Integrated Adlerian Theory

It was Eleanor Roosevelt who stated, "A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably” (Roosevelt). There is a great deal of truth in her statement. However, there are at least four additional characteristics that every well-functioning, effective person possesses. 1) An effective individual should demonstrate a life of integrity, committed to the truth despite how much it may hurt; and willing to speak truth into the lives of others even when it is humiliating and difficult. (A lesson learned from a very valued professor of mine.) 2) He is responsible and accountable for his own actions; and without blame, nor excuse, accepts the resulting circumstances and consequences. With humility, he willingly admits it when wrong. 3) An effective person must develop a learner’s attitude; and have a teachable spirit. He is willing to listen and expand his perspective; and able to keep an open mind. A mind that is receptive counsel, and responds to reproof. 4) A well-functioning person is available, open to interruption and accessible to others. He values and cherishes time well spent with people, and sets priorities and strives to maintain them. This is my purpose, my responsibility, my calling and I will strive to carry out all of

Over the last 100 years, the underpinning concepts in the fields of psychology and counseling were wrought. Within this period, these concepts have transformed and evolved from somewhat crude conceptions of the psyche toward more holistic interventions and approaches. As the profession continues to move forward, adaptations of the original theorists regarding the nature of man and the development of personality continue to emerge. These adaptations, along with the integration of new concepts and ideas, continue to contribute to the field. The author describes his view of man and human nature, personality development, and explores potential implications for counseling.

Values, Morals, and Beliefs are components that play a role in an individual’s self-identity. The establishment of these components shape human nature, behavior, and the development of an individual’s purpose. The basis of these fundamentals has contributed to my desire to become a counselor. This paper will discuss my views of human nature, factors of behavior changes, goals of therapy, the roles of a therapist, and the counseling approaches that I chose to incorporate in a practice.

As a counseling student, it is very important to formulate a counseling theory tailored to ones’ own personality and beliefs. A counselor may choose a single theory to model when practicing therapy or pick and choose components and techniques from various theories, otherwise known as eclecticism. No theory is considered right or wrong. Understanding the different therapeutic approaches are important to effective counseling, however, counselors must also understand their own personal value, view of human nature, human behavior, counseling techniques and the purpose and goals of counseling. Understanding these components along with the different theoretical approaches will provide the counselor with a 9 knowledge of their own counseling, orientation and is essential to not only the productivity of counseling but the growth of the counselor as well.

The paper topic is focused on how play therapy can help children develop their behavioral and emotional structures. The primary research question for the paper is Can Play Therapy help children with emotional and behavioral issues get better? The primary hypotheses for this paper are: If play therapy can help a child overcome his self-esteem issues, then it can help the child grow emotionally and if play therapy can help a child overcome his self-esteem issues, then it can help the child grow a strong behavioral structure. The paper is divided into an introduction which gives a brief background of the topic, literature review which focuses on the results of 10 recent studies with familiar topics, the methods section, and the results sections which provides the primary results of the study and the discussions section which illustrates the lessons learnt from conducting this study as well as the differences and limitations of the study alongside the new directions that similar researches in the future could look to explore.

Often, elementary school counselors are reluctant to suggest play therapy and have perceived barriers to its efficacy. This study surveyed 259 members of the American School Counselor Association about those barriers to implementing play therapy, and the potential solutions that could be used to overcome any reluctance. The typical barriers are logical: training, administration, time, resources, and space. It is not that the counselors as a whole do not believe in play therapy, it is that they cannot always find appropriate resources to implement the tool. The study raises the awareness that in the contemporary school in which budgets and resources are extremely tight, more training, educating faculty and administrators, and even using alternative or personal funds to purchase play therapy materials are often necessary to help students.

Even though diversity is expanding in our world, and counselors are exposed to more and more different populations of clients, much of traditional counseling theories are rooted in Western culture. Constantine, Sue, and Ridley (as cited in Sue & Sue, 2016) stated, “as a result, American (U.S.) psychology has been severely criticized as

Play is a way for children to learn about their environment and how interaction occurs within. It is through trial and error that children are able to create options; follow their own interests and show “independence in thought and actions” using their knowledge and understanding (Moyles, 2005, p.3). Children develop resilience though play. However for a number of children can experience stressful occurrences during their lives and play can often be restricted. Therefore the play worker’s role in supporting children’s play is a crucial measure towards children's development. For those that work with children require the dexterity to prompt and contribute to children’s play, which can be seen as a principle aspect of therapeutic alliance.

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.

Two research methods - an experiment and survey - were used to answer the research question asked: “How effective is Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT)? A non-pharmaceutical treatment option for school-aged children diagnosed with ADHD”. This paper is set up to show an example of the possible result of a research conducted to show the effectiveness of CCPT. Within the experiment a host of 20 school-aged children were to be used with 10 variables

While there are multiple studies on working with children with externalizing and anxiety issues in general, many of them do not investigate Adlerian play therapy. Adlerian play therapy says that “people are unique and creative, they strive toward belonging and connection with others, and they create fictional goals that influence their behaviors. Social interest is an important concept of Adlerian play therapy” (Meany-Walen, Kottman, Bullis & Taylor, 2015 ). In fact, 40% of the studies in this paper are the first of their kind. Many of the articles included in this review have limitations including small sample sizes, small age range, and teachers and caregivers being involved in the process of picking and evaluating students for these studies.

In the Adlerian Play Therapy, a child will misbehave if they could not find a way to behave in a socially acceptable way (Snow, Buckley & Williams, 1999). There were four identified goal behind the misbehavior of the child. The four identified goals were attention, power, revenge and a display of inadequacy (Dinkmeyer & McKay, 1989; Dreikurs, 1948 as cited in Snow, Buckley & Williams, 1999). Parent or others people that plays in a role in the child’s life will pay attention to the child when he or she is misbehaving and this is how the child seeks attention. If the child’s goal is to attain power, they will often involve in a fight with other child to attain power or control. The child will misbehave in order to revenge to the parent by making

Bitter (2009) talks about how counselors are ethically obligated to become knowledgeable in cultural differences and design therapeutic techniques to fit each individual client. As counselors, we must challenge our own culturally conditioned ideas about others. It is mentioned that Adlerian theory accentuates a focus on the need of belonging; fostering social interest and a sense of community. Multiracial individuals are seen as defining themselves within their environment including which cultural or ethnic group they most identify with, may be important to them and their identity development. Adlerian therapy does not provide a quick fix; this therapy is generally long term. A counselor using this type of therapy would help reeducate the individual

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.

The main purpose about this paper is to conduct and provide information about Adler’s theory, based on individual psychology that describes an individual who either strives for success or empowerment. Alfred Alder is a psychologist who studies based on societal and parent’s influences toward the child. Then, he/she would have a decision to make to obtain a certain personality. Children tend to have a capacity to pick onto what they want to have which is a creative power by the age 4-5, which is called sense of inferiority. In other words, they try having a sense of them self. Based on these terms between success and superiority they are described in two different interpretations. Success is a person who is striving for success, and the other individual who is striving for superiority, by having power is to belittle someone else just to feel great about them self. In other words, their focus would be all about them and would suggest that they’re always correct giving out statements that’s occurring or about the situation.