5-1 Theory Assignment.docx - 5-1 Theory Outline Worksheet...

5-1 Theory Outline Worksheet: Adlerian Theory
Southern New Hampshire University

Title of Theory
a. Adlerian Theory
II. Associated Theorists
a. Who originated the theory?
i. Alfred Adler
b. Who are the primary contributors to the theory through its history?
i. Sigmund Freud
III. Identifying Characteristics
a. Explanation for Personality Development
i. Nature or Nurture
1. The importance of social, family, and cultural influences. (Parsons
& Zhang 2014)
2. People are neither exclusively preprogrammed by genetics nor
solely shaped by environment; they are influenced by both.
(Parsons & Zhang 2014)
3. He emphasized the importance of social interest
(gemeinschaftsgefühl), an internal feeling of connectedness to
others and their well-being, to the well-being of the individual.
(Parsons & Zhang 2014)
ii. What additional forces promote personality development in a human
being?
1. He believed in the creativity of the individual, influenced, but not
firmly shaped, by heredity and the environment; his approach has
been described as “soft determinism” as opposed to “hard
determinism” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956)
2. Because people are socially embedded in their needs and identity,
the goals that a person pursues and the behaviors, attitudes, and
convictions a person dis-plays are seen as directly related to the
innate desire to enhance oneself within a social context. (Parsons
& Zhang 2014)
3. Stages of Adlerian Therapy (Parsons & Zhang 2014)
a.
Engagement; A trusting therapeutic relationship is built
between the therapist and the person in therapy and they
agree to work together to effectively address the problem
b. Assessment: The therapist invites the individual to speak
about his or her personal history, family history, early
recollections, beliefs, feelings, and motives. This helps to
reveal the person's overall lifestyle pattern, including
factors that might initially be thought of as insignificant or
irrelevant by the person in therapy.

c. Insight: The person in therapy is helped to develop new
ways of thinking about his or her situation.
d. Reorientation: The therapist encourages the individual to
engage in satisfying and effective actions that reinforce this
new insight, or which facilitate further insight
b. Explanation for Problem/Issue Development
i. The family is the fi rst social group that children encounter, one’s attempt
to stake out psychological “territory” in reaching self-signifi cance or
belonging in this fi rst social group has implications for how individuals
assume roles in later nonfamily groups (Carlson, Watts, & Maniacci,
2006)
ii. Adlerians consider the importance of birth order, but view the