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Newsletter del Centro de Estudios Adlerianos

The Newsletter from the Center of Adlerian Studies

Publicado por/Published by: Centro de Estudios Adlerianos Center of Adlerian Studies Edicin Centeneario Centenary Edition Abril de 2011/ April 2011 Montevideo-Uruguay ISSN: 1688-7948

www.centroadleriano.org E-mail: psicoterapias@centroadleriano.org

Cada artculo es responsabilidad exclusiva de su autor Every Article is the sole responsibility of the author

Nota del editor / Editor's note: En esta edicin de homenaje al centenario de la Psicologa Individual, nos acompaan destacados representantes del movimiento adleriano mundial / In this edition tribute of the centenary of Individual Psychology, with us leading representatives of the world Adlerian movement

Copyright by Centro de Estudios Adlerianos, Montevideo - Uruguay ISSN: 1688-7948

ndice / Index
Orientacin adleriana a jvenes en situacin de fracaso educativo / 5 Adlerian counseling to youth at risk of secondary education failure 9 Andrs Buschiazzo Figares

Comment nous lisons Adler en France 13 Franois Compan

The Perfect Love Dyada 21 Ramona Covrig

El parkinson en el estilo de vida: presentacin desde una tcnica proyectiva grupal / 27 The part of Parkinson in Lifestyle: presenting a group projection technique 29 Paula Dodera

Adlerian Psychology and Social Equality 31 Eva Dreikurs Ferguson

El sntoma / 33 The symptom 36 Yar Hazn

Raising kidsa challenge or a deception? 39 Willy Hoekstra

Individual Psychology: to the Next 100 Years 45 Guy J. Manaster, Ph.D.

Using The Number One Priority and Sensory Type to Understand Life Style in the Group Workshop 49 Hironori Nakajima

La adolescencia hoy / 59 Adolescence today 61 Adriana Naso

Newsletter Article Adler 63 Alyson Schafer

HAPPILY EVER AFTER: A PRACTICE EXPERIENCE FOR FAMILY COUNSELORS, THERAPISTS AND EVEN THEIR CLIENTS! 65 Diana Snyder / Al Milliren

LA NASCITA DELLA SOCIETA PER LA LIBERA RICERCA PSICOANALITICA 72 Ugo Sodini

The roots of Adlerian identity / 80 Le radici dellidentit adleriana 84 Michael Titze

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER 87 FRANCIS X. WALTON

VOLUNTAD E INFERIORIDAD 91 Alberto Zurrn

Orientacin adleriana a jvenes en situacin de fracaso educativo


Andrs Buschiazzo Figares

Pensar en clave adleriana la situacin de la enseanza secundaria en el Uruguay es pensar ante todo en su situacin poltica, social y econmica. En el Uruguay, segn datos obtenidos en 2009 por la Encuesta de Hogares Ampliada del Instituto Nacional de Estadstica, los estudiantes entre las edades de los 15 y los 17 aos son los que abandonan la educacin formal, aumentado an ms la desercin en aquellos jvenes que provienen de contextos socio-econmicos crticos. Otro de los aportes que revela la encuesta fue que hasta los 14 aos la asistencia a centros educativos es alta y casi homognea en todos los sectores. Por otra parte, Uruguay posee los indicadores ms bajos del Mercosur de egresos en ciclo bsico y superior de secundaria. El 48,1% de las personas con 15 o ms aos de edad no logran concluir la educacin secundaria bsica. Mientras que en el Paraguay ese porcentaje alcanza el 41,4%, en Argentina el 38% y en Brasil el 33,5%. Como lo indica el informe, esta mala performance de Uruguay para completar los ciclos de enseanza secundaria ha sido atribuida, al menos en parte, a niveles altos de repeticin, rezago acumulado y alta desercin (Cardozo, 2008) (Instituto Nacional de Estadstica (INE), pg. 98). Sin embargo, el porcentaje de los uruguayos sin ninguna educacin es el menor de la regin con un 1,3%, al tiempo que le sigue Argentina con un 1,4%, Paraguay con un 2,9% y por ltimo, Brasil con un 8,7%. Asimismo el estudio seal que el porcentaje de personas con estudios terciarios completados o no de Uruguay, est por detrs del argentino, es aproximadamente igual al paraguayo, y mayor que el brasileo (Instituto Nacional de Estadstica (INE), pg. 99). En tal ocasin los porcentajes son: Argentina 27,4%; Uruguay 17,2%; Paraguay 16,4%; Brasil 13,6%. Esta situacin de fracaso en la educacin formal en los adolescentes uruguayos, hace pensar sobre la vital importancia de introducir a la enseanza primaria y secundaria las ideas propuestas por Adler y continuadores, en lo que respecta a la educacin social del individuo. Principalmente sobre los procedimientos de psicoterapia y asesoramiento adleriano orientados ambos a la salud y la educacin y no a as, como el modelo psicolgico y mdico clsico, a la enfermedad. Las diferencias entre ambos procedimientos estn claramente explicadas en la expresin de Rudolf Dreikurs formar para el comportamiento prctico es misin de la educacin y del consejo; modificar la estructura de la personalidad lo es de la psicoterapia (Rudolf Dreikurs en Erich Stern y colaboradores, 1965, pg. 75). La poltica compensatoria tal como la de pagar o re-compensar monetariamente al estudiante que apresta a dejar de estudiar, con la finalidad de que asista a clases y cumpla con las tareas en tiempo y forma, no garantiza el desarrollo psicosocial integral de la persona. Ya que contribuye a que el adolescente se torne dependiente de los premios (en este caso econmico) en detrimento del inters social y al mismo tiempo, necesite consecutivamente de la valoracin externa. La teora adleriana, fue desde un principio, un sistema (Sigmund Freud, 1970, pg. 813) que combina elementos sociolgicos, mdicos y psicolgicos sustentados por un modelo ecolgico y tico de abordar al individuo en comunidad y pretende promover autonoma, independencia y responsabilidad social. Al tiempo que parte desde un enfoque preventivo en factores de riesgo y promotor de salud. El cambio, meta de todo intento de prevenir es, ante

todo, social y educativo en un sentido amplio, mientras que el principal protagonista del cambio es el sujeto en cuestin. El objetivo de la psicologa adleriana es la adaptacin social del individuo. ste se construye ineludiblemente en un contexto social y es en el mismo donde el individuo orienta sus objetivos de vida. La educacin es el medio por el cual se orienta y se prepara al nio para las tres grandes tares de la vida. Adler siempre expres que todos los asuntos de la vida permanecen subordinados a los tres problemas capitales de la vida humana (vida social profesin amor). Y una cuarta tarea es la del arte, formulada por la bigrafa de Alfred Adler, Phyllis Bottome (Alfred Adler Apstol de la Libertad, 1952). Estos problemas vitales o tareas se encuentran intrnsecamente relacionados y requieren para su correspondiente solucin un adecuado grado de sentimiento de comunidad. La forma con que el individuo resuelva ms o menos cada uno de los respectivos problemas, expresa de alguna manera el estilo personal de vida, es decir la tcnica de vida con la cual afronta los obstculos del mundo interior y exterior. El hombre, en tanto que producto de nuestro planeta, desde el punto de vista de su relacin csmica, no ha podido desarrollarse y conservarse sino en contacto ntimo con la comunidad, gracias a la continua asistencia fsica y espiritual prestada por sta; a su aplicacin, a la divisin del trabajo y a la debida multiplicacin (Alfred Adler, 1959, pg. 60). Los jvenes siempre necesitaron y obtuvieron orientacin de un modo u otro. Cuando la sociedad era mucho menos tecnolgica, sofisticada y compleja, los padres y las familias con la ayuda de los sacerdotes, maestros y profesores, podan proporcionar cierta orientacin. Sin embargo, la sociedad actual ha adquirido inconmensurable complejidad por lo que muchas veces ni los padres ni los profesores pueden cubrir la demanda que realizan los adolescentes en cuanto a su orientacin vocacional. Tampoco los ritos de iniciacin, que funcionaron en otro tiempo para obtener respuestas en los momentos crticos de la vida, son tenidos en cuenta en la actualidad como modos de sostener y acompaar al individuo por los perodos vitales de transicin. La iniciacin del joven adulto - dentro de una creadora actitud frente a la responsabilidad social - resulta complicada por el hecho de que nuestra era ha desterrado todo rito de iniciacin al acentuar los valores de la juventud sobre los valores de la madurez () Mientras contina fomentando la libertad y fuerza creadora de la juventud, nuestra era necesita descubrir tambin la productividad ms poderosa y el uso inteligente de la libertad, reservados a la madurez (Fritz Knkel y Ruth Gardner, 1950, pg. 305). De acuerdo con lo formulado por Fritz Knkel y Ruth Gardner en el libro El consejo psicolgico En los momentos cruciales de la vida, el arte de aconsejar tuvo un desarrollo tardo como actividad especfica, estando durante siglos reservado al maestro, al sacerdote y al mdico. Los maestros han aconsejado sobre sus alumnos, a los padres de estos alumnos. Los sacerdotes han dirigido la formacin religiosa de sus feligreses. Los mdicos han advertido o sugerido siempre a sus pacientes determinados cambios en su modo de vida (Fritz Knkel y Ruth Gardner, 1950, pg. 49). Fue Alfred Adler el pionero en proponer a la educacin formal herramientas prcticas y efectivas para formar hombres capaces de actuar con independencia en la vida. Fue tal su preocupacin, que lo llev a establecer los primeros consultorios escolares y educativos en Europa como forma de solucionar los problemas relacionados con la educacin y la socializacin en poca de posguerra (primera Guerra Mundial). A su vez, foment la creacin de escuelas no formales para psiclogos, trabajadores sociales, mdicos y padres que quisieran capacitarse y experimentar por s mismos los principios adlerianos. La primera escuela de verano, diseado por Sophie

Lazarsfeld, se llev a cabo bajo la direccin de Alfred Adler, en los Alpes austracos en el verano de 1932. En esta escuela de verano el trabajo y el ocio se unen de forma natural. El Gemeinscheftsgefhl se puso a prueba otra vez de manera muy directa. Rudolf Dreikurs, que estaba con ellos desde el principio, tom esta idea en los aos sesenta, despus de emigrar a los EE.UU y por lo tanto cre ICASSI, que se desarroll como una institucin tpica adleriana (Titze, 1993 pg. 4). Los autores anteriormente citados sealan que el consejero de orientacin profesional, pongamos por ejemplo, no solamente habr de conocer las condiciones, las exigencias y perspectivas de las diversas profesiones, sino que, ante todo, ha de saber aconsejar. Si asume una excesiva responsabilidad, perjudicar con ello a su aconsejado. Si la hace gravitar totalmente sobre ste, le har que cargue con un lastre que no podr sobrellevar. Su cometido estriba en ensearle a elegir profesin. Pero ensear, aqu, no se limita a una enseanza terica, sino a ayudarle a superarse, a encontrarse a s mismo, a descubrir sus posibilidades y ajustarlas a las necesidades exigidas por nuestra civilizacin. El consejero ha de ser siempre un verdadero educador y un gua capaz de orientar al individuo hacia el concepto de la propia responsabilidad (Fritz Knkel y Ruth Gardner, 1950, pg. 50). La orientacin educacional que realice el psiclogo adleriano en el campo de la educacin est caracterizada por dos tipos de intervenciones psico educativas. Ante de continuar con los tipos de intervenciones, es pertinente aclarar que todo profesional adleriano tiene como principio rector respetar la singularidad de cada persona a quien dirige sus servicios, de manera que siempre pueda decidir por s misma la conveniencia o no de tal intervencin. Un tipo de intervencin, denominada asesoramiento directo, implica que el psiclogo adleriano trabaje directamente con el estudiante proyecto a desertar de la educacin formal en los aspectos psicolgicos, vocacionales y sociales. Adems, puede ensearse a los padres mtodos educativos nuevos y democrticos. El propsito de este tipo de intervencin versa sobre la resolucin de problemas concretos, ya sea en el individuo o en el seno de la familia. Este abordaje no constituye una situacin de psicoterapia adleriana propiamente dicha. La psicoterapia, es muy recomendada en casos especiales e involucra recursos tericos - tcnicos especficos as como de tiempos y espacios particulares. El comn denominador de ambos procedimientos est determinado por el enfoque educativo del trabajo a desarrollar. Al respeto, Dreikurs acento expresamente, que la psicoterapia es en el fondo un proceso pedaggico en el cual no slo la lgica privada, sino tambin valores sociales desalentadores tienen que ser reflejados (Michael Titze, 2009). Contina una cita de Dreikurs, el consejo psicolgico, a diferencia del psicoterapeuta, puede y debe dar efectivamente consejos. Todos pueden y tienen que aprender a saber lo que hacen y lo que podran hacer para resolver sus problemas interhumanos (Rudolf Dreikurs en Erich Stern y colaboradores, 1965, pg. 81). En ltima instancia es el sujeto el responsable de elegir y decidir sobre su destino final. El asesor no puede ni debe persuadir sobre esta decisin, pero s orientar y alentar hacia el sentimiento de comunidad (Gemeinscheftsgefhl). Otro tipo de intervencin es el asesoramiento indirecto, el psiclogo adleriano en este caso informa de sus conocimientos a los profesionales y no profesionales interesados en aprender sobre el enfoque adleriano aplicado al mbito educativo. Estas personas han de obtener una formacin bsica sobre los principios de la psicologa profunda teleolgica que explican el comportamiento humano impartido mediante cursos, talleres, seminarios, demostraciones y conferencias.

