Introduction to Alfred Adler.

First in a series on Alfred Adler's Counseling Theories.

In 1972 and 1973, I went through four quarters of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. When I went there, I was a very outgoing person, but inside I felt inferior. When someone gave me a compliment, I would smile and say, Thank you, but inside I discounted the compliment.

During the second quarter of CPE, our supervisor, Chaplain Ray Stephens assigned each student, two pioneering psychologists to present to the class. I was assigned to report on Alfred Adler and Viktor Frankl. As I prepared those two classes, I began to notice a change in how I felt about myself. I recognized that I could overcome my inferiority feelings (Adler) and that I could have meaning and purpose in my life (Frankl). As a result of those two classes, I went from low man on the totem pole to a class leader. The transformation I experienced (physically, emotionally and spiritually) could be compared to a conversion experience. Adler and Frankl have contributed to my understanding of human personality and how I relate to an individual in the therapeutic setting.

Thyra Boldes once wrote of Adler that he was real, whether he was joking or serious, whether in private discussion or lectures, his real personality always seemed to say, Life is holy. Have reverence for life. Every thing, which happens, is important.

In his youth, Adler was a sickly child, which caused him embarrassment and pain. These early experiences with illnesses and accidents probably account for his theory of organ inferiority and were the foundation for his theories on inferiority feelings. According to Adler, each individual has a weak area in his or her body--organ inferiority, which tends to be the area where illness occurs, such as the stomach, head, heart, back, lungs, etc. Adler said that to some degree every emotion finds expression in the body. From his understanding of organ inferiority, Adler began to see each individual as having a feeling of inferiority. Adler wrote, To be a human being means to feel oneself inferior. The child comes into the world as a helpless little creature surrounded by powerful adults. A child is motivated by feelings of inferiority to strive for greater things. Those feelings of inferiority activate a person to strive upward so that normal feelings of inferiority impel the human being to solve his or her problems successfully, whereas the inferiority complex impedes or prevents one from doing so.

The healthy individual will strive to overcome his or her inferiority through involvement with society. One is concerned about the welfare of others as well as oneself and develops good feelings of self-worth and self-assurance. On the other hand, some are more concerned with selfishness than with social interest. They may express this selfishness in a need to dominate, to refuse to cooperate, wanting to take and not to give. From these unhealthy responses, the person develops an inferiority complex or a superiority complex. A superiority complex is a cover up for an inferiority complex. They are different sides of the same coin. The person with the superiority complex has hidden doubts about his or her abilities.

Adler developed a theory of personality based upon:

Inferiority feelings and inferiority complex,

Striving for superiority

Style of life

Social interest

Family constellation

Fictional finalism 

The creative self

Masculine protest

The interpretation of dreams

Theory of psychotherapy.

In future installments, I will discus how some of these theories have affected me. Adler said, We do not flatter ourselves, we have not explored the last and ultimate facts, nor have we voiced the last truth. All we have attained cannot be more than part of the present knowledge and culture. And we are looking forward to those who are coming after us. If we, as hypnotherapists, would take that statement to heart, we would be much better off as professionals.

Chaplai, Paul G. Durbin, PhD is Director of Clinical Hypnotherapy MHSF, affiliated with Methodist Hospital, New Orleans, LA--www.durbinhypnosis.com