Individual Psychology
Alfred Adler
Goal : "Help people realize that feelings of pain and inadequacy are caused not by others but by their own faulty logic and the behaviors and attitudes that stem from that logic"
(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 69)
Goal : "Help people realize that feelings of pain and inadequacy are caused not by others but by their own faulty logic and the behaviors and attitudes that stem from that logic"
(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 69)
Importance of Feelings of Inferiority
The feelings of inferiority from childhood have a great impact on a child's development. It's through achieving superiority (mastery in own life, not superiority over someone else) that a person can achieve success and accomplishment.
Example: A child who is not musically inclined like his brother/sister may decide instead to excel academically by studying hard and doing
well in school.
Family Constellation and Birth Order
Family constellation: the make up of the family, each person's role, and the transactions that each person has. Everyone's role is
determined by "the interactions and transactions within that family" (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 66)
Example: gender, role, birth order
Birth order:
1. Oldest child : most intelligent, high achieving, strong verbal skills, responsible, well behaved, traditional, center of attention (until
other children are born)
Example: Oldest child has a position of leadership (president of Student Council)
2. Second child : pressure to compete with oldest child, usually lean towards doing things where the oldest child did not excel
Example : Oldest child successful in art and music; second child will look for success in math and science
3. Middle child : many of the same qualities as second child, often feel neglected because they're stuck in the middle of older siblings
who have found their place and younger siblings who get all the attention
Example: Middle child is discouraged because his older brother has found his place on the football team and the new
baby sister is getting all the attention from the visiting extended family
4. Youngest child : could be pampered/spoiled, go at top speed to keep up, could be discouraged about competing against their
brothers/sisters, not much responsibility, adventurous, easygoing
Example: Youngest child does not get to make decisions for themselves (which sports to play, playdates, friends, etc)
5. Only children : common characteristics with first and last born, achievement is important, get all the attention, cooperative, deal
well with adults
Example: Child striving to be valedictorian of his/her class
Lifestyle
Adler defines lifestyle as how each individual looks to find his/her place in the world, combat feelings of inferiority, and achieve one's goals. Fictional finalism can be defined as an unconscious thought of what life will be like once the goals have been achieved. Also, it's part of our rationale for why we live our life the way we do. For example, a six year old might have a fictional finalism of graduating from high school and being a firefighter like his/her dad.
There are four ingredients for lifestyle:
1. Person's subjective worldview
2. Goals
3. Behavioral strategies that the person uses to achieve goals and negotiate the life journey
4. Outcomes/consequences of those behaviors
(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 68)
Private Logic
Private logic can be defined as a person's belief about himself/herself in the world based off of his/her lifestyle. Private logic begins in childhood and will continue on and helps to provide a roadmap about how to live life. In order to interact socially, each person develops his/her own set of rules and guidelines to help overcome inferiority; in addition, these rules will help a person to achieve his/her goals.
For example, Seligman & Reichenberg (2014), provide a scenario of a four year old whose mother tells him to put his shoes on but he doesn't want to. He uses his private logic in order to figure out how to do what his mother is asking him without giving her what she wants. He figures out that if she closes her eyes while he puts his shoes on, she has not "won" and he does not have to feel inferior (p. 68).
Social Interest
Adler described people who are well adjusted as people who "have a private logic that reflects common sense as well as social interest...part of a community and appreciate individual differences" (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 70). On the other hand, maladjusted people only focus on what they need; therefore, ignoring the needs of others and the social context. Contrary to Freud, Adler believed that development is primarily psychosocial and not psychosexual. People are social beings who like to be integrated into their community to belong and solve problems. Under social interest, there are three life tasks: occupation, love, and social interest which can be explained as how well people handle different relationships.
Example : A person who understands and embraces that he/she is part of a larger whole (i.e. community, family, planet, etc)
Phenomenological Perspective
By understanding how a person perceives the world, we can better understand that unique individual, his/her private logic, goals, and his/her lifestyle. Each person has a unique perception of reality and has his/her own unique experiences.
Example: There are two mothers who have a child with a learning disability. One of the mothers embraces the diagnosis and is motivated to find interventions and strategies to help her child cope with his/her disability. On the other hand, the other mother regards the child's diagnosis as a burden and therefore has little patience or time for the child.
Stages of Treatment
Phase 1 : Establishing the therapeutic relationship and setting goals
Adler stressed the importance of building a positive counselor/client relationship. Counselors need to show their clients empathy and show them that genuinely care by using verbal and nonverbal techniques. Before treatment commences, the counselor and client meet to explore the questions that the client has to ensure that the expectations and concerns are explored and can be achieved through counseling. In addition, the counselor needs to be encouraging the client from the beginning to the end of the counseling relationship.
Example: "A telephone call to a client in crisis" (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 71)
Phase 2 : Assessment, analysis, and understanding of the person and the problem
Assessment is a crucial focus where importance is placed on childhood memories, birth order, family constellation, and the individual. The initial interview and the lifestyle interview help the counselor to have specific information about the client's background and how well he/she is functioning. In addition, the counselor will conduct an "assessment of the six key domains: identifying information, background, current level of functioning, presenting problem, expectations for treatment, and summary" (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 72).
Phase 3 : Reeducation, insight, and interpretation
Phase 3 can be difficult for the counselor because in this phase, he/she has to both encourage and challenge his/her client. The counselor has to interpret the client's behaviors and lifestyle in order to confront him/her so that the client can start to understand the reasons for his/her behavior. Furthermore, the client needs to begin to understand the consequences for his/her actions as well as moving toward more positive changes. Seligman & Reichenberg (2014), state three strategies to help counselors remain caring during this phase: "They focus on the present rather than the past. They are more concerned with consequences than with unconscious motivation. They present their interpretations in ways that are likely to be accepted by clients" (p. 74). Because the counselor is helping the client to uncover the motivations for his/her behavior, the counselor will play an active role in the counseling sessions. Lastly, counselors use their interpretations stated in the form of hypothesis in order to educate and help the client become more aware.