Quisiera terminar el presente artculo con un extracto del discurso conmemorativo de la doctora Lydia Sicher, pues que de forma clara y llana refleja el sentido vivo de la obra de Alfred Adler: Cuando en alguna parte de la China se pega a un nio - observ un da Adler -, entonces se nos debe culpar a nosotros, pues ello demuestra que no hemos trabajado con bastante ahnco; si en alguna parte existen personas que son antisociales y no cooperan, entonces todos somos responsables conjuntamente, pues bien sabemos cun fcilmente surgen errores en la infancia que deforman el mundo para el nio y le privan de colocarse junto a otras personas. Slo en el caso de que hayamos hecho todo cuanto nos sea dable para colaborar en el desarrollo de la vida, y hayamos trabajo por el bienestar de la humanidad, slo entonces habremos cumplido con nuestro deber! (Phyllis Bottome, 1952, pg. 345). Bibliografa Alfred Adler: La psicologa individual y la escuela, Editorial Losada. S.A. Buenos Aires, 1947 (Individualpsycologie in der Schule: Vorlesungen fr Lehrer und Erziecher, Leipzig, [1929]) Alfred Adler: Comprender la vida, Editorial Paids Ibrica, S.A., Barcelona, 1999 (Understanding Life, Oxford, [1927]) Adler, Alfred: El sentido de la vida, Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1959 (Der Sinn des Lebens, [1935]) Heinz. L, Ansbacher y Rowena R, Ansbacher: La Psicologa Individual de Alfred Adler, Ediciones Troquel. Buenos Aires.1959 (The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Burlington, Vermont [1956]) Phyllis Bottome: Alfred Adler Apstol de la Libertad, Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1952 Sigmund Freud: Historia del movimiento psicoanaltico, Editorial Santiago Rueda, Buenos Aires, 1970. (Schriften zur Geschichte der Psychoanalyse [1914-1916]) Instituto Nacional de Estadstica (INE): Principales Resultados 2009. Encuesta Continua de Hogares, Uruguay, 2009. En:
http://www.ine.gub.uy/biblioteca/ech/ech2009/PrincipalesResultados_%202009_Totalv12.pdf

Fritz Knkel y Ruth Gardner: El consejo Psicolgico En los momentos cruciales de la vida. Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1950. [What do you advise? A guide to the art of counseling] Erick Stern: La psicoterapia en la actualidad, Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, 1965 (Die Psychotherapie in der Gegenwart, Rasher Verlag, Zrich, [1958]) Michael Titze: Gli Adleriani in cerca di identit, Revista de Psicologia Individuale N. 33: 39 48, 1993. En: http://www.centroadleriano.org/publicaciones/rivista2.pdf Michael Titze: Rudolf Dreikurs -el hombre http://www.centroadleriano.org/Dreikurs_Titze.html y su obra-, 2009. En:

Adlerian counseling to youth at risk of secondary education failure


Andrs Buschiazzo Figares

When we think about the Uruguayan secondary raise situation with an Adlerian point of view, we think about its economic, social and political situation. In Uruguay, some researches showed that teenagers between 15 and 17 years old tend to quite the formal education, increasing the desertion of those teenagers who came from low socio-economic contexts. Other information revealed in the survey, says that until the 14 the assistance to educational centers is high and almost homogeneous in all the branches. On the other hand, Uruguay has the lowest indicators of graduated people in basic and superior secondary raise in the Mercosur. 48,1% of the people with 15 or more years old cannot culminate basic secondary education. While in Paraguay that percentage represents the 41,4%, in Argentina that number rounds in the 38% and in Brazil the 33,5%. As the survey shows, this poor performance of Uruguay to complete secondary education cycles has been attributed, at least in part, to high levels of repetition and high dropout accumulated backlog (Cardozo, 2008) (National Estadistic Insitute (INE), pg. 98). However, the percentage of Uruguayan people without education is the lowest in the zone with the 1,3%, the following country is Argentina with the 1,4%, then Paraguay with the 2,9% and in last place Brazil with the 8,7%. The research also indicated that the percentage of people with tertiary education - completed or not from Uruguay is behind the Argentinean one, it is approximately equal to the Paraguayan percentage, and higher than the Brazilian one (National Estadistic Insitute (INE), pg. 99). In each case the percentages were: Argentina 27,4%; Uruguay 17,2%; Paraguay 16,4%; Brasil 13,6%. This failure in Uruguayan adolescents formal education, suggests the vital importance of introducing the Adler and followers ideas at the primary and secondary education, to the social education of the individual. Mainly on psychotherapy and counseling procedures Adlerian oriented both to health and education, not so, as the psychological and classic medical model, disease. The differences between the two procedures are clearly explained in Rudolf Dreikurs words: "form to the practical behavior is the mission of education and advice, to modify the structure of personality is the goal of the psychotherapy (Rudolf Dreikurs in Erich Stern y colaboradores, 1965, pg. 75). The compensatory policy such as pay or reward the student with money with the intention of leaving school, in order to let him/her to attend to the class and fulfill the tasks in a timely manner does not guarantee the psychosocial development of the individual. That is because it helps the teen to become dependent to the rewards (in this case a economic one) at the expense of social interest and also need external assessment consecutively. "Adlerian theory was a system from the beginning" (Sigmund Freud, 1970, pg. 813) that combines sociological, medical and psychological elements supported by an ecological and ethical approach to the individual in community and aims to promote autonomy, independence and social responsibility. While part of a preventive approach in risk factors and health promoter. The change, the goal of any attempt to prevent is, above all, social and educational in a broad sense, while the main protagonist of change is the person affected.

The goal of the Adlerian psychology is the individual's social adjustment. This inevitably builds in a social context and that is the place where the individual directs their life goals. Through education the child is oriented and prepared for the three most important life tasks. Adler always said that life business are always subordinated to the three major problems of human life (social life - profession - love). And a fourth task is the art made by Alfred Adlers the biographer, Phyllis Bottome (Alfred Adler, Apostle of Freedom, 1952). These vital problems or tasks are intrinsically linked and require a sense of community for their appropriate solution. The way in which the individual solves at least most of the problems, somehow expresses the personal style of life, i.e. the art of life that the person uses to face interior and exterior world obstacles. "Man, as a product of our planet, from its cosmic relationship point of view has been able to develop and keep itself with an intimate contact with the community, thanks to continued physical and spiritual assistance provided by this contacts; its application, division of work and caused proliferation (Alfred Adler, 1959, pg. 60). In one way or another, young people have always needed and received orientation. When society was much less technological, sophisticated and complex, parents and families could provide all the necessary guidance with help from the priests and teachers. However, modern society has become so complex that sometime neither parents nor teachers can meet the demand made by teenagers about their vocational guidance. Neither the initiation rites, which were used to obtain answers at the critical moments at one time, are considered now as a way to support and attend the individual in the vital transition periods. The young adult initiation within a creative attitude in font of the social responsibility - is complicated because our era has banished all initiation rites by emphasizing the values of youth over the maturity ones (...) While it continues promoting the youths freedom and creative power, our age also needs to find a most powerful productivity and a smart use of liberty, reserved for adulthood (Fritz Kunkel and Ruth Gardner, 1950, pg. 305). According to Fritz Kunkel and Ruth Gardner in the book The psychological advice in the crucial moments in life, the art of counseling was a late development as a specific activity, being restricted to the master, the priest and the doctor for centuries. Teachers have advised the students parents about their sons. The priests have followed their parishioners religious education. Doctors have warned their patients about certain lifestyle to follow (Fritz Kunkel and Ruth Gardner, 1950, pg. 49). Alfred Adler was the pioneer who proposed practical and effective tools to the formal education in order to make men capable enough of acting independently in life. Such concern led him to establish early education and school offices in Europe as a way of solving problems related to education and socialization in post-war era (World War I). At the same time he fostered the creation of non-formal schools for psychologists, social workers, doctors and parents interested on receive training and experience with the Adlerian principles. The first summer school, designed by Sophie Lazarsfeld, was conducted under the direction of Alfred Adler, in the Austrian Alps in the summer of 1932. In this summer school work and leisure come together naturally. The Gemeinscheftsgefhl was strongly tested again. Rudolf Dreikurs, who was with them from the beginning, took this idea in the sixties, after emigrating to the U.S. and therefore he created ICASSI, developed as a typical Adlerian institution (Titze, 1993 pg. 4). The aforementioned authors note that For example, the professional orientation counseling, not only will know the conditions, requirements and perspectives of different professions, but above all must know how to advise. If you assume too much responsibility, your advised could be hurt because of that. If it makes completely gravitate over it, you will bear a burden that you will not be

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able to cope. Its mission is to teach how to choose a profession. But teaching is not merely theoretical instruction here, it is also help to improve, to find himself, to discover his potential and adjust it to the needs required by our civilization. The counselor must always be a true educator able enough to guide the individual to the personal responsibility concept (Fritz Kunkel and Ruth Gardner, 1950, pg. 50). The educational orientation performed by the Adlerian psychologist in the field of education is characterized by two psycho-educational types of interventions. Before proceeding with the types of interventions, it is important to clarify that every Adlerian professional principle is to respect the uniqueness of each person who receives its services, so that the person can always decide for themselves most appropriate intervention. One type of intervention, called direct counseling, implies that the Adlerian psychologist works directly with the student project to drop out from the formal education in the psychological, vocational and social aspects. In addition, parents can learn new educational and democratic methods. The purpose of this type of intervention concerns the resolution of specific problems, either the individual or within the family. This approach is not the case of an Adlerian psychotherapy itself. Psychotherapy is recommended in special cases and involves theoretical and technical resources and also particular time and space. The common denominator of both procedures is determined by the educational focus used to work to be done. Respect, Dreikurs accentuated that psychotherapy is basically a pedagogic process where not only the private logic must be reflected, but also social disappointing values (Michael Titze, 2009). Continues a quote from Dreikurs, psychological counseling, unlike the psychotherapist, can and should effectively give advice. Everyone can and must learn to know what they do and what they could do to solve their interhuman problems (Erich Rudolf Dreikurs in Stern et al, 1965, pg. 81). Ultimately the person is responsible for choosing and deciding on their final destination. The counselor can not be persuaded on this decision, but to guide and encourage the sense of community (Gemeinscheftsgefhl). Another type of intervention is indirect counseling, Adlerian psychologist in this case reports of his/her knowledge to professionals and amateurs interested on learning about the Adlerian approach applied to education. These people must receive basic training about the principles of "depth teleological psychology" to explain human behavior taught through courses, workshops, seminars, demonstrations and conferences. Let me end this article with an excerpt from the Dr. Lydia Sicher commemorating speech, because that clearly reflects the living sense of Alfred Adler work: One day Adler observed, that when in any part of China a child is stroked then we should blame ourselves, because this shows that we have not worked hard enough, if somewhere there are people who are antisocial and do not cooperate, then we are all jointly responsible, because we know how easily errors occur in childhood that distort the childrens world and deprive others put together. Only if we have done everything that is possible to collaborate on life development, and we work for the humanitys welfare, then well accomplish our duty!" (Phyllis Bottome, 1952, pg. 345).

