Adler developed the first holistic theory of personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy that was intimately connected to a humanistic philosophy of living.
Alfred Adler was a pivotal figure in the history of psychotherapy. Although he originally was a colleague and early supporter of Sigmund Freud, Adler developed his own theories of the nature of humankind and soon split off from Freud to pursue these ideas (Fiebert, 1997).
Freud, Jung, and Adler are considered the founders of modern psychotherapy.
Adler envisioned a psychology of growth, where people could strive to overcome difficulties and actually change their lives. His vision of the equality of people, encouragement, the search for what is right or positive, the emphasis on mental health and relationships, the concept of social interest, and the need to consider cultural and contextual factors are examples of cutting-edge topics with which Adler engaged to help people grow and develop their potential. Adler stressed the importance of the relationship and using empathy as a key strategy for helping. His approach is at the root of cognitive behavioral, family, existential, phenomenological, schema, humanistic, and person-centered approaches (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956; Bitter, 2013; Carlson, 2015a; Carlson, Watts, & Maniacci, 2006; Corey, 2016; Norcross, Hedges, & Prochaska, 2002; Watts & LaGuardia, 2015). The individual psychology of Alfred Adler is based on a phenomenological, holistic understanding of human behavior. Adler used the term individual psychology for his approach in order to emphasize the indivisible (undivided or whole) nature of our personalities and refer to the essential unity of the individual psyche. Adlerians focus on holism and how each person moves through life, noting that one cannot understand an individual by analyzing their parts (i.e., reductionism), but all aspects of the person must be understood in relationship to the total pattern and in connection to social systems (Maniacci, Sackett-Maniacci, & Mosak, 2014).
As mentioned previously, Adlerians understand all behavior as goal directed. People continually strive to attain in the future what they believe is important or significant. Adler believed that for all people there are three basic life tasks: work, friendship, and love or intimacy. The work task is realized when work is meaningful and satisfying. The friendship task is achieved through satisfying relationships with others. The love or intimacy task is addressed by learning to love oneself as well as another. Adlerian theory purports that humans are social beings and therefore all behavior is socially embedded and has social meaning (Watts, 2000b). According to him, a person has to combat or confront three forces: the societal, the love-related, and the vocational. These confrontations determine the final nature of a personality. Adler based his theories on the pre-adulthood development of a person. In one of his earliest and most famous publications, “Study of Organ Inferiority and Its Psychical Compensation,” Adler outlined the basics for what would be the beginning foundation of his personality theory. The article focuses mainly on the topics of organ inferiority and compensation. Organ inferiority is when one organ, or portion of the body, is weaker than the rest. Adler postulated that the body’s other organs would work together in order to compensate for the weakness of this “inferior” organ. When compensation occurs, other areas of the body make up for the function lacking in the inferior portion. According to Adler, humans are primarily motivated by a feeling of inferiority. In his view, an individual derives their personality traits from external factors that arise out of the drive for superiority. The character of the individual is formed by their responses to their influence in the following ways:
Compensation is a tendency to make up for underdevelopment or a sense of inferiority in physical or mental functioning through interest and training, usually within a relatively normal range of development. Neurosis and other pathological states reveal the safeguarding or defensive stratagems (largely unconscious or out of awareness) of the individual who believes themselves to be unequal to the demands of life, in a struggle to compensate for a felt weakness, physical or psychological. In “normal” development, the child has experienced encouragement and accepts that their problems can be overcome in time by an investment of patient persistence and cooperation with others. The “normal” person feels a full member of life and has “the courage to be imperfect” (Sofie Lazarsfeld)
He was one of the leading advocates for the rights of women, children, and other groups marginalized by their social context. Adler promoted equal pay for women in the workplace, addressed issues of violence against women in society, and more generally promoted social equality as a mechanism for improved psychological functioning (Bitter, Robertson, Healey, & Jones-Cole, 2009).
Resignation – There are those who give in to their disadvantages or fears and become reconciled to them. Such people are in the majority, and the attitude of the world towards them is of a cool, rather uninterested apathy.
Over-compensation reflects a more powerful impulse to gain an extra margin of development, frequently beyond the normal range.