Example: "I wonder if you have refused to set a more realistic sale price for your house because the house represents part of your ideal self" (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 74).
Phase 4 : Reorientation, reinforcement, termination, and follow-up
Now that the client has been educated and been made more aware of his/her behaviors, he/she can start to create new patterns and can view his/her life from a different perspective than before counseling started. In this phase, the counselor is helping the client to work through his/her goals as well as making adjustments and helping him/her to take positive action. It's very important that the counselor is supporting the client and encouraging him/her to develop the "courage to be imperfect and take on rewarding challenges" (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 75). There are four parts to this phase: clarifying goals and ensuring they are realistic, common sense & clear thinking applied to feelings/beliefs/goals, new learning applied to life, addressing and removing barriers to progress. In summation, this phase helps clients move forward with their lives in a more positive and healthy way; however, the counselor is still present and still collaborating with the client toward future plans and goals.
Example : The client is starting to date again. In collaboration with her counselor, she is working towards not making the same mistakes she's made in the past. She knows that she usually goes for the "bad boy" and she is taking positive steps to ensure this doesn't happen again nor does she want to take the relationship too quickly.
Interventions
Below are the interventions that can be used with this theory:
1. Catching oneself : encourages clients to be aware of faulty goals by knowing the warning signs and being able to catch and redirect
oneself
Example: A woman who often gets angry and then becomes violent recognizes that her body becomes tense, her
heart beats quickly, and she gets hot before she becomes violent. She can identify the signs of body
tension and anger and when she begins to feel them, she can use breathing techniques and counting as a
way to diffuse the situation.
2. Pushing the button: helps clients to be more aware of the control they have over their emotions. They view pleasant and unpleasant
experiences in order to see and understand that they do have a choice.
Example: A woman who is drunk at every social outing imagined how happy she would be if she remained sober (pleasant experience) and how embarrassed and self-conscious she would be if she got drunk again
(unpleasant experience) (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 75).
3. Spitting in the client's soup : helps client understand his/her negative behaviors and the counselor then makes the behavior look
unappealing
Example: Client - I can't believe that my best friend, Sarah, was gossiping about me. I'm going to beat her
up.
Therapist - I guess you want her to pay for what she's done. But, if you beat her up, you won't
get to talk to her to see if she even was talking about you and you'll get suspended
which means you won't be able to compete in that big competition you were telling
me about.
4. Immediacy : helps the interaction between counselor and client
Example: Client doesn't think counselor likes her because counselor presents a different view than the client. Counselor
helps the client to see that just because someone has a different view point, doesn't mean that he/she doesn't
like her.
5. Prescribing the symptom : magnifying problem; aims to help client see the problem behavior, consequences, and realization that
he/she has the power/control to change it
Example: Someone has trouble sleeping at night so the counselor suggest that he/she not go to sleep.
(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 76).
6. Confrontation : helps clients to see inconsistencies in the information they provide to the counselors
Example: Counselor asks client to explain/justify why they spent money to go to a concert in California when he/she
can barely afford the rent.
7. Task assignments : Planned activities
Example: Exercising five times per week
8. Humor, silence, advice, and reflection of feelings : helps build therapeutic alliance
Example: Therapist saying, "I would feel that way too if it happened to me. Maybe because you're in that situation, you should try to save some money so that moving out can remain a real possibility."
Below are the interventions that can be used with this theory:
1. Catching oneself : encourages clients to be aware of faulty goals by knowing the warning signs and being able to catch and redirect
oneself
Example: A woman who often gets angry and then becomes violent recognizes that her body becomes tense, her
heart beats quickly, and she gets hot before she becomes violent. She can identify the signs of body
tension and anger and when she begins to feel them, she can use breathing techniques and counting as a
way to diffuse the situation.
2. Pushing the button: helps clients to be more aware of the control they have over their emotions. They view pleasant and unpleasant
experiences in order to see and understand that they do have a choice.
Example: A woman who is drunk at every social outing imagined how happy she would be if she remained sober (pleasant experience) and how embarrassed and self-conscious she would be if she got drunk again
(unpleasant experience) (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 75).
3. Spitting in the client's soup : helps client understand his/her negative behaviors and the counselor then makes the behavior look
unappealing
Example: Client - I can't believe that my best friend, Sarah, was gossiping about me. I'm going to beat her
up.
Therapist - I guess you want her to pay for what she's done. But, if you beat her up, you won't
get to talk to her to see if she even was talking about you and you'll get suspended
which means you won't be able to compete in that big competition you were telling
me about.
4. Immediacy : helps the interaction between counselor and client
Example: Client doesn't think counselor likes her because counselor presents a different view than the client. Counselor
helps the client to see that just because someone has a different view point, doesn't mean that he/she doesn't
like her.
5. Prescribing the symptom : magnifying problem; aims to help client see the problem behavior, consequences, and realization that
he/she has the power/control to change it
Example: Someone has trouble sleeping at night so the counselor suggest that he/she not go to sleep.
(Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 76).
6. Confrontation : helps clients to see inconsistencies in the information they provide to the counselors
Example: Counselor asks client to explain/justify why they spent money to go to a concert in California when he/she
can barely afford the rent.
7. Task assignments : Planned activities
Example: Exercising five times per week
8. Humor, silence, advice, and reflection of feelings : helps build therapeutic alliance
Example: Therapist saying, "I would feel that way too if it happened to me. Maybe because you're in that situation, you should try to save some money so that moving out can remain a real possibility."