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References Alfred Adler: La psicologa individual y la escuela, Editorial Losada. S.A. Buenos Aires, 1947 (Individualpsycologie in der Schule: Vorlesungen fr Lehrer und Erziecher, Leipzig, [1929]) Alfred Adler: Comprender la vida, Editorial Paids Ibrica, S.A., Barcelona, 1999 (Understanding Life, Oxford, [1927]) Adler, Alfred: El sentido de la vida, Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1959 (Der Sinn des Lebens, [1935]) Heinz. L, Ansbacher y Rowena R, Ansbacher: La Psicologa Individual de Alfred Adler, Ediciones Troquel. Buenos Aires.1959 (The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Burlington, Vermont [1956]) Phyllis Bottome: Alfred Adler Apstol de la Libertad, Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1952 Sigmund Freud: Historia del movimiento psicoanaltico, Editorial Santiago Rueda, Buenos Aires, 1970. (Schriften zur Geschichte der Psychoanalyse [1914-1916]) Instituto Nacional de Estadstica (INE): Principales Resultados 2009. Encuesta Continua de Hogares, Uruguay, 2009. En:
http://www.ine.gub.uy/biblioteca/ech/ech2009/PrincipalesResultados_%202009_Totalv12.pdf

Fritz Knkel y Ruth Gardner: El consejo Psicolgico En los momentos cruciales de la vida. Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1950. [What do you advise? A guide to the art of counseling] Erick Stern: La psicoterapia en la actualidad, Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, 1965 (Die Psychotherapie in der Gegenwart, Rasher Verlag, Zrich, [1958]) Michael Titze: Gli Adleriani in cerca di identit, Revista de Psicologia Individuale N. 33: 39 48, 1993. En: http://www.centroadleriano.org/publicaciones/rivista2.pdf Michael Titze: Rudolf Dreikurs -el hombre http://www.centroadleriano.org/Dreikurs_Titze.html y su obra-, 2009. En:

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Comment nous lisons Adler en France


Franois Compan

Le sentiment dinfriorit et le sentiment social, sont les deux ides les plus connues dans la pense dAlfred Adler. Ces deux lments participent la formation du style de vie. Lorsque le sentiment dinfriorit nest pas compens par le developpement harmonieux du sentiment social la formation du style de vie comporte des erreurs qui se manifestent par des difficults pour faire face aux problmes poss par la vie en la socit. La pense dAdler ne se rsume pas ces notions. La lecture de son uvre montre, partir des cas cliniques, quil apprhande ses patients avec le point de vue de lanalyse systmique. Les exemples quil dcrit, sont trs brefs. En quelques lignes il rsume une histoire qui demanderait des dizaines de pages. Il ne procede pas comme Freud qui dcrit longuement les histoires de ses patients. Nous pouvons le constater avec les cinq psychanalyses. Et pourtant Adler aborde brievement, mais de maniere tres complete les differents aspects de la vie de ses patients. A propos du conflit mre-fille, il crit dans Le temprament nerveux : Son attitude lgard de sa fille etait totalement inconsciente et servait, pour ainsi dire, de couverture une ligne dorientation infantile: au dsir de dpasser une sur que ses parents avaient gate lexcs. Mais cette derniere ligne dorientation se montra, son tour, quivalente la ligne fondamentale, savoir au dsir dacqurir une importance plus grande, dtre la place du frre. Cet exemple montre clairement quAdler situe lindividu, par rapport une histoire qui comporte plusieurs gnrations. Notre travail a consist faire apparatre la dmarche systmique dans la pense dAdler laide dhypothses, qui permettent de comprendre do viennent ces conflits et comment ils se compliquent de gnration en gnration. Nous pouvons considrer Adler comme un pionnier de l'analyse systmique. Notre mthode permet rapidement de comprendre l'histoire qui menace d'aboutir un drame. Nous n'avons pas besoin d'couter nos patients pendant des heures pour comprendre son histoire. Un patient comprenant la logique de son style de vie, se sent dculpabilis et coopere plus facilement pour surmonter les problmes qu'il rencontre .Cette mthode nous oriente directement vers la prvention. Il est regretable que les Adleriens n'aient pas toujours compris cet aspect de la pense d'Adler qui exprime son gnie, et ouvre de nouvlles routes la medecine la suite de Pasteur, Claude Bernard, Fleming, et tant d'autres savants en avance sur leur poque. Que pouvons-nous faire pour aider une mre qui ne peut rester seule avec son garon g de 8 ans et qui voit arriver le temps des vacances scolaires avec terreur (Fig.5). Que pouvons-nous faire pour cette jeune mre d'une fillette de quelques mois qui peur de jeter son enfant par la fentre? (Fig.4) En appliquant les ides d'A.ADLER l'hpital psychiatrique dans une thrapie de groupe, nous avons t amen laborer des hypothses (2) de travail qui permettent d'envisager la logique d'une histoire qui conduit une mre vivre son enfant, ds sa naissance et parfois mme avant, comme un enfant du pre idalis protecteur (Dieu) ou comme un enfant du pre idalis perscuteur (Le Diable).Ces hypothses rassemblent des caractristiques souvent observes par les auteurs ayant travaill auprs des familles maltraitantes (3) : -confusion des rles, des gnrations et des sexes, secret familial, jeux d'alliances aboutissant des transgressions perverses.

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Ces manifestations sont les consquences des jeux d'alliances qui aboutissent aux transgressions des differences et des interdits du systme de parent. Dans cet expos, nous aborderons la premire hypothse concernant le vcu d'une mre la naissance de l'enfant. Le groupe de dpart comportait la prsence d'un schizophrne g de 20 ans (Christian), d'une jeune mre hospitalise pour une psychose puerprale (Marise), et d'une femme de 40 ans adresse l'hpital pour un pisode rotomaniaque (Madeleine). Leur gnogramme etait le suivant: Fg 1

Dans la famille de Maryse, nous constatons une relation mre-fils privilgie, comme cela apparat aussi dans la famille des parents de Christian, mme si lui n'en a pas bnfici. L'observation d'une relation mre-fils apparemment privilgie est frquente dans l'histoire des patients. Toute une littrature est l pour nous voquer l'importance de ce phnomne dans le destin individuel d'un grand nombre de femmes crivain, qu'il s'agisse de Marguerite DURAS (4), ou Gisle Halimi (Fritna) (5). "tre un fils", pour tre aim de sa mre et avoir les mmes privilges que l'homme, constitue, un facteur fondamental de la protestation virile chez la femme selon ADLER. Ce qui peut aussi se traduire par le dsir de prendre la place du frre, en ralisant les rves ou les ambitions maternelles, comme le raconte Gisle HALIMI dans son livre, "Fritna." Persuade qu'elle ne sera jamais un garon pour sa mre, une fille peut aussi fantasmer d'avoir un fils du pre comme quivalent de l'amour que la mre donne au fils. Cette problmatique etait clairement apparente chez Maryse, Et pourtant elle n'acceptait pas un enfant qu'elle semblait avoir dsir. Parfois ses propos laissaient penser qu'elle voulait occuper la place laisse vacante par son frre, en y plaant son propre fils. Ce qui permet d'voquer le tableau de Lonard de VINCI reprsentant Sainte ANNE, MARIE assise sur ses genoux et l'enfant Jsus jouant avec un agneau, qui symbolise son destin de victime. Les observations cliniques dADLER nous montre une approche qui tient compte d'un contexte culturel qui tend privilgier la relation Mre-fils. Dans le Temprament nerveux, il crit propos d'une patiente: Dans ses antcdents infantiles, on dcouvre un formidable sentiment d'infriorit, entretenu en tat de tension constante par la prfrence dont jouissait auprs de la mre un frre plus jeune qu'elle et par la supriorit intellectuelle de celui-ci. " Et il prcise: Le dsir le plus ardent de cette malade a toujours t d'tre un homme " en empruntant au Pre " les attitudes qui devaient l'aider raliser cet idal viril " Les concepts d'Adler ne sont jamais exposs sous une forme cohrente et systmatise. Sa lecture fait d'abord apparatre les notions telles que compensation du sentiment d'infriorit ou

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sentiment social comme les bases fondamentales de sa thorie. C'est partir des cas cliniques pars dans son oeuvre que nous pouvons mettre en vidence son approche systmique. Ces cas cliniques se prsentent comme des lments de puzzle que nos hypothses permettent de rassembler pour relier l'histoire et la et la formation du style de vie du sujet. En prsence d'un schizophrne qui tente de violer sa mre et d'une jeune maman qui menace son nouveau-n nous pressentons qu'il s'agit de deux cas de figures d'une mme histoire deux tapes diffrentes. Dans un cas, la structure psychotique de la mre se rvle ds la naissance de l'enfant vcu comme un danger pour elle. Dans l'autre cas, nous sommes en prsence d'une interaction mre enfant qui aboutit ralisation de cette menace sous la forme d'une tentative de viol incestueux. Mais comment une mre peut-elle tre conduit vivre son enfant comme un grave danger pour elle? C'est la prsence d'une personne hospitalise pour un pisode rotomaniaque (Madeleine) qui allait nous permettre de faire le lien. Cette femme ge d'une quarantaine d'annes se sentait perscute par son employeur, un avocat g de 60 ans. Elle tait persuade qu'il s'adressait elle par tlpathie pour lui exprimer ses sentiments, et lui faire prouver des sensations rotiques. Mais d'autre fois, elle l'entendait essayer de la convaincre de se prostituer pour payer ses dettes de jeux, et l il devenait franchement menaant. Son employeur tait vcu tantt comme protecteur, tantt comme perscuteur. Madeleine habitait avec sa grand-mre et vivait dans un climat de guerre permanente avec sa mre. Durant son hospitalisation, la mre avait demand que l'on lui retire toutes les photos de famille par peur qu'elle les utilise pour lui jeter un sort. Par la suite il fut possible d'avoir plus d'lments pour comprendre le climat de malveillance dans lequel Madeleine avait vcu son enfance, sans manifester de rvolte apparente. C'etait une enfant sage et sans histoire pour son entourage. l'aide du matriel clinique que nous apporte ADLER, il tait possible d'interpreter la relation de Madeleine avec son Protecteur/Perscuteur, comme un mcanisme de dfense contre une mauvaise mre archaque, selon la (FIG 2). Elle avait ensuite projet ce "Protecteur/perscuteur sur son employeur.

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-Dans un premier temps le pere idalis est fantasm comme un protecteur pour l'enfant, et perscuteur pour la mauvaise mre. Mais chez la femme adulte, le mme personnage devient la fois protecteur et perscuteur, ce qui constitue un facteur important de conflit et de rupture dans les couples, et ses enfants pourront tre des enfants protecteur (enfants de Dieu) ou du perscuteur (enfants du Diable). (Fig3). - Les enfants du protecteurs sont considrs comme ayant toutes les qualits, les lus, les prdestins.Ce sont parfois des enfants brillants et confiants dans leur destin. L'absence du pre entraine une fragilit de ces fils qui trouvent parfois dans l'homosexualit le dernier rempart contre la psychose.Les enfants du perscuteurs sont considrs comme porteurs de pulsions sadiques."Le bb de Rose Mary" d'Ira Levin illustre ce problme.Lorsque la mre reproduit avec son fils une relation privilgie, la petite fille va reproduire le mme schma que sa mre .Et ainsi la mre et la fille auront le mme scnario inconscient. Chacune voudra s'allier avec le protecteur, pour qu'il devienne le perscuteur de l'autre. Nous avons l la cause la plus importante du conflit mre-fille. Lorsque le pre prend partie pour la mre, le conflit peut aller jusqu' la maltraitance. Lorsque le pre prend partie pour la fille, c'est la mre, supplante, qui se prsente comme une femme dpressive. -Quand la femme craint son partenaire, vcu comme un perscuteur, elle se dtache de lui. Ce qui lui fait perdre son protecteur. Prive de son protecteur, la femme est alors menace par l'image de la mauvaise mre. Ce qui se traduit par le cycle: insomnie, angoisse, cancrophobie. Le retour auprs du perscuteur permet la femme de retrouver son protecteur et de voir disparaitre tous ses symptomes. C'est pour cette raison que la femme battue tend revenir vers son agresseur. -Il faut bien comprendre que ce mcanisme est inconscient et s'impose la volont de la mre, comme un vritable "virus psychique". Ainsi une mre peut rver que sa petite fille, age de deux mois, vient faire l'amour avec son mari pendant qu'elle dort. A cet age; la mre qui aime son enfant, peut ragir contre cette absurdit. Mais plus tard, lorsque l'enfant exprime son identification la mre, et son fantasme de la supplanter pour avoir un enfant de papa, la mre ne voit pas une enfant qui se construit en la prenant comme modle, mais une rivale qu'elle traite comme une adulte. C'est alors que le conflit peut devenir dangereux. La pluspart des prostitues ont t vcues comme des rivales, qui ont t, maltraites et incestes. Nous voyons l'importance de la prvention, qui peut dmarrer ds la naissance, et mme pendant la grossesse .Nous ne sommes plus comme Pasteur devant le problme d'un enfant mordu par un chien enrag. Le virus de la rage est remplac par un "virus psychique" qui se manifeste dans les relations de la famille, en dtruisant les liens.

