Adlerian Therapy - 1
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology
Theories and Techniques of Counseling
Essay on Personal Theory of Counseling
“Adlerian Therapy”
Alfred Adler the third child in a family of five boys and two girls was born in 1870. Adler’s childhood was an unhappy one as he was sickly. He almost died at the age of four from pneumonia so as a result he decided to become a doctor. His specialized area was in neurology and psychiatry. Alfred Adler died in 1937. Adler was a major contributor to the development of the psychodynamic approach to therapy. He stressed the unity of personality contending that people could be understood as integrated and complete beings. This view explains that the direction in which we are heading is far more important than where we came from. One of Adler’s key concepts is how he viewed human nature. Adler abandoned Freud’s basic theories because he believed that Freud was excessively narrow in his stress on biological and instinctual determination. However, like Freud, Adler believed that what the individual became in adult life was largely influenced by the first six years of their lives. I was taught this in teachers college and now I am out in the field, I do believe this to be true. It’s like you get them as blank slates as John Locke said and you have to write on it positively if we want productive human beings. He believed that behaviour is purposeful, goal oriented and that consciousness not the unconscious is the centre of personality. Adler stress choice and responsibility, meaning of life and the striving for success or perfection, unlike Freud. His perspective was that humans were not merely determined by hereditary and environment instead they have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. He also believed that what we were born with was not the central issue but what we do with the abilities we posses, is most crucial.
Theories and Techniques of Counseling
Essay on Personal Theory of Counseling
“Adlerian Therapy”
Alfred Adler the third child in a family of five boys and two girls was born in 1870. Adler’s childhood was an unhappy one as he was sickly. He almost died at the age of four from pneumonia so as a result he decided to become a doctor. His specialized area was in neurology and psychiatry. Alfred Adler died in 1937. Adler was a major contributor to the development of the psychodynamic approach to therapy. He stressed the unity of personality contending that people could be understood as integrated and complete beings. This view explains that the direction in which we are heading is far more important than where we came from. One of Adler’s key concepts is how he viewed human nature. Adler abandoned Freud’s basic theories because he believed that Freud was excessively narrow in his stress on biological and instinctual determination. However, like Freud, Adler believed that what the individual became in adult life was largely influenced by the first six years of their lives. I was taught this in teachers college and now I am out in the field, I do believe this to be true. It’s like you get them as blank slates as John Locke said and you have to write on it positively if we want productive human beings. He believed that behaviour is purposeful, goal oriented and that consciousness not the unconscious is the centre of personality. Adler stress choice and responsibility, meaning of life and the striving for success or perfection, unlike Freud. His perspective was that humans were not merely determined by hereditary and environment instead they have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. He also believed that what we were born with was not the central issue but what we do with the abilities we posses, is most crucial.