Alfred Adler's theory is at once a model of personality, a theory of psychopathology, and in many cases the foundation of a method for

mind development and personal growth. Adler wrote, "Every individual represents a unity of personality and the individual then fashions that unity. The individual is thus both the picture and the artist. Therefore if one can change one's concept of self, they can change the picture being painted." His Individual Psychology is based on a humanistic model of man. Among the basic concepts are: 1. Holism. The Adlerian views man as a unit, a self-conscious whole that functions as an open system (see General Systems Theory), not as a collection of drives and instincts. 2. Field Theory. The premise is that an individual can only be studied by his movements, actions and relationships within his social field. In the context of Mind Development, this is essentially the examination of tasks of work, and the individual's feelings of belonging to the group. 3. Teleology ("power to will" or the belief that individuals are guided not only by mechanical forces but that they also move toward certain goals of self-realization). While Adler's name is linked most often with the term 'inferiority-complex,' towards the end of his career he became more concerned with observing the individual's struggle for significance or competence (later discussed by others as self-realization, or selfactualization, etc.). He believed that, standing before the unknown, each person strives to become more perfect, and in health is motivated by one dynamic force - the upward striving for completion - and all else is subordinated to this one master motive. Behavior is understood as goal-directed movement, though the person may not be fully aware of this motivation. 4. The Creative Self. The concept of the creative self places the responsibility for the individual's personality into his own hands. The Adlerian practitioner sees the individual as responsible for himself, he attempts to show the person that he cannot blame others or uncontrollable forces for his current condition. 5. Life-Style. An individual's striving towards significance and belonging can be observed as a pattern. This pattern manifests early in life and can be observed as a theme throughout his lifetime. This permeates all aspects of perception and action. If one understands an individual's lifestyle, his behavior makes sense. 6. Private intelligence is the reasoning invented by an individual to stimulate and justify a self-serving style of life. By contrast, common sense represents society's cumulative, consensual reasoning that recognizes the wisdom of mutual benefit. The 'Individual Psychologist' works with an individual as an equal to uncover his values and assumptions. As a person is not aware that he is acting according to misperceptions, it becomes the task of the practitioner to not only lead the individual to an insightful exposure of his errors, but also to re-orient him toward a more useful way of living. The practitioner seeks to establish a climate in which learning can take place. Encouragement and optimism are his key concerns. Adlerian therapy permits the use of a wide variety of techniques, for example, Drama Therapy and Art Therapy. Despite the methods used, techniques are used first to help relieve suffering and second, to promote positive change and empowerment. From the point of view of Mind Development, the most important constant factor is the stress on

social interactions and social contribution; the more outgoing social interest, the less feelings of inferiority the individual has. A technique unique to Adlerians that we have preserved in Mind Development is the formulation of the life-style and the constant use of the information gathered to demonstrate the individual to himself. It is the particular interpretation of the person's behavior and the teaching of a certain philosophy of life, to prod the person into action, which is both uniquely Adlerian and at the same time has wide application in Mind Development. This is a brief introduction to Adlerian principles and desirable life-style.
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Individual Psychology Alfred Adler postulates a single "drive" or motivating force behind all our behavior and experience. By the time his theory had gelled into its most mature form, he called that motivating force the striving for perfection. It is the desire we all have to fulfill our potentials, and is basically the same idea as Carl Rogers' idea of self-actualization. Second in importance only to striving for perfection is the idea of social interest, i.e. caring for family, for community, for society, for humanity, even for all life. Adler felt that social interest was not simply inborn, nor just learned, but a combination of both: It is based on an innate disposition, but it has to be nurtured to survive. So here we are, all of us, "pulled" towards fulfillment, perfection, self-actualization. And yet some of us end up terribly unfulfilled, baldly imperfect, and far from self-actualized. And all because we lack social interest, or, to put it in the positive form, because we are too selfinterested. So what makes so many of us self-interested? Adler says it's a matter of being overwhelmed by our inferiority. If you are moving along, doing well, feeling competent, you can afford to think of others. If you are not, if life is getting the best of you, then your attentions become increasingly focussed on yourself. Obviously, everyone suffers from inferiority in one form or another. For example, Adler began his theoretical work considering organ inferiority, that is, the fact that each of us has weaker, as well as stronger, parts of our anatomy or physiology. Some of us are born with heart murmurs, or develop heart problems early in life; Some have weak lungs, or kidneys, or early liver problems; Some of us stutter or lisp; Some have diabetes, or asthma, or polio; Some have weak eyes, or poor hearing, or a poor musculature; Some of us have innate tendencies to being heavy, others to being skinny; Some of us are retarded, some of us are deformed; Some of us are terribly tall or terribly short; And so on and so on. But Adler soon saw that this is only part of the picture. Even more people have psychological inferiorities. Some of as are told that we are dumb, or ugly, or weak. Some of us come to believe we are just plain no good. In school, we are tested over and over, and given grades that tell us we aren't as good as the next person. Or we are demeaned for our pimples or our bad

posture and find ourselves without friends or dates. Or we are forced into basketball games, where we wait to see which team will be stuck with us. In these examples, it's not a matter of true organic inferiority -- we are not really retarded or deformed or weak -- but we learn to believe that we are. Adler also noted an even more general form of inferiority: The natural "inferiority" of children. All children are, by nature, smaller, weaker, less socially and intellectually competent, than the adults around them. If you are overwhelmed by the forces of inferiority -- whether it is your body hurting, the people around you holding you in contempt, or just the general difficulties of growing up -- you develop an inferiority complex. You become shy and timid, insecure, indecisive, cowardly, submissive, compliant, and so on. You begin to rely on people to carry you along, even manipulating them into supporting you: "You think I'm smart / pretty / strong / sexy / good, don't you?" Eventually, you become a drain on them, and you may find yourself by yourself. Nobody can take all that self-centered whining for long! You can also develop a superiority complex. The superiority complex involves covering up your inferiority by pretending to be superior. If you feel small, one way to feel big is to make everyone else feel even smaller! Bullies, braggarts, and petty dictators everywhere are the prime example. More subtle examples are the people who are given to attention-getting dramatics, the ones who feel powerful when they commit crimes, and the ones who put others down for their gender, race, ethnic origins, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, weight, height, etc. etc. Even more subtle still are the people who hide their feelings of worthlessness in the delusions of power afforded by alcohol and drugs. But Adler's theory is not a pessimistic one! Many people respond to all these inferiorities by putting their striving for perfection into action through compensation. People with organ inferiorities often make up for them in some way: The inferior organ can be strengthened and even become stronger than it is in others; Or other organs can be overdeveloped to take up the slack; Or the person can compensate for the organic problem by developing other aspects of who they are. There are, as you well know, many examples of people who overcame great physical odds to become what those who are better endowed physically wouldn't even dream of! People with psychological inferiorities often do the same kind of thing: Some compensate by becoming good at what they feel inferior about; Others compensate by becoming good at something else. And as for the general sense of inferiority we all feel in childhood, Adler suggested that, if we look at children's games, toys, and fantasies, they tend to have one thing in common: The desire to grow up, to be big, to be an adult. Most of us manage quite well!
Copyright C. George Boeree, 2003

Dr. C. George Boeree

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