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L'histoire de MARYSE et celle de MADELEINE nous permettent de comprendre l'volution d'une histoire, qui se droule sur plusieurs gnrations, pour aboutir cet enfant vcu comme un enfant de Dieu ou du Diable. Ce qui tait le cas de CHRISTIAN. Concernant l'enfant de Dieu, L'hypothse pourrait s'appliquer l'crivain Romain GARY (6) comme le suggre son roman " la Promesse de l'aube ", ou Saint Augustin (7) men sur le chemin de la foi par sa mre Monique. Le clinicien rencontre cependant plus souvent l'enfant du Diable. Roman Polanski a port l'cran le film d'Ira Levin (8) : " Rose Mary baby " qui illustre clairement ce phnomne clinique abondamment reprsent dans la littrature, mais aussi dans les faits divers, comme ce fut le cas pour Charles Manson, fils d'une jeune prostitue de 17 ans, et gourou d'une secte criminelle. Nous pouvons aussi voquer des aspects du dlire d'Antonin Artaud, qui signe ses textes 14 ans du nom de Louis des Atrides, lorsqu'il crit (9)1: " .Je m'tais trouv Bethlem une certaine nuit d'hiver et retrouvant le couple du crime qui s'appelait Marie et Joseph j'avais tu son enfant sa naissance mais si j'avais dtruit en lui tout ce qui provenait de ces manoeuvres occultes je n'avais pas pu tout de suite empcher la naissance d'un dmon qui me poursuivit toute sa vie avec son ide d'tre Jsus-Christ " Le tableau du CARAVAGE , "La vierge au serpent" exprime ce fantasme dlirant de l'enfant vcu en mme temps comme un enfant de Dieu et du diable .(Rome galerie Borghse).Ce thme dlirant ,qui associe Jesus-Christ avec un dmon ,est voqu par un tableau d'Odilon REDON, reprsentant une tte de Christ avec un corps de serpent. L'intuition exprime par la mre de RASKOLNIKOV, sur le destin de son fils, dans le roman de DOSTOEVSKI: " Crime et chtiment " " (10) traduit galement chez une mre le sentiment d'un drame prvisible, vcu comme une fatalit. Cette femme persuade que son fils sera un jour le plus grand savant du monde comprend d'un seul regard, que le destin tragique de son fils vient de se jouer. " Et si je pleure depuis si longtemps, cest que mon coeur de mre a pressenti le malheur. Ds que je t'ai vu l'autre soir, tu te rappelles, notre arrive Ptersbourg, j'ai tout devin ton seul regard et mon coeur de mre a frissonn " Bruno BETTELHEIM (11) cite le cas du jeune Harry que sa mre considrait comme "l'enfant le plus mchant du monde " alors que " sa premire soeur, ds, sa naissance fut reconnue comme l'enfant gentil "2 partir de ces hypothses, nous pouvons rapidement utiliser les quelques lments d'un premier entretien pour comprendre ce qui est sous tendu dans l'insomnie d'une jeune mre qui vit sa
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fillette ge de quelques mois comme une rivale dangereuse, ou la terreur de cette autre maman l'ide de se retrouver seule avec son garon g de 8 ans. Dans le premier cas (FIG4),

il s'agit d'une enfant inceste par le beau-pre, alli d'une mre incestigatrice. la naissance de sa fillette. Sa raction a pour but de se protger son tour contre une alliance pre-fille. Dans le second cas (FIG5),

nous sommes en prsence d'une rivale " victorieuse " qui a toujours pu s'imposer dans la famille, avec le soutien de son Pre. Aprs le suicide de sa mre, elle achve sa victoire par la conception d'un fils, vcu comme un enfant du Pre-idalis PERSECUTEUR, porteur de pulsions sexuelles sadiques. Ds sa naissance, la mre peut le craindre au point de vouloir le dtruire (Cas clinique No 2), alors que parfois ces pulsions finissent par s'exprimer dans un passage l'acte incestueux psychotique (Cas clinique No1), qui peut aussi aboutir un matricide. Retrouver dans son histoire le cheminement de cette construction qui conduit une mre vivre son enfant comme un enfant du perscuteur, c'est--dire du diable, permet ces mres d'aborder leur problme en se librant de leur culpabilit pour s'engager dans un travail de
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coopration qui va dans le sens de la prvention. C'est dans cette perspective de la prvention que nous devons nous engager pour dpasser les drames de la dlinquance et de la maltraitance. Dans une socit qui tend dvaloriser la femme, celle-ci aura tendance sexprimer travers un fils et le favoriser. Les ractions des autres membres vont avoir des consquences dans les relations de la famille. Le pre peut se sentir supplanter par son fils, comme sl tait supplanter par un frre plus jeune. Il peut aussi chercher une alliance avec sa fille. Comme la petite fille rve de prendre la place de maman et davoir un enfant de son pre, pre et fille peuvent former un couple dominant .Adler signale le cas dune adolescente qui avait russi attirer le pre de son ct, en devinant ses ides, et en prevenant ses dsirs. La mre ragira en cherchant dsamorcer lalliance pre-fille. - Ces ractions se droulent parfois sans drames. Mais dautres fois elles peuvent aboutir la matraitance ou la dlinquance. La premiere hypothse nest pas suffisante pour prciser ces volutions. Cest la pratique de la mdecine de ville qui a permis de prciser dautres facteurs intervenant intervenant dans les relalations familiales. Un enfant n dans une famille structure par un systme de parent qui donne chacun sa place et qui comporte des differences et des interdits: --- Differences de gnration, de sexe, et de position dans la fratrie. --- Interdit du cannibalisme, de linceste et du meurtre. Ce systme de parent est en quilibre avec des jeux dalliances. Le soir la maison le pre peut opter pour le choix du programme de tlvision de sa fille, si en contre partie elle soccupe de sortir le chien sa place. Ce nest pas parce que le pre est de lavis de sa fille pour le programme de tlvision, que la fille est autorise prendre la place de sa mre. Un autre jour la fille peut opter pour le choix des vacances de sa mre. Tant que les jeux dalliances sont en quilibre avec le systme de parent, les conflits sont rgls harmonieusement. Cest avec les enfants du pre-idalis-perscuteur, les enfants du diable, que les problmes vont commencer. Ces enfants sont considrs, dans linconscient des parents, ds la naissance, et mme pendant la grossesse, comme ceux qui vont transgresser les differences et les interdits. Ce sont eux qui vont etre encourags passer de lquilibre parent/alliances, aux transgressions. Ils peuvent devenir des dlinquants, etre maltraits, ou limins ds la naissance. Dans la famille de Christian le systme parent/alliance commence etre gravement dsquilibr. Maryse tait une enfant inceste, donc pouvant passer lacte plus facilement, avec un enfant vcu comme un enfant du perscuteur, donc diabolique. La mre de Madeleine avait supplant sa propre mre. Elle se sentait en danger avec une enfant diabolique qui pouvait lliminer. Le premier schma prcise comment se forment les acteurs. Le deuxieme schma indique les rgles des jeux qui peuvent aboutir aux transgressions. Prcisons que ces transgressions ne se font pas toujours de faon pathologique. Les transgressions peuvent tre sublimes dans toutes les formes de crations artistiques ou scientifiques. La cration est parfois un mode de gurison chez beaucoup dartistes que nous tudions dans nos sminaires. Le malade mental subi lemprise de processus psychiques inconscients, sans pouvoir prendre de distance. Lhomme quilibr parvient les surmonter. Le pervers comme le tyran les utilisent. Ce qui pose le problme sur la prvention autant chez lindividu, qu'au niveau collectf.

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BIBLIOGRAPHIE (1) ADLER. Alfred: Le temprament nerveux. Payot .1976 Le sens de la vie. Payot.1975 Connaissance de l'homme. Payot (2) COMPAN Franois -Psychologie individuelle compare Encyclopdie Medico-Chirurgicale 37813 A 10,5-1989 -Logique de la maltraitance In Les svices sexuels sur les enfants res .1999 (3) -SABOURIN Pierre: La violence impensable Nathan.1991 -BOURGUIGNON Odile: Mort des enfants et structures familiales PUF.1984 -MANCIAUX Michel et STRAUSS Pierre: Lenfant maltrait Editions Fleurus.1993 (4) DURAS marguerite: Lamant de la chine du nord. Poche (5) HALIMI Gisle Fritna Poche (6) GARY Romain: La promesse de l'aube. Poche (7) BROWN Peter: La vie de Saint Augustin. ditions du seuil.1967 (8) LEVIN Ira: Rose Mary Baby. Poche (9) ROUMIEUX Andr: ARTAUD et l'asile. Sguier .1996 (10) DOSTOIEVSKY TH: Crime et chtiment. Poche (11) BETTELHEIM Bruno: Evades de la vie. Poche. (12) O'NEIL : Le Deuil sied Electre (13) COCTEAU : Les parents terribles (14) LARS NOREN : Automne et hiver (15) Nicolas GENKA : L'pi Monstre (16)Arthur SCHNIZLER : Thrse, Mlle Else (17)Simone PETREMENT : Simone Weil (18)Viviane FORESTIER :Virginia Wolf (19)James Geoges FRAZER : Le rameau d'or (20)Jean claude CHESNAY : Histoire de la violence (21)Francois SAGAN : Bonjour tristesse (22)Tennessee WILLIAM: Soudain l't dernier

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The Perfect Love Dyada There is no perfect love, but this doesnt mean we cannot try to look for it.
Ramona Covrig

I have once read an article written by Alfred Adler, in the Journal of Individual Psychology, wherein there were some tips to reach the perfect love dyada. He believed that the secret of healthy relationships resided in the equality reports between the two partners. That is why the purpose of the Adlerian couple therapy is to help the couple learn how to regard the relationship from equal positions, how to find ways to co-operate in mutual respect and also considering the preservation of the person dignity. In a world of inequalities, such an objective sometimes seems impossible to reach. The rules stated by Alfred Adler, which could represent the basis for a harmonious couple relationship, are discussed below: 1. Dont look down your partner and dont look him or her up either; approach love as a pair (dont look for superiority but dont encourage inferiority either). Adler wrote that nobody stand in a position of inferiority. So when your partner is trying to make you feel insignificant, you will definitely want to get over this position, regardless of your compensatory behaviour (aggressivity, revenge, withdrawal, hard criticism, defense, nagging). In the couple relationship, there are ups and downs of both partners. Today it is going better for you, and then you notice that for a while your partner manages to recover and have progress. Sometimes this evolution may represent a reason for the partners anguish. One of the cases I remember was related to a woman who used to have panic attacks. In the last years of her relationship, her partner had a good professional progress and started making more money. He received a work car and had to travel with work outside the country while his wages doubled. You might think this should be a reason for joy and celebration for the couple, as it probably is in many cases. Not in this particular case! Ever since the mans professional evolution, the young woman has become scared, terrified -according to her sayings- by the fact that he might not like her anymore and might become aware of her numerous flaws. Among the existing myths, one of the suitbale ones is In virtue of my aim to feel I have a secure place in this relationship, I must hide, I must hide my real feelings. If you really knew me, you would not care about me any longer. The truth is the partner may already know her and nevertheless he cares about her. Soon, the woman developed a new fear, the fear of infidelity, and because she did not have the courage and freedom to open to her husband and tell him freely what she was going through and what her fears were, she chose the panic attacks to utter her declaration. Due to her worsening health condition, her husband had to take her to and back from work and thus, during weektime he was very busy taking care of her (when he was not gone abroad). They used to spend the weekends at home as the panic attacks were exacerbated in this period. What I wanted to point out by using this example is the effect the way you regard your partner may have. This young woman regarded her partner from a superiority position ans she felt comfortable within this relationship as long as he did not evolve. Ever since he had the first real success (a car, money and travelling abroad) the relationship was no longer perceived as comfortable. In any healthy couple relation, the partners evolve, they actually need to evolve and

