Adlerian Therapy

1. How do therapists using each of these perspectives view the client and client's problem?

This paper will carry out a comparative analysis of the two most important psychological therapies, the Adlerian Therapy and the Gestalt Therapy.

It is my goal to become a school counselor in a local high school. As a school counselor, it is also important to try and understand the different experiences that children go through in order to get through to them. After studying the different counseling theories, I have discovered that each theory is valid and there are ideas and techniques that I would use out of each of them. However, there are some theories more than others that I would use to guide me daily as a school counselor. Modern day counseling is equipped with a wide variety of therapies, techniques and approaches. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast three approaches of therapy. Also in this essay the views of the person and the Therapeutic process will be

Adlerian theory and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) may be thought to have many similarities. This may be because CBT is rooted in Adlerian theory (Sperry, 2017). This paper discusses Adlerian theory, then Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Both of these sections include the theoretical basis for, and interventions or techniques used, within each approach. Also discussed are key points specific to counseling in schools pertaining to, and skills necessary for counselors utilizing, each approach. This paper then explains the similarities and differences between Adlerian theory and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Adlerian psychotherapists often ask their clients about early recollections. What are the assumptions of this technique and how does it facilitate the therapeutic process?

Adlerian, Cognitive Behavioral, and Solution Focused Brief Therapy are three major theories that are used today. All three theories have things that make them similar as well as different.

In the world today, society is filled with individuals of all cultures, from all types of subcultures, social environments, and individuals who have different value systems as well as different belief systems. In today’s world, all people are viewed as being different in all aspects of life and the behaviors of each person are different as well. Behaviors can be observed, measured, and repeated to create a either a positive outcome or a negative outcome. Most people who were born into this world were taught behaviors or either they develop behaviors as a part of their family structure, their environment, their sub-culture or from individuals that are related to their surroundings. Negative behaviors that are learned and not corrected at an early age create negative consequences in a person’s life which can have a

Last, but certainly not least, are the family systemic therapies, which, in a meta-analysis of family systems therapies, were defined as "any couple, family, group, multifamily group, or individual focused therapeutic intervention that refers to either one of the following systems-oriented authors (Tom Andersen; Dr. Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy; Steve de Shazer; Jay Haley, Ph.D.; Dr. Minuchin; Ms. Satir; Dr. Mara Selvini Palazzoli; Dr. Helm Stierlin; Paul Watzlawick, Ph.D.; Michael White; and Gerald H. Zuk, Ph.D.), or specified the intervention by use of at least one of the following terms: systemic, structural, strategic, triadic, Milan, functional, solution focused, narrative, resource/strength oriented, McMaster model" (Fam. Process 2010;49:457-85).

Structural family therapy (SFT) is a theory that views the family as a psychosocial system embedded within a larger social system that is maintained by its’ own interactional patterns (Vetere, 2001). Within the family system are subsystems, boundaries and hierarchies (Minuchin & Fishman, 1981). For an individuals symptoms to resolve, structural changes must be made by the family (Minuchin & Fishman, 1981). The goal of SFT is to decrease symptoms as a result of dysfunction and change the family’s structure by developing new transactional patterns that demonstrates appropriate boundaries (Corey, 2012). To reach this goal, interventions such as joining, enactments, restructuring and reframing are used. Below, is an overview of key concepts and interventions in SFT as well as its’ application to diverse populations.

Adlerian therapy can be a useful approach in the case of Stan to help his address the many issues that he faces in his life. This therapy focuses on helping Stan, to achieve success in life by examining feelings of inferiority that result in negative behaviors, but in the right setting can help motivate him to strive for greater success. Adlerian therapy will help Stan focus on the development of his individual personality and the relation to understanding and accepting of the interconnectedness of all human beings.

The article, “Effects of Adlerian Play Therapy on Children’s Externalizing Behavior” in the Journal of Counseling & Development explores the usefulness of Adlerian play therapy on children and their classroom performances (Meany-Walen, Kottman, Bullis, & Dillman Taylor, 2015). For this specific study, the authors implemented a single-case study design to measure the outcomes. Initially, the study included six participants, whom were Caucasian boys who displayed disruptive behavior in the classroom. However, one child had to be omitted because he started to take psychotropic medication during the study. Three participants were part of the treatment group, which received 15–17 Adlerian play therapy sessions.

There are many key beliefs of the Adlerian therapy, according to Sherman & Dinkmeyer (1987). One belief is that all humans are social beings. This is very important to keep in mind because the clients need to be treated as such. Humans are also motivated by desires to find one’s place in society and belong. Having a sense of belonging in society makes a person feel whole and in place; it makes them feel like they are wanted and needed. Holism is also a key belief of the Adlerian therapy. Holism is the idea that the personality is complete and indivisible (Sherman et al, 1987). Humans are naturally creative, active, and decisional (Sherman et al, 1987). I can agree on this belief because being creative comes natural, as well as, the will to

In order for me to refer my boyfriend for this particular therapy, he would have to have anxiety or conduct disorders.

Adler’s safeguarding tendencies consist of shielding devices that help an individual conceal a swelled ego while preserving their current lifestyle (Feist, 2013). These tendencies are mainly conscious and work to protect a person’s style of life by serving to maintain their own false sense of self-importance (Feist, 2013). Adler suggested that feelings of self-importance are what play an integral role in safeguarding tendencies (Clark, 1999). Adler adds that those who foster a “faulty life style resort to expedient safeguarding tendencies” as a way to cope with life (Clark, 1999, p. 77). Though many exhibit these various behaviors, such tendencies are not a biblical way in which to handle ourselves.

However, it is not merely because I accidentally became exposed to the model as I found an internship that I come to favor this model over others that I have been learning about in this course. I like Structural Family Therapy because it is very relevant and practical with the families that I have encountered. For example, a major goal of Structural Family therapy is to help “families to identify and alter maladaptive family systems or interaction processes, such as transgenerational coalitions, scapegoating, triangulations, and so forth (Barkley, Guevremont, Anastopoulos, & Fletcher, 1992, p. 452). In my work as a family based therapist, it has been easy to observe that these dynamics are common in distressed families and I have seen how damaging they are to individuals and to the family as well. However, through Structural Family Therapy interventions such as enactments, unbalancing, intensity raising, these patterns can be shifted (Minuchin, & Fishman, 1981). Furthermore, Structural family therapy has been continuing to adapt to the challenges of the twenty-first century (McAdams et al, 2016) and that additionally makes it a very appealing model.