The Case of Sally and Mid-Life Transition: An Adlerian Perspective in Therapy
Title: The Case of Sally: An Adlerian Perspective in Therapy
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Document Type: Article
Subject Terms: Psychology; Adler; Adlerian
Abstract: Examines the counseling case of Sally in perspective of an Adlerian view. Sally’s somatic complaints and mistaken beliefs allows Adlerian technique to help her to experience a full life including career and social connections. Adlerian assumptions: Interpreting Sally’s record; Effect of Sally’s Birth order; Tasks for the counselor.
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Sally’s predominant reason for coming to counseling is to alleviate a number of somatic complaints such as panic, anxiety, and
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Sally has not worked through friendships, she has contributed to society by raising her children but that role is coming to a close and she has not fulfilled her task to become a teacher, and she is in a marriage but she’s not experiencing intimacy. So all three universal tasks are not developed and an Adlerian would be concerned with all three areas.
According to Corey (2009) there are four processes in Adlerian psychotherapy: a) forming a relationship (b) investigating the client’s life style through assessment and interviews both subjective and objective, (c) interpreting the data to the client and (d) helping the client to reorient towards a more prosocial stance by modifying certain convictions held by the client that aren’t helpful and promoting courage, optimism and finding meaning in life.
Another area of focus would be Sally’s early recollections and especially her being the oldest child and how she feels affected by that. First born children tend to be rule bound, dependable, hard-working and take on a pseudo-parenting role. Because of her birth order, Sally is most likely resistant to new ideas and has a habit of being right thing oriented. Sally could talk about her feelings about being an oldest and the pressure involved.
10) Which counseling philosophy or practice is being used when you use fables as analogies to the child's situation?
This paper will carry out a comparative analysis of the two most important psychological therapies, the Adlerian Therapy and the Gestalt Therapy.
The Adlerian Theory focuses on how the person’s perception of the past and his or her interpretation of early events have a continuing influence. Alder believed "that biological and physiological factors provided probabilities for future growth but that, "the self", with creative power as part of its inner nature, is the important intervening variable” (Selgiman & Reichenberg, 2010, p. 63). Behavior is purposeful and goal-directed when using Adlerian theory. Adler’s theory focuses on inferiority feelings, which he sees as a normal condition for all people and as a source of all human striving. Inferiority can be the wellspring of creativity. Alder believes this is what motivates us to strive for mastery, superiority, and completion. From an Adlerian perspective, human behavior is not determined solely by heredity and the environment. Instead, we have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. Alder asserts that what we were born with is not as important as what we choose to do with the abilities and limitations we possess.
Wood, A. (2004). Alfred Adler’s treatment as a form of brief therapy. The Journal of contemporary psychotherapy. 33 (4), 287-301.
Being brought into the world as a savior sister and having to undergo countless surgeries so that her older sister can fight leukemia, has an impact on Anna’s psychosocial development. Psychosocial development focuses on the development of the personality. It refers to how a persons mind, emotions and maturity level develop throughout the course of their lifespan (McLeod, 2010, p 4 ). Well known psychologist Erik Erikson gave an insightful theory of how personality develops based on his experience when working in psychotherapy, with children and adolescents from low, upper and middleclass background (Personality development, 2009, p 6). According to Erikson, the socialization process of an individual refers to eight stages, each stage is accompanied by a “psychosocial crisis” that needs to be solved in the
Adlerian psychotherapists often ask their clients about early recollections. What are the assumptions of this technique and how does it facilitate the therapeutic process?
Ruth’s case generates a clear picture of the client in relation to what Adler called the LIFE TASKS of (a) Friendship and social relation, (b) work and occupation, and (c) love, intimacy and sexuality.
Adlerian Theory, founded by Alfred Adler, is stated as a social psychology. The theory is relatively simple, and it puts the responsibility for behavior and success solely on the person. (Seligman & Reichenberg) Adlerian pays considerable attention to social context, family dynamics, and child rearing. This approach is phenomenological, empowering, and oriented towards both present and future. There were two elements of the Adlerian Theory as to why it was not really accepted: (1) If humans can be simply described and understood, I may not be as
Most of society thinks that a mentally healthy person is a person with a sound sense of self and someone who functions on a daily basis within the community without problems of any signs of a mental illness. For Adler, psychological health is determined by the level of social contribution beneficial to the greater community, to the degree, that one integrates and furthers the social context, thus the measurement of his or her mental health. Named after Alfred Adler, Adlerian theory primarily emphasizes concepts pertaining to inferiority and superiority, styles of life, family constellation and birth order, and
Lillian’s case can be very well handle using the Adlerian theory. Alfred Adler proposed that all behaviors are teleological, people are motivated by social interest, by striving toward life goals, by inferiority and superiority as well as by dealing with life tasks. Therefore, according to this approach, scrutinizing Lillian’s social interest and inferiority complex can suggest how she developed her specific lifestyle and help explore “general dissatisfaction with her life,” as she reported. Additionally, Adlerians believe that humans have a capacity to interpret, influence and create events. Putting this in practice, Lillian is also capable for creating her own life events and helping her become conscious of that can lead to higher self-worth and a sense of power to control her life.
Alfred Adler, a renowned and highly influential psychologist who came to prominence in the early part of the 20th century coined the term ‘family constellation’, which served as a metaphor to describe the influence of familial bonds and dynamics upon the personality development of individuals, particularly children. Adler’s conception of the family constellation has been adopted and studied extensively since his time. Rudolf Dreikurs built upon Adler’s work some years later, and vouched for the usefulness of the family constellation perspective in psychoanalytic work:
According to the psychoanalytic perspective, people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How these conflicts are resolved determines the person’s ability to learn, to get along with others, and cope with anxiety. Erik Erikson has been a very influential contributor to the psychoanalytic perspective (Berk, 2010). Erikson proposed that an individual moves through a series of stages which resolve in either positive or negative outcomes and determine healthy or maladaptive behavior. (Berk, 2010).
counselor. She also presented a theory to help unlink one‟s personal ego from functioning in the
I feel that our perception of the past influences the way we act in the present. However, I do think that it should be taken into account that I, nor my client, will be able to change the past. Early experiences play a significant role in who we are but do not determine us as a whole. I believe Adler’s idea of a subjective reality, individual to each person, is similar to how people operate. People create and interpret their own experience, which means that a sense of reality is individual to each person. It is my goal as a counselor to do my best to try and understand each of my client’s realities and cater to them that would seem fit, since we are not all molded the same in our thought processes. People have the capacity to interpret, influence and create events. In order to understand people we must first understand the systems of which they are part. Adler’s life style assessment is holistic and systemic. In any beginning counseling relationship, I would try and gather as much information as I can about their attitudes and come to find an understanding of the lives that they live through their own personal perspective. This subjective reality is described as phenomenological and includes the individual’s perceptions, thoughts, feelings, values,
Social embeddedness. One of the most important concepts of Adlerian therapy is the focus on the social importance of humanity. Adler viewed people as social