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they should evolve! The dreams we have when entering our marriage must be honoured. The reaction should be of joy and not of worry. 2. Do not expect an impossible perfection from your partner, a perfection you are not capable of either; love a woman, not an angel, love a man, not a unicorn. One of the most frequent complaints of partners is that, while one of them sets rules in the house and makes sure the other obeys these rules just like a soldier, he/she doesnt comply with these rules himself/herself. A man was complaining the other day that after having a meal his wife keeps telling him off for the remaining crumbs. Then, he admits his mistake and tries to make up for it but later on, going to the kitchen, he finds his wifes cup of coffee dirty on the table and he asks himself the most righteos question:, How come she is asking me to keep things in order (disciplined) when herself is incapable of reaching the standards of her claim?. This topic is a frequent arguing reason of the couple partners and the pathological game they are playing is I am the leader and you must obey . Considering that he is tracking his wifes mistakes, the other game is I have debit, you have credit (J. Gottman). The message the autocratic partner is sending is You can join me in this relationship as long as you obey my rules and you overlook my mistakes and Rules are made to be observed by you and breached by me . Related to the above mentioned example, a possible explanation of this attitude could be that the woman earns a lot more money than her partner and most often, whoever has got the money also detains the power in the house. In democratic couples, it does not matter who earns the money, as long as the money serves the fulfillment of the common aspiration to welfare and prosperous life in the couple relationship. In those couples where one of the partners leads or is allowed to lead, the rule is Whoever brings the money home has got the power and may benefit of some prerogatives the other partner does not benefit of. This kind of relationship has got nothing to do with social interest and the feeling of love sharing and sometimes leads to divorce or to deviations out side the couple relationship. When you do not feel equal or significant in the relationship, you may get these from a one-night-stand relationship or from a long-term involving relationship. Adler recommends loving a woman not an angel, in particular when the woman does not even want that. I shall ilustrate this rule shortly relating the case of a discouraged couple. The partner had built around her the image of a special even spectacular woman. At first sight, the woman seemed to be quite common but the way he was depicting her made you think there must some truth in it. However, this positioning on a high pedestal was not accepted by the woman for too long and thus she did not miss the first occasion to declare herself earthly , confronting her partner with her flaws, too. His perception on her decline was the more disappointing as it had not been the first time a woman could not reach up his standards. My role as therapist was to help him clarify his behaviour pattern and to acknowledge that he had the tendency to find himself partners whom he would place at height so that he could admire them; subsequently, there is the discouragement meant to confirm to him that no woman can reach the standards he imposed and thus he obtains superiority towards the womankind as well as the possibility to start the game over and over again. His vision is the more absurd as he is himself unable to reach the moral perfection standards he imposes to his partner. From the very first therapy session the woman stated her being tired of the high position he had placed her on and said she had never wanted to be on such a position. Ever since the beginning of their relationship, she had felt his pressure upon her trying to control her cuisine preferences, intelectual and spiritual interests with the declared aim of helping her reach a certain level acceptable to him. His behaviour sometimes made her feel odd and wonder what was wrong about her.

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3. Do not think of you as one or two; think of you as a relationship, as a common dream. Soemtimes, people think that in a couple the partner must be like ONE. When the two partners go in the same direction, the relationship is functional. In the psychotherapeutical room, both partners should be present, for the entire relationship to be present. When one of them is missing, the other version is missing, too. The truth about a couple relationship is not complete without the subjectivity of both partners. However, when the two partners regard the relationship as a common dream and they strive for it and bring their common contribution to the couple life, then the relationship has got more chances of survival than when partners are too aware of the Me. When Me is above Us, each of the two partners first thinks of his or her own welfare/good, and then they think of the relationship welfare. Obviously, these two do not exclude each other , but when my personal needs come first before the couple needs, then the relationship loses. Take for instance the conflicts within a couple relationship and the partners desire to win the war. Perhaps, for a couple of minutes, the winning partner may feel he won, he had the last word, but still the greatest loser is the relationship. Before giving a fight even higher dimensions, ask yourself whether this argument is good for the couple relationship. If you feel the relationship is in danger, then get to the negotiations table. Anyway, by means of open conflicts you do not generally get something positive. Love and power cannot live together happily, so when there is a fight for power, love is weak. When partners treat and regard each other in equal terms, the conflicts may be solved by consensus. The two partners reach an agreement and they choose the best option, regardless of the idea initiator. Thus the couple welfare comes first, and not the individual success of either partner. 4. In love, do not receive without offering and do not offer without receiving. Alfred Adler described love as a construct based on physical and spiritual devotion, stating that we are not truly loved/lovers but when we learn that it takes TWO for love. Uneven relationships fail or at least they are not happy ones. When a partner offers and the other partner receives without offering anything at his turn, the former partner is on inferiority position and the latter feels he or she has got the power in the relationship. The best example for this rules are the life styles : the pleaser (the one who pleases) and the getter (the one who gets or is used to getting). In some marriages, women choose to be the pleaser, often doing too much for the partner and for the children, sometimes doing everything. The women become impossible to replace, they do all the hard work, no matter how hard it is, they do not complain, and most often, they do not even get reciprocity. They often say it is enough for them to see the others happy and they are happy if they to are able to serve the others. Their need of pleasing the others provides them an end-ofthe-list position in terms of importance. The message these women are sending is I do not matter. You matter more than me. When the message is perceived by the partner, paradoxically, this makes love intensity decrease- instead of making love and gratitude grow deeper- and the partner getting more love considers it only natural to get. Consequently, at a certain point, the getter will make less efforts to conquer the partners heart since he considers that she is already in his hands anyway. Sometimes, infidelity may occur. Some other times, the pleaser may stop as he or she feels exhausted. 5. Do not choose a partner who does not physically suit you, but do not take the risk of choosing your partner just by his or her appearance either. Choosing someone by his or her appearance may be a superficial gesture/action/behaviour, which might trigger certain difficulties in further relating. A man could choose a woman exclusively for her appearance and this quality may have priority to the other qualities. A woman who is both beautiful and intelligent does not fit within the standards of a man in search of a purely decorative partner. Her intelligence will mess up his future actions and any intellectual intervention from her part might cause him repulsion or the need to show her her place. Sometimes, the woman plays

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his game, too, in virtue of her desire to be involved in a relationship, initially pretending her beauty is her only quality, and later on, as the relationship grows fonder, she starts issuing new ideas, most often worthy considering. As the only thing the man wanted from the very beginning was an attractive, not so smart woman, he will subsequently protest strongly and will criticise any idea, no matter how intelligent this idea might be. Since it comes from the woman, the idea is not worthy considering as the person expressing it is not worthy considering. That is why, such a relationship shall be consumming for both partners. Both of them will constantly try to prove to the other partner that he or she is wrong, that he/she does not matter, that he/she is not capable of doing this or that. And it will not take long until conflicts burst and aggressivity openly manifests itself. In this situation, the woman may be the one looking for another relationship or she will slide towards an infidelity as she is on inferiority position. Choosing a physically unsuitable partner may also cause disturbance within the couple though you may wonder how it was possible for this relationship to actually start at all. Just for the two partners to become apart? Or for one of them to make sure that the unsuitable partner shall be always faithful or grateful for being chosen. Maybe Alfred Adler had in mind cases he had encountered in his time and these cases strengthened his rule. The world had a spectacular evolution, so in time I have met couples with phisically unsuitable partners and still they were just fine, creating a beautiful music! Neither worse nor better than other couples. However, many of the women patients who came to individual therapy were complaining they did not have the body and shapes desired by their partners, but they did not have these from the very beginning, right? How come, over night, the dissatisfaction suddenly occurred? A dissatisfaction which should have been manifested from the very beginning by the criticising partner. The other day, someone was confessing to me that the second man in her life loved her without considering her physical aspect, as the first man in her life had done. The second man in her life loved her in a manner she believed impossible. But after a while, the second man showed himself unavailable and discontent with her physical aspect. Alfred Adlers psychology is a psychology of utility, not of possession. It does not matter how you look, but what you do with what you possess. How you valorise your natural endowment. How you display your feminity or masculity. At the end of a therapy meeting, somebody was telling me, like a summary of her physical aspect:I may not have the breasts I would like to have, but I know I have beautiful eyes and a lovely hair which has always served me well, I have great legs which frame my silhouette so nicely when I am wearing shoes. I know that, even though I have something missing here and there, nature and I coped very well together these days. Thats my girl! 6. Do not fail in co-operating with your partner on all plans; the marriage tasks are common tasks to both partners; the relationship with the family, with friends, with the parents-in-law, the domestic housework, networking with the others. I take care of my parents and you take care of yours would once say one of my couple therapy patients, but the task of dealing with parents-in-law is a common task to the couple. You go out with your friends and I go out with mine, but the task of friendship, is a common task to the couple. You take care of children and housework and I earn the money, but the task of taking educating and bringing up children is a common task and so is the housework. When tasks are assigned or imposed without being commonly agreed upon, the frustrations dont take long to show up. These days, one of my patients was telling me that he had stepped aside from his wifes relationship with his mother and it was best for him to leave them alone and solve their misunderstandings by themselves without his interfering. I asked him whether he was nevertheless willing to do something about it, for instance, to praise his wife, from time to time, in his mothers presence. Or, whether he was willing to praise his mother in his wifes presence. He would not do either of these. If he praised his mother in front of his wife, the latter would become suspicious. And if he praised his wife, than his mother would still criticise her daughtersin-law

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behaviour and actions. Whatever he might do, he was discouraged and thought nothing worked well. Honestly speaking, he hadnt even tried to do something, so perhaps one day he will consider the least intervention from his part. When his mother might see that her son is consistently and genuinely satisfied with his marriage and the relationship with his wife, perhaps she would choose to stop interfering with their relationship or stop creating tensions. In the same manner, on hearing her husband talk about his mother from the heart, the wife will change her attitude and the tension will decrease. If love unites the two partners, these small interventions may help them maintain a nice warm atmosphere in the family for good. The case where the woman stays home taking care of children and housework while the man earns the money, would be an ideal one for someone who has always dreamed of being a good housewife and mother. However, nowadays, this dream is quite rarely dreamed of by women. Todays woman wants to be a good mother, a good wife and to make a career, too. Sometimes, the three roles can be exhausting and hard to achieve, but not impossible. The private nurseries, the private or public kindergartens, the after-school clubs, are of great help to women in fulfilling their roles. The woman can thus make her dreams and life expectations come true, without sacrificing any of the roles that might make her complete. However, the difficulties she faces in her attempt to do her best in fulfilling her roles, may be energy consumming and sometimes stress can be resented. 7. Do not get lost on dark alleys or in misty corners; there is always a way out from the emotional corner; all people are fundamentally normal. When you go through hard times and problems dont seem to disappear, you feel overwhelmed by them and feel like going crazy. Sometimes it is so difficult! Those who have ever flown by plane were able to note that, before going beyond the clouds where it is clear, they first have to go through an overwhelming thick grey cloudy mass. If you have enough patience, after a while the clouds rarefy and you might catch a glimpse of clear sky becoming wider and wider as the plane keeps flying. You are suddenly obove the clouds, in a clear area. This metaphor of flight may help you understand the emotions maze where you can sometimes get lost, especially when you have hard times which seem endless. Emotions are fuel for our behaviours (A.A). They cause useful or useless behaviours, positive or negative behaviours. All the emotions are used to reach a personal and implicitly social goal. We choose our emotions (the choice may be conscious or not!) to reach our immediate or longterm goals. Betty Lou Bettner was saying in her course about Couple Enrichment (the enrichment of couple relationship) that emotions are for man what fuel is for cars . You need some emotions to take action. And if the fuel is bad, than the car will make some odd noises and it will soon end up in a service. If the fuel is of good quality, even though you pay a higher price for it, than you get more chances to preserve the car engine in good conditions for a longer period. In J.Watsons behaviourist pattern, a stimulus X causes a reaction Y. But between stimulus and reaction there is the personal equation of each individual. This equation is the individuals personality, it is his Life Style. When something happened (the stimulus), the first thing we do is judge the situation in a positive or negative manner (namely, we determine whether it is good or bad), then we start to think, we get a certain idea about the behaviours we judge, then the feelings come up (they are not emotions) . The feelings map out the direction we are going. Then emotions come up which may cause reactions such as warm, cold or indifferent communication. Betty Lou Bettner said that there are three types of emotional communication: warm type, cold and indifferent type, aggressive/opposing type. To exemplify:

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When the communication is warm type, the message for the partner may be: I can hear you! I am with you! I want to be with you! I am interested in you! I would like to help you! I love being with you! I accept you! When the communication is cold and indifferent type, the message for the partner may be: I turned my back on you! I dont care what you did! I want to avoid you! I have other more important thoughts in my mind! I do not care about your interests! I am too busy to pay attention to your needs! Your needs are not worthy of my time! I want to be more independent than you would like me to be! When the communication is aggressive/opposing type, the message for the partner may be: Your need of attention makes me angry! I do not respect you! I do not respect this relationship! I want to hurt you! I want to drive you mad! .

When you decided to get married, your marriage will depend on your social interest level. If you care about people in generally, you will care about your partner too.

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El parkinson en el estilo de vida: presentacin desde una tcnica proyectiva grupal


Paula Dodera

En el centenario, nos gustara compartir algo sobre la psicologa individual aplicada al trabajo grupal con personas afectadas por la enfermedad de parkinson, recordando los inicios adlerianos en el campo de la psiconeurosis. Para los que queremos desarrollar un abordaje holista, debemos enfrentarnos a la prevalencia del modelo mdico de la enfermedad, a la vez que notamos lo esencial que es el aporte desde el estilo de vida para comprender cmo las personas responden creativamente a su problemtica, para ulteriormente ayudarlos a tener una visin de las posibilidades y estrategias que pueden ensayar, en lugar de centrarse en la prdida y el deterioro. Presentamos el trabajo en taller sobre la imagen corporal, con un grupo enfermos de parkinson y familiares de la Asociacin Uruguaya de Parkinson, partiendo del supuesto de que la enfermedad afecta la posibilidad de controlar los movimientos, limita las actividades previas, lo cual produce cambios en la imagen del cuerpo y esto repercutir en la autoimagen (especialmente en la vala de uno mismo). Trabajamos con una tcnica de la figura humana grupal, tomando en cuenta la proyeccin de la imagen del cuerpo y de los afectos. Se les present una silueta humana vaca, dibujada en una cartulina blanca, con la consigna de decir todo lo que se les ocurriera, a modo de lluvia de ideas. A continuacin se les pidi que localizaran la lista de palabras y frases en una parte del dibujo o de la hoja. A continuacin, el material conseguido con los participantes de este taller. Comentarios sobre la figura: feliz, relax, pasividad, actividad, a gusto, flojedad, dejarse estar, mameluco, ese joven parece viejo, espritu de joven. Las palabras que colocaron en cada parte: en el centro de la cabeza, feliz, cabezn, ojos, relax, boca, depresin, no hacer nada. En los hombros: no hacer. En los brazos: boxeador, judas, feliz, joven. Torso: humano, judas, feliz, joven. En piernas: derecha fracturada, flojedad, relax. Por fuera de la silueta ubican: calavera, espantapjaros, ojos y boca, posando, mameluco, traje de buzo, maniqu. Algunos se identificaron con la figura y otros la criticaron duramente (era muy sin no tiene ojos ni boca me dio la impresin de un judas, un espantapjaros) expresando disgusto. Analizamos de este taller, qu cuerpo representa la figura sobre la que proyectan, qu cuerpo es el que vieron en ese momento, y a partir de ello podemos ubicar tres niveles: el cuerpo que quisieran tener, el cuerpo que sienten o perciben como s mismos, y el cuerpo que nunca querran tener. El cuerpo ideal aparece en el joven y en algunos comentarios positivos asociados sobre todo a los que vieron en la figura un joven posando, esperando o un boxeador aunque siempre en relax y flojo, donde aparece pasividad opuesto a lo activo. Aparecen los elementos esperados, las rigideces y dificultades, lo enfermo, pero no slo como algo del cuerpo sino del corazn (depresin, elementos inanimados) Si pensamos en el personaje del boxeador en estado de relax, podramos imaginarnos sus sentimientos de agresividad frente a esta enfermedad que los debilita y de la cual no pueden defenderse; tambin visualizamos que ellos se ven con las herramientas para luchar (guantes de box) pero no pueden hacerlo solos. Algo que habamos visto, antes de plantear esta tcnica, era la importancia del sentimiento de sentirse til y la depresin reactiva asociada a prdidas (de status, de salud, laborales, pero tambin duelo por familiares cercanos y accidentes que no se relacionaban directamente con el Parkinson) como motivos del malestar explicitado por los pacientes.

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Es decir, el problema de la enfermedad no se queda en el cuerpo sino tiene su mayor carga en el rol social, en la prdida del prestigio asociado a la persona capaz, fuerte, que cuida o dirige a los dems. Por eso, aun los que depositan juventud y fortaleza en la figura como valores positivos, y a pesar de que los participantes son mayores de 50, no lo colocan en lugar de adulto sino de joven relajado, esperando algo, etc. En la elaboracin grupal, posterior a la primera consigna, se explica parte del disgusto generado por la figura, como cuerpo humano sin cara ni sexo, sin ojos para ver, y la relacin de esto con personajes inanimados (espantapjaros, mameluco, judas) por la carencia de sentimientos y alegra. Luego se desata el tema de la mirada, cmo a travs del tiempo uno pasa de ver la imagen, o la foto, de una persona a entenderla, y nace la confianza, la amistad. Por oposicin, la mirada de los dems la sienten como discriminacin, el ser vistos como enfermos, discapacitados, locos, etc. Estn hablando del proceso de conformacin del grupo, pero tambin de la seguridad que brinda por oposicin al afuera de la sociedad como lugar donde se hallan desamparados, a merced de la mirada crtica e ignorante de los otros. En la tcnica aparecieron los miedos pero tambin el germen de una salida; si en la pasividad y dependencia que sienten resultado de la enfermedad se conecta la vergenza y la depresin, entonces se prescribe la actividad como generadora de cambios positivos en los modos de percepcin. Pero no basta con proponerlo, sino que necesitan de aliento, por parte de los terapeutas y del propio grupo, para tener el coraje de ser imperfectos, de ser y hacer a pesar de los efectos visibles del parkinson. En consecuencia, destacamos de la tcnica, que por un lado permite al grupo entrar en la percepcin de s mismos, con las diferencias personales que denotan su posicin de vida, para llegar a una sntesis que destaca lo que preocupa a nivel grupal, en este caso la mirada de los dems (la discriminacin es un tema que se desarrollar en distintos encuentros del grupo) Como crtica, que se podra utilizar en combinacin con el dibujo de la figura humana para comparar con aspectos personales, en un abordaje multifactico. Por otro lado tiene como ventaja que no tener que dibujar es menos ansigeno en las etapas iniciales de abordaje de un grupo con estas caractersticas, o si se conoce la presencia de dificultad para manejar el lpiz. Queremos remarcar que tanto en la imaginera sobre las funciones y posibilidades del cuerpo, como en los recuerdos lejanos y la actitud de afrontamiento de la enfermedad, denotan su estilo de vida. Lo importante es la interpretacin que uno hace de los hechos. Por tanto, el objetivo teraputico es reajustar la forma de percibirse en una forma realista que les permita obtener la mejor calidad de vida y ser felices, activos, colaborando con su entorno. Creemos que la EP no es algo que se pueda comprender por fuera del estilo de vida total, sino que los sntomas y las consecuencias de la misma son utilizados por la persona en base a las lneas directrices de su plan de vida. Hemos visto que pasan a formar parte de discusiones familiares, motivos de conflictos en la pareja, son formas de demandar prestigio o beneficios especiales, dentro de la lgica privada. Pasan a incrementar el repertorio de arreglos a los que se puede recurrir para explicar las fallas o fracasos en las tareas de la vida. Y nadie puede discutir la justicia de sentirse derrotado por una enfermedad crnica y degenerativa, ms cuando al mismo tiempo se hace todo lo posible por encontrar medios de combatirla. Hay que aadir el carcter de arreglo que tiene la depresin, sntoma muy mencionado como posterior a la declaracin de la enfermedad, al permitir a la persona retirarse del campo de batalla de la vida, y no exponerse al escarnio de la mirada de los otros. Al sentimiento de inferioridad que viene de la percepcin de ser discriminado, y no poder realizar de forma segura actividades que formaban parte de su vida diaria, como conducir, cocinar, manejar mquinas de precisin, se le pueden proponer alternativas para compensar de una forma constructiva. La clave de sentirse mejor est en el grupo porque es un lugar para recuperar el sentimiento de comunidad, a partir de la pertenencia y de la colaboracin con los dems participantes.

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Gracias a la Lic. R. Curcho (co-creadora de la tcnica y coordinadora de este taller)

The part of Parkinson in Lifestyle: presenting a group projection technique


Paula Dodera

In the centenary, remembering the Adlerian beginning in the field of psychoneurosis, we would like to share something about the Individual Psychology applied to group therapy with people affected by Parkinson Disease (PD). Those who intend to formulate a holistic approach ought to face the prevalent medical model of the disease, although we believe that we can contribute to understand how people, according to lifestyle, react creatively to their problem, and then we can help people have a picture of their possibilities and of the strategies they can essay, instead of thinking of loss and impairment. We present a workshop about body image, with a group of the Uruguayan Association of Parkinson, working with patients and relatives, on the hypothesis that PD affects the possibility to control movement, restriction of previous activities, all of which produce changes in the body image and also in self-representation, primarily in self-worth. We worked with a human shape technique, based on the projection of body image and inner feelings. The group was given a human like outline on a white sheet (about 100 per 60 cm) asking them to tell everything that occurred to them about it, as in a brainstorm. After that, they were asked to locate the words inside or outside the figure. These are the ideas brought out by the workshop participants. Comments: happy, relax, passiveness, activity, delighted, slackness, to be neglected, overall, that young man looks old, youth spirit. The words located in each part of the body: in the middle of the head, happy, bighead, eyes, relax, mouth, depression, to do nothing. In the shoulders: do nothing. Arms: boxer, Judas (this can mean traitor and also refers to a human shaped toy fabricated by kids during Christmas season), happy, young. Torso: human, Judas, happy, young. Legs: right broken, slackness, relax. Outside the silhouette: skeleton, scarecrow, eyes and mouth, posing, overall, diving suit, dummy. Some of the people acknowledged the figure, and some others criticized it (its so without has no eyes or mouth it gives me the impression of a Judas, a scarecrow) with a feeling of aversion. We can analyze what kind of body the figure represented for them, what kind of body the people in the group saw in that moment, and according to this we found three levels of approach: the body they would like to have, the body they feel or perceive to have, and the body they are afraid of having. The ideal body appears young, and some positive remarks related to those who saw in the figure a young man posing, waiting, or a boxer, though always relaxed and loose, where passiveness is opposed to activity. There were the expected elements like stiffness and obstacles, the disease, but not only as something in the body but from the heart (depression, inanimate elements) If we think about the boxer character, in a relaxed pose, we can imagine their agressive feelings when facing this limiting disease from which they can not defend; on the other hand, we notice that they perceive to have the tools to fight (boxing gloves) but they are unable to do it by themselves. Before this technique, we had noted the significance of the feeling of usefulness, and the reactive depression after loses (status, health, profession, but also mourning for near relatives, and accidents, not directly associated to PD) causing the displeasure manifested by the patients. We mean that the difficulty of PD does not stay in the body but puts its major burden in social life, in losing status associated to being a capable, strong person, who takes care or command the
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others. That is why, even in those who put youth and strength in the figure as positive comments, though the participants were above 50 years old, they do not assign an adult role but that of a young man, waiting In group elaboration, they explain the aversion to the figure as a human shape without face or sex, without eyes to see, related to inanimate characters (scarecrow, overall, Judas) because of the lack of feelings and joy. Then, they speak about the way that society looks at them, as sick, impaired, or insane, which they feel as discrimination. This is about the group process, the feeling of security it brings as opposed to the outside, a place where they are helpless before the critic and ignorant eyes of others. Through this technique we can see fears but also a way out; if inactivity and dependence resulting of the disease is connected with shame and depression, then we have to prescribe activity to generate positive changes in the perception style. It is not enough to propose it for they also need to be encouraged by the therapist and the group, to have the courage to be imperfect, to be and act even after the visible effects of Parkinson. As a result, we point that this technique allows the group to bring forward their self-perception, the individual differences denoting a lifestyle position, as well as a synthesis of the group concern into the outside view of Parkinson (discrimination was a recurrent theme in different meetings of that group). As critics, this should be used in combination with an individual human shape draw assessment, in a multifaceted approach. On the other hand, it causes less anxiety than drawing, in the initial stadium of groups or when facing known pencil wielding problems. We intend to show that through the imagery of body functions and possibilities, as well as in early memories and coping strategies, people show their lifestyle. What matters is the interpretation the individual makes of facts. Therefore, the therapeutic goal is to readjust the way of perceiving oneself to a realistic view that will allow them to have the best quality of life, to be happy, active people, and cooperate with each other. We believe that PD is not something that can be comprehended beyond lifestyle, for its symptoms and consequences can be used by the person along her/his life plan guidelines. We have noticed that symptoms can become items for family quarrels, conjugal conflicts, and a way to demand prestige or personal benefits, along the private logic. They fall into the possible arrangement repertoire that people can resort to in order to explain failure or disappointment in achieving life-tasks. And no one can dispute their right to be defeated by a chronic disease, moreover as they continue looking for means of fighting it. Moreover, depression, a symptom very talked about as following PD emergence, is also a kind of arrangement, for it allows the person to withdraw from the battleground of life, and avoid other people derision. To compensate the inferiority feeling resulting from the perception of being an object of discrimination, and not being able to perform previous activities, such as driving a car, cook, use precision machines, we can propose constructive alternatives. The key to feeling better is in the group, as a place to recover a community feeling, to belong and cooperate with each other. Thanks to R. Curcho, co-creator and coordinator of this workshop.

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Adlerian Psychology and Social Equality


Eva Dreikurs Ferguson

Adlerian psychology is currently celebrating its first 100 years, and around the world people are taking notice. They pay attention, because what Adler wrote about and lectured 100 years ago is today making sense to millions of people. We see in nation after nation the urgent call for democracy and for the right of people to make choices and decisions regarding their lives, and these are the principles Adler emphasized in his theory of Individual Psychology (Adler, 1939). Adler emphasized this not only with respect to the larger society but also with how the individual functions. His cognitive-social-dynamic-personality theory (Ferguson, 2001) concerned peoples interactions and relationships, their sense of belonging and contribution to the human community, as well as their personal choices and goals. Rudolf Dreikurs was a younger colleague of Adler, and he expressed the thoughts of Adler in his book Social Equality (Dreikurs, 1998). By that term, Dreikurs meant that each human not only has value but that we each have equal value with others. Moreover, our relationships need to be based on this social equality. Humans intrinsically are not superior or inferior to each other. We have equal value, and this can be shown in our relating to each other with mutual respect, courage, Social Interest, and a feeling of belonging. The more we interact with one another on the basis of equality, the more our relationships are fulfilling and the better is our mental health. We express the belief in social equality by the way we collaborate with others and engage in shared decision making and democratic processes. Our upbringing may make this difficult. If we grew up in an autocratic family that did not allow its members to feel equal, we may in adulthood believe that some people are inferior and others are superior. If, on the other hand, our upbringing was in a democratic family, in which each individual was treated with dignity and mutual respect, it is much easier for us in adulthood to function in mutually supportive and collaborative relationships. Adlers and Dreikurs emphasis was on human relationships. Thus, the way we interact with others in the tasks of life (Ferguson, 2010) of work, friendship, and love, we reveal the extent to which we believed in social equality. This is not the same as a belief in social equity, which involves a concern with social justice among people in society. Many people believe in social equity and social justice. They want equality of opportunity for health and economic well being for all humans. Yet, such a belief in equity does not guarantee living according to the principles of social equality, as seen in the lives of social reformers who fight for social justice yet demean their spouses, children, and co-workers and struggle in intimate relationships. Any discussion of social equality requires understanding of a persons inner convictions regarding self and others. Social equality pertains to horizontal strivings (Dreikurs, 2000) rather than vertical strivings based on feeling inferior and seeking to be superior to others. In therapy one can strengthen conviction of social equality very effectively in group processes. Group therapy (Dreikurs, 1951) allows all members of the group to learn mutual respect and horizontal striving. Humans from birth have lived with others, yet human relationships suffer from the many ways people fail to have respect for themselves or for others. As we raise children with Social Interest, with feeling of belonging and striving to contribute to human welfare, to respect common sense as Adler defined it (Adler, 1930; Ferguson, 2010), and to believe in social equality, we will see people functioning increasingly more effectively and they will enjoy far more fulfilling human relationships.

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References Adler, Alfred (1930). The education of children. London: Allen & Unwin. Adler, Alfred (1939). Social interest: A challenge to mankind. New York: Putnam. Dreikurs, Rudolf (1951). The unique social climate experienced in group psychotherapy. Group Psychotherapy, 3, 292 299. Dreikurs, Rudolf (1998). Social equality: The challenge of today. Chicago: Adler School of Professional Psychology. Ferguson, Eva Dreikurs (2001). Adler and Dreikurs: Cognitive-social dynamic innovators. Journal of Individual Psychology, 57, 324-341. Ferguson, Eva Dreikurs (2010). Adlerian theory: An introduction. Chicago: Adler School of Professional Psychology.

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El sntoma
Yar Hazn

Adler estuvo siempre preocupado de que su psicologa fuese sencilla, de all que postulara que toda neurosis es cobarda (1) y agregaba que del mismo modo pudo haber dicho que toda neurosis es vanidad, lo que parece una cita del Eclesiasts. La neurosis (o lo que es lo mismo: el estilo de vida) est determinada causalmente, pero sus sntomas no lo estn (Sicher (1), obedecen a una teleologa o intencionalidad inconsciente. Cuando los primeros psicoanalistas quisieron que su teora tuviese el status de ciencia realizaron una transposicin del lenguaje mdico al psicolgico con los consiguientes inconvenientes. En sus conferencias y escritos, Adler insisti que no hay enfermedades que no tengan sntomas innecesarios; ms categrico an fue cuando afirm que los sntomas son basura, categora en la que habrn de entrar todas las nosografas y taxonomas psiquitricas (2). Es necesario recordar que Freud parti de un sntoma histrico, llamado conversin somtica y ms tarde simplemente conversin. Tal es el caso de Ana O, Emmy von N y Dora a quienes Lacan llam las grandes tericas del psicoanlisis (3). En su reduccionismo a la lingstica, para realizar una puesta al da de Freud (3) escriben: El error es desde luego para Lacan el engao del inconsciente`: el sntoma funciona como metfora. De caminos similares parti Adler al ver las complicaciones orgnicas en La inferioridad de los rganos, y antes todava cuando observ los sntomas que ocasionaba el trabajo de sastre, especialmente en aquellos sastres que no estaban agremiados, vivan, en suburbios, trabajaban en stanos y estaban expuestos a la tuberculosis, edemas, problemas de columna, etc. Tanto en Adler como en Freud hubo un juego de subjetividades e intersubjetividades, pero la neurosis y tambin los sntomas tienen una etiologa y una teleologa diferentes. En Adler, lejos de ser una lucha entre instancias del psiquismo, como en la segunda tpica, un conflicto entre el yo y el ello es desenmascarada como una desviacin social (1). Bernstein en Prctica y teora de la psicologa individual (4) anota que el fundamento de la neurosis y su cuadro sintomtico no es biolgico ni psicolgico, es social. Tambin aqu hay una nota identidad que diferencia claramente la psicologa adleriana tanto del psicoanlisis como del conductismo corrientes que tuvieron un origen temporal casi simultneo. El conductismo an un su variante cognitivo comportamental (contradiccin en los trminos, porque lo cognitivo reemplaza el viejo constructo idealista platnico kantiano que en filosofa llambamos cognoscitivo) y por otro lado lo comportamental, que hace alusin a lo objetivamente observable, el sntoma, de raigambre filosfica materialista y lockiana. Para los conductismos curar es hacer desaparecer el sntoma, lo que en medicina se denomina tratamiento sintomtico: Cuando se desconocen las causas (etiologa) el mdico se conforma, aunque de mala gana, con tratar los sntomas, a sabiendas de que es un tratamiento incompleto y de no muy buen pronstico. Veamos un ejemplo. Nos toc ver una profesora de msica que cada vez que haba una fiesta patria ella deba tocar en el piano el Himno Nacional y le vena un terrible dolor de cabeza. Todos menos ella eran conscientes de que se trataba de una conducta de evitacin, puesto que pondra de manifiesto que no era una buena ejecutante. Pero ella no era consciente de la finalidad de su sntoma. Como tratamiento sintomtico se le podra haber prescripto un antijaquecoso, pero la causa finalis, expresndonos en un lenguaje kantianoadleriano, hubiera permanecido intacta o hubiera encontrado otro sntoma que cumpliese la misma finalidad. De all el papel secundario y de distractor que ocupa el sntoma en nuestras psicoterapias y counselings. Podemos encontrar aqu continuaciones de Adler no reconocida:

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Peguntarle por el sntoma hubiera sido negativo, pues enseguida habra encontrado otro, Botome (1). Teresa Robles, en una tcnica ericksonia narra como a una paciente con fobia a los aviones, le hizo alucinar que el avin se sacuda haca arriba y hacia abajo y que aterrizaba. Qu tipo de intervencin es sta -se pregunta la autora-. Prescripcin del sntoma. La paciente est viviendo el sntoma en el consultorio. En el texto citado, como si fuera poco, se ejemplifica con Master y Johnson quienes tambin prescriben el sntoma, por ejemplo, durante una semana le prohben a una pareja tener relaciones sexuales. La semana siguiente le prescriben que se toquen y se acaricien todo el cuerpo. A la tercera semana se les prescribe tocarse inclusive los genitales aunque l tenga ereccin. Cmo es fcil ver es una continuacin de Adler va Frankl de aquel paciente insomne a quien Adler le prescribi no dormir o de la nia onicofgica a la que le hizo poner un cartel sobre la cama que deca debo molestar a mis padres. Porque argumentaba Adler, ser mejor que haga conscientemente lo que haca inconscientemente. En el cartel estaba develada la meta, pero por un procedimiento antisujestivo. Es un verdadero empobrecimiento de la cultura psicolgica y de la honestidad intelectual que no se cite a Adler como verdadero autor de ste y otros aportes a la psicoterapia contempornea. Por eso, en este centenario proponemos como medida revolucionaria no reaccionaria, una relectura de Adler y de los adlerianos de los primeros tiempos. Una aclaracin: la intervencin paradojal o prescripcin del sntoma fue usada, como hemos visto, por primera vez por Adler, pero fue Viktor Frankl quien ponindole nombre la hizo una tcnica ms conocida. Esa es la causa de por qu errneamente, a veces, se le atribuya a Frankl en lugar de Adler. Ansbacher (5), que se ocup de la obra de Adler a efectos de hacerla ms ordenada y comprensible, clasific los sntomas por perodo y por funcin, a saber: 1) Salvaguardias o proteccin (1913); 2) Excusas (1929 -1936); 3) El precio de los sntomas (1930, 1933, 1936). Tratar sntomas directamente, es un fracaso teraputico. El neurtico ya ocup mucho tiempo infructuosamente en deshacerse de los sntomas. Es el equivalente a la situacin de cuando terapeutas ingenuos le dicen al obsesivo, no piense ms en eso. Dice Sicher (1) comentando las demostraciones de Adler: Psicticos enfurecidos se tranquilizaron cuando l les hablaba y los sntomas ms complicados se disolvan, porque apelaba a la colaboracin y les ayudaba a ver no slo lo que eran, sino lo que podan llegar a ser, a alcanzar el valor de otras personas. Tuvimos la oportunidad de ver una experiencia de este tipo con motivo de las demostraciones de Francis Walton. A pedido de Erich Stern (8) Dreikurs fue muy preciso en el momento de poner en claro los principales constructos de la teora y la prctica adlerianas: Otra contradiccin, ms frecuente consiste en que el paciente crea poder eliminar sus sntomas sin modificar radicalmente su actitud para con la vida y para consigo mismo). Heidbreder (5) ha sido muy ilustrativo de la praxis adleriana y vigente e iluminadora de otras prcticas psicoteraputicas cuando manifiesta que los rasgos de carcter son actitudes elaboradas para solucionar problemas de la vida, el carcter entero se presenta en la psicologa adleriana como un gran arrangement. Por eso algunos han entendido que toda neurosis es un arrangement. El mismo Viktor Frankl que sin reconocerlo mucho tiene toda su teora y prctica impregnados de pensamiento adleriano, en un artculo que circula an por la internet

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realiza una crtica a Titze diciendo: Titze brillante psiclogo individual (sic) cree como los dems adlerianos, que todo sntoma es un arreglo. Del mismo modo Titze (9) se ha ocupado de la formacin del sntoma y de la neurosis en la falta de coraje. El autor de referencia ve la angustia como consecuencia de la absolutizacin de los peligros de la vida. En otros trminos, es una apercepcin tendenciosa negativa la que genera la angustia y el sntoma. Titze enfatiza la afirmacin adleriana de que no es el shock sino su utilizacin lo que provoca el trauma. Resulta inevitable si queremos una psicoterapia eficiente ver el telos intrnseco del sntoma. Un joven actor de orientacin homosexual que le creaba conflictos ticos, sufra ataques epilpticos slo los 2 de noviembre (da de los muertos). Tales ataques comenzaron a los 12 aos, cuando muri su padre. Por eso Ansbacher una vez ms nos clarifica el pensamiento de Adler: Los factores endgenos y psicgenos estn presentes en todo sntoma neurtico. El hijo de Reich (7) contaba que su madre le deca que dentro de cien aos, las diferencias personales dejarn de contar, lo que cuentan son los principios cientficos. Ahora bien, el centenario se ha cumplido, todos los adlerianos tenemos que hacer el esfuerzo por el homenaje de difusin que perpeta el ejemplo de la teora y la conducta de Adler en el tiempo a venir. Porque no slo es actual sino eficaz y revolucionaria. Bibliografa (1) Phyllis Bottome: Alfred Adler, apstol de la libertad, Luis Miracle, Editor, Barcelona, 1952). (2) Alfred Adler: Superioridad e inters social. Una coleccin de sus ltimos escritos, compilada por Heinz Ansbacher y Rowena Ansbacher, Fondo de Cultura Econmica, Mxico, 1976, (Superioty an social Interest, Copyright 1964, Northwertern University Press, Envaston, Illinois. (3) Maud Mannoni, Motsou Ronat, Pamela Tylell, Michelle Montrelay, Cathrine Lowe, Soshaana Feldman, Elisabeth Roudinesco y Anne Lavallois-Colloc: Las psicoanalistas escriben sobre Lacan: Ediciones Amatista, Buenos Aires, 1977. (4) Alfred Adler: Prctica y teora de la psicologa individual (Prlogo de Bernstein), Editorial Paids, Buenos Aires, 1953 (Praxis und Theorie der Individual Psychologie) (5) Heinz y Rowena Ansbacher: La psicologa individual de Alfred Adler (The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler) (6) Teresa Robles: Terapia cortada a la medida, Instituto Cultural Milton Erickson de la Ciudad de Mxico, Editorial, Mxico, 1991 (7) Peter Reich: Libro de ensueos. Editorial Laertes, Barcelona, 1978 (A Book of Dreams, Peter Reich, 1973) (8) Erich Stern y colaboradores: La psicoterapia en la actualidad. Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires, 1965 (Die Psychotherapie in der Gegenwart, Rascher Verlag, Zrich, 1958) (9) Michael Titze: Fundamentos del teleoanlisis adleriano, Editorial Herder, Barcelna, 1983 (Lebensziel und Lebensstil, Grundzge der Teleoanalyse nach Alfred Adler, Pefeiffer, Munich, 1979)

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The symptom
Yar Hazn

Adler was always worried about his Psychology being simple, then he propose that Every neurosis is cowardice (1) and he added that, in the same way, he could have said that Every neurosis is vanity, what is seems a quote from Ecclesiastes. Neurosis (o what is the same: lifestyle) is causally determinate, but its symptoms are not (Sicher (1) they obey a unconscious intentionality or teleology. When first psychoanalysts wanted their theory to have science status they used a transposition from medical language to psychological language whit the following inconvenient. In his lectures and writings, Adler insisted that There is no illness without unnecessary symptoms. He went further when he claimed that symptoms are rubbish, category in which enter all psychiatric nosographies and taxonomies (2). Is necessary to remember that Freud went from a hysterical symptom, called somatic conversion and later simply conversion . That is the case of Anna O, Emmy von N and Dora whom are called from Lacan the great theoretical of psychoanalysis (3). In his linguistic reductionism, to perform an update of Freud, (3) they write: the error is, for Lacan, the unconsciouss deceive: the symptom works as a metaphor. From similar paths departure Adler when he saw the organic complications in The inferiority of organs , and still before when he observed symptoms caused by the tailors work, specially on those tailors that were not within a union, they lived, in the suburbs, working in basements and exposed to tuberculosis, edemas, and spinal problems, etc. So much in Adler as in Freud there was a game of subjectivities and inter subjectivities, but neurosis and also the symptoms have a different etiology and teleology. In Adler, far from being a struggle between instances of psychological apparatus, as in the second topic, a conflict between the ego and id is unmasked as a social deviation (1). Bernstein in Practice and theory of individual psychology (4) signaled that neurosiss fundament and its symptomatic picture It is not biological, nor psychological, but social. There are here also an identity note that made clearly different Adlerian psychology from psychoanalysis and from the behaviorism, both currents that had an almost simultaneous temporal origin. Behaviorism yet in its cognitive and comportamental variant (contradiction in terms, because cognitive replaces the old idealist Platonic Kantian construct that we called, in philosophy, cognoscitive) and in the other hand the comportamental, meaning the objectively observed, the symptom, from philosophic, materialist and Lockian origin. For behaviorisms to heal is to make the symptom disappear. In medicine is called symptomatically treatment. When causes (etiology) are unknown the physician is pleased, although reluctantly, with the symptoms treatment, knowing that is an incomplete treatment and without good prognosis. Here is an example. We saw a music teacher that in every national holiday she had to play in piano the national anthem and she get a terrible headache. Everyone but her were aware that this was an avoiding conduct, because it shows that she was not a good player. But she was not conscious about the finality of her symptom. As a symptomatically treatment, she could have been prescribed and antiheadache, but the causa finalis, expressing ourselves in Kantian-Adlerian language, would have remained unchanged, or would find another symptom for the same finality. From there the secondary and distractory role that plays symptoms within our psychotherapies and counseling. Here we can find Adlers unacknowledged continuation: Ask her for the symptom if this one would have been negative, cause immediately she would had find another one., Botome (1).

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Teresa Robles, into an Ericksonian technique tells how she made a patient with airplane phobia hallucinate about being in an airplane shaking up and down and landing. What kind of intervention is this one the author asked herself- , is the symptoms prescription. The patient is living the symptom at the office. In the quoted text, to top it off, she exemplifies with Master and Johnson whom also prescribe the symptom, for example, they forbid a couple having sex for a week. Next week they prescribe to touch and caress all of their bodies. The third week they prescribe to touch even genitals although he has an erection. It is easy to see here an Adlers continuation via Frankl of that patient sleepless who is prescribed not to sleep, or that one of an onicofagic girl who was instructed to put a sign above her bed which said I must bother my parents. Because Adler explains: It will be better to consciously do what I use to made unconsciously . In the sign the goal was revealed, but by an antisuggestive procedure. It is a true impoverishment of psychology culture and of intellectual honesty that Adler is not quoted by this and other contributions to modern psychotherapy. So, in this centenary we propose as a revolutionary and non reactionary measure: and Adlers and his first followers rereading. One clarification: the paradoxical intervention or symptom prescription was used, as we saw, for the first time by Adler, but Viktor Frankl was who made it a more known technique by naming it. This is the reason why, sometimes, erroneously, it is attributed to Frankl instead of Adler. Ansbacher (5), who took care of Adlers work for made it more organized and understandable, classified the symptoms by period and function: 1) Safeguard or protection (1913); 2) Excuses (1929 - 1936) 3) The price of symptoms (1930, 1933, 1936). The direct treatment of the symptoms is a psychotherapy failure. The neurotic already used much time trying to get rid of the symptoms. It is equivalent to the situation of when ingenuous therapists say to the obsessive patient: do not think more in this. Sicher (1) said commenting Adlers demonstrations: Enraged psychotics calmed when he talked to them and the more complicated symptoms were dissolved, because he appealed to collaboration and help them to see not only what they were but also what they could become, to get the value of other people. We had an opportunity of seeing this kind of experience through Francis Walton demonstrations. By demand of Erich Stern (8) Dreikurs was very accurate at the moment of clarify the most important constructs of Adlerian theories and practices: Another contradiction, more frequently consists that the patient believes in being able to eliminate his symptoms without radically modify his attitude towards life and himself. Heidbreder (5) had been very illustrative of Adlerian praxis, actual and illuminative for other psychotherapies practices when he says: character features are elaborated attitudes for solving life problems, the whole character presents in Adlerian psychology as a great arrangement. Because of this some people understood that all neurosis is an arrangement. Viktor Frankl without recognizing it has much of his theory and practice impregnated with Adlerian thinking, in an article still circulating on the internet he made a critic to Titze when he says: Michael Titze, a brilliant individual psychologist (sic) believes as another Adlerians that every symptom is an arrangement. In the same way Titze (9) has took care of the formation of the symptom and the neurosis on the lack of courage. The quoted author sees the anguish as a consequence of life dangers generalization. In another terms, it is a negative tendentious apperception that generates the

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anguish and the symptom. Titze emphasizes the Adlerian affirmation:Trauma is not provoked by the shock, but by its utilization. It is inevitable if we want an efficient psychotherapy to see the telos intrinsic of the symptom. A young gay actor with ethical conflicts suffers from epileptic attacks only in November the second (day of the dead). Such attacks began at the age of 12 when his father died. This is why Ansbacher clarifies Adlerian thinking once more: Endogenous and psychogenous factors are present in every neurotic symptom. Reichs son (7) tells that her mother said to him: one hundred years from now personal differences will matter no more, what matter most are the scientific principles. Now well, the centenary has arrived, every Adlerians must do the effort for the tribute of diffusion that continue the example of Adlers theory and conduct in times to come. Because is not only actual but also efficient and revolutionary. References (1) Phyllisl Bottome: Alfred Adler, apstol de la libertad, Luis Miracle, Editor, Barcelona, 1952). (2) Alfred Adler: Superioridad e inters social. Una coleccin de sus ltimos escritos, compilada por Heinz Ansbacher y Rowena Ansbacher, Fondo de Cultura Econmica, Mxico, 1976, (Superioty an social Interest, Copyright 1964, Northwertern University Press, Envaston, Illinois. (3) Maud Mannoni, Motsou Ronat, Pamela Tylell, Michelle Montrelay, Cathrine Lowe, Soshaana Feldman, Elisabeth Roudinesco y Anne Lavallois-Colloc: Las psicoanalistas escriben sobre Lacan: Ediciones Amatista, Buenos Aires, 1977. (4) Alfred Adler: Prctica y teora de la psicologa individual (Prlogo de Bernstein), Editorial Paids, Buenos Aires, 1953 (Praxis und Theorie der Individual Psychologie) (5) Heinz y Rowena Ansbacher: La psicologa individual de Alfred Adler (The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler) (6) Teresa Robles: Terapia cortada a la medida, Instituto Cultural Milton Erickson de la Ciudad de Mxico, Editorial, Mxico, 1991 (7) Peter Reich: Libro de ensueos. Editorial Laertes, Barcelona, 1978 (A Book of Dreams, Peter Reich, 1973) (8) Erich Stern y colaboradores: La psicoterapia en la actualidad. Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires, 1965 (Die Psychotherapie in der Gegenwart, Rