ALFRED ADLER: BIOGRAPHY, THEORIES, PORTS, WORKS - PSYCHOLOGY - 2024

Alfred Adler (1870 - 1937) was an Austrian-born psychiatrist who began his professional career as a disciple and collaborator of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Later, however, he founded his own therapeutic school, known as individual psychology.

Most of Adler's contributions focused on the idea that it is necessary to look at each person as a whole, with interrelated parts that affect each other. Because his ideas differed significantly from those of the psychoanalytic current, he was eventually expelled from Freud's circle of close associates.

Source: Ann Ronan Picture Library, From this moment on, Alfred Adler began to develop his own theories and to investigate his ideas. One of the most important is that of the "inferiority complex", which he believed to be one of the main factors that determined the personality of each individual and his formation.

Despite having suffered a serious impact on his career when he was expelled from Freud's circle, Alfred Adler ended up becoming one of the main promoters of psychotherapy and one of the most famous psychologists in history. His ideas influenced thinkers such as Abraham Maslow and Albert Ellis, and laid the foundations for what would later become known as humanistic psychology.

Biography

Early years

Alfred Adler was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1870. His childhood was marked by a disease, rickets, which prevented him from starting to walk until he was four years old. However, the problems he suffered during this first stage of his life led him to decide to study medicine, in order to help other people who were in a similar situation.

As the third of seven siblings, Alfred Adler developed strong feelings of inferiority during his childhood, especially due to his rivalry with his older brother. This experience would mark him for life, and would lead him to develop one of his most famous psychological theories, that of the inferiority complex.

Adler graduated from the University of Vienna in 1895, having obtained his medical degree with a specialization in ophthalmology. For a time, he was working in this field; and later he changed his specialty and devoted himself to general medicine. Little by little, his interest in psychiatry grew, to the point where he decided to dedicate his career to the study of the human mind.

Professional life

Little by little, the importance of Alfred Adler grew within the world of psychiatry. This was clearly seen in 1902, when Sigmund Freud, who was considered the most important psychologist in all of Vienna, invited him to join him and other professionals in a psychoanalytic discussion group.

This group met every Wednesday at Freud's own house; and in time, it became the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. Alfred Adler served as president of the group for a time, and during this period he was one of the main associates of the founder of psychoanalysis. However, over time the ideas of both ended up becoming too different, and Adler left the group.

At first, this psychologist was one of the main promoters of psychoanalysis. However, after the breakup he also became one of the first therapists to develop his own school of thought. Throughout his life he insisted that he had not been a disciple of Freud but his collaborator.

In 1912, Alfred Adler founded the Society for Individual Psychology. His first theory was that of the inferiority complex. According to this, from childhood people try to overcome their feeling of being worse than the rest by trying to be above others. For this psychologist, this complex is the force that moves most human emotions, behaviors and thoughts.

Flight from Austria and death

Alfred Adler was the son of Hungarian immigrants, of Jewish origin. Although he himself had abandoned his parents' faith and converted to Christianity, his family roots led the Nazis to target him and close their clinics during his 30s. Because of this, he finally made the decision to escape. Austria to avoid harsher retaliation.

In the late 1930s, Adler emigrated to the United States with his wife, and began working as a professor at Long Island University of Medicine. However, shortly thereafter, in 1937, he suffered a heart attack that ended his life while touring Europe.

Interestingly, Adler's family lost track of his mortal remains. For many decades it was believed that they were lost forever, but in 2007 they were found in a crematorium in Edinburgh, Scotland. Four years later, his family managed to recover them and took their ashes to Vienna, where they were buried.

Theories

During his career, Alfred Adler researched many different fields and created numerous theories that covered practically every aspect of human life. Its main premise was the need to understand the individual and all his characteristics as if they were a whole, in such a way that he could work with him and help him with his specific needs.

At first, Adler's psychological theories were heavily influenced by philosophers and thinkers such as Hans Vaihinger, Fíodor Dostoyevsky, Immanuel Kant, Rudolf Virchow, and Friedrich Nietzsche. He also learned a lot from the psychoanalysis present in his time in Vienna, although his ideas ended up largely diverging from those of this group.

Adler was deeply concerned for the welfare of all individuals, and communed with the ideas of socialism during his years at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Circle. However, at the same time he was very pragmatic, trying to create a theory of the human mind that could be easily applied.

Below we will explore some of the areas that this Viennese psychologist focused on most during his prolific career.

Personality theory

In his book The Neurotic Character, Alfred Adler put forward his idea that the human personality can be explained teleologically. This means that some parts of it work to turn feelings of inferiority into others of superiority or feeling complete. This theory is central to his concept of the inferiority complex.

On the other hand, this psychologist also believed that the desires of the ideal self are often counteracted by the demands of the environment, society and morals. If the individual is not able to compensate both factors correctly, the inferiority complex arises; and the person may end up developing egocentric, aggressive or power-seeking characteristics.

Psychodynamic theory

Alfred Adler was one of the first authors in the field of psychology to defend the idea that our goals are the factor that weighs the most in our well-being. This thinker believed that goals and creativity are what give us strength and make us move forward, in such a way that they have a teleological function.

Depending on the base from which they start, the goals can be positive or negative. Thus, for example, the desire to be thin may come from an inferiority complex (in which case it would bring unwanted negative consequences); but it can also start from the unconditional acceptance of oneself.

Typology of personality

In his research on the functioning of the human mind, Adler tried to create a typology in which he classified the different existing personality types. However, his categories were not as closed as those proposed, for example, by his contemporary Carl Jung.

Although he changed his theory numerous times, four "Adlerian types" of personality are generally described:

- The scholarly guy. People with this personality style are especially sensitive, and therefore have had to develop self-protection strategies to prevent their environment from harming them. They often have low energy levels, and depend on others to get what they want. They have a tendency to develop neurotic problems such as phobias, compulsions or anxiety.

- The avoidant type. These are people whose main fear is that of losing, failing or being defeated. Therefore, one of their most outstanding characteristics is that they avoid taking risks and getting into situations that they believe they will not be able to face. This makes it difficult for them to develop their full potential in any area of ​​life.

- The dominant type. People with this style of personality have as their main trait the search for power, both economic, physical and social. They are the ones who are more likely to exhibit antisocial behavior, and to manipulate others to get what they want.

- The socially useful type. Individuals with this style tend to be very outgoing, energetic, and positive. They usually try to improve their environment and help others where they can. In addition, they love social relationships and are often in contact with many different people.

Inferiority and superiority complex

One of the central pieces of Adler's theory was the concept of the "inferiority complex." It is a set of feelings that lead a person to believe that they are not up to the task or that they are worse than others, in addition to developing low self-esteem.

The inferiority complex is often unconscious, and often leads individuals to "overcompensate." This can cause so much that very difficult objectives are reached, or that antisocial behaviors are produced.

The inferiority complex occurs when the natural feelings of being worse than the rest are intensified in a person due to personal failures or external criticism. However, according to Adler everyone has it to some extent; And in fact, this psychologist believed that he was the main engine of the world, leading people to fight for their goals.

On the other hand, Adler also believed that in many cases the inferiority complex could end up producing one of superiority. In this case, the person would act in such a way that she would try to attract the attention of others, and would try to be above the rest to feel better than the rest of the individuals around her.

However, in reality this way of acting would not start from a good self-esteem, but would be a strategy to hide one's own feelings of inferiority and pain. If the person is able to solve their inferiority complex, their need to be above the rest would end up disappearing by itself.

Other contributions

After distancing himself from Freud's psychoanalytic school, Adler achieved considerable success and created his own psychological current, known today as "Adlerian." For more than 25 years he traveled all over the world teaching classes and training many students, with the aim of ending up supplanting the rest of the currents or at least equaling them in importance.

Adler's main goal in terms of his psychology was to overcome the inferiority / superiority dynamic that he believed was present in therapy. In addition, he investigated the best ways not only to fix psychological disorders once they were present, but to prevent them and prevent them from showing up in the first place.

Some of Adler's therapeutic strategies included fostering people's social relationships, educating individuals to counter punishments and over-caring, and promoting optimism and a pragmatic view of problems.

On the other hand, Alfred Adler believed that all people had to face three fundamental tasks throughout their lives: creating a good relationship with a partner, achieving work success, and forming healthy friendships and social relationships.

Plays

Alfred Adler had a very prolific career, publishing a large number of articles, books, and magazines. Among his most important works are the following:

- The practice and theory of individual psychology (1927).

- Understanding human nature (1927).

- What life could mean to you (1931).

- The pattern of life (1930).

- The science of living (1930).

- The problems of neurosis (1930).

References

1. "Alfred Adler Biography" in: VeryWell Mind. Retrieved on: October 25, 2019 from VeryWell Mind: verywellmind.com.
2. "About Alfred Adler" at: Adler University. Retrieved on: October 25, 2019 from Adler University: adler.edu.
3. "Alfred Adler Biography" in: Good Therapy. Retrieved on: October 25, 2019 from Good Therapy: goodtherapy.com.
4. "Alfred Adler" in: Britannica. Retrieved on: October 25, 2019 from Britannica: britannica.com.
5. "Alfred Adler" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: October 25, 2019 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.