relation to the socially embedded contexts of family, culture, school and work.

Private logic

The concepts about self, others and life that constitutes the philosophy on which an individual's lifestyle is based. *Involves our convictions/ beliefs that get in the way of social interest, and don't facilitate useful belonging.

Teleological definition

The explanation of behaviour by the purpose it serves (emphasis on the outcome/ how it benefits society). *The study of purpose and causes.

Lifestyle assessment

The process of gathering early mempories/ learning to understand the goals and motivations of the client; to give therapists a target for therapy. *Starts with an investigation of the family constellation and early childhood history. *Seeks to develop a holistic narrative of the person's life, make sense of the way they cope with life tasks, and uncover the private logic involved in that copine.

Early recollections

The stories of events that a personsats occurred before they were 10 years old. *They are specific one-time incidents/ feelings and thoughts associated with those incidents. *Used to identify major successes and mistakes in the client's life/ indicate what clients do and how they think in both adaptive and maladaptive ways. *They are used as a projective technique to assess clients' convictions about self, others, life, and ethics, to assess their stance on counselling, to verify their coping patterns, and to assess their individual strengths and assets. *They can be pictured clearly by the client in great detail, and cast light on the "story of our life" as they represent metaphors for our current views. *They give us an understanding of how we view ourselves, the world, our life goals, our motivations, our values, and our anticipations for the future. *Adler believed that what we selectively attend to from the past is reflective of what we believe, how we behave, and what we expect of the future. *We usually only have about 6-12 memories.

Courage

The wilingness to act even when fearful in ways that are consistent with social interest. *This develops when people become aware of their strengths, when they feel they belong, when they have hope and cannes new possibilities for themselves. *Without this, people engage in mistaken or dysfunctional behaviour, and act only in line with their perceived self-interest (lack of social interest).

Superiority

This does not mean being better than others, but rather moving from a perceived lower position to a perceived better position in relation to oneself. *This constitutes individuality and lifestyle, and helps people cope with feelings of helplessness (by striving for perfection).

Reorientation definition

This involves shifting rules of interaction, process and motivation, which is facilitates through changes in awareness (that occur in the therapy session, and are then transformer into action outside the office).

Birth order

This is not a deterministic concept, but it does increase a person's probability of having a certain set of experiences based on when they were born into their family. *Children of the same familly constellation are not actually formed in the same environment; they sale some aspects in common, but the psychological situation is different for every child. *This concept has a lot to do with how adults interact in the world, relate to others, form pictures of themselves.

Discouragement

This is the basic condition that prenants people from functioning, to which encouragement is the antidote.

Interpretation

This sub-technique deals with clients' underlying motives for behaving the way they do in the here and now. *They are hunches or guesses...'could it be that....? *This increases self-awareness, but doesn't make clients feel defensive; they just feel free to discuss or argue with the therapist's impressions.

Main aim of Adlerian therapy

To develop the client's sense of belonging and to assist the adoption of behaviours and processes characterised by community feeling and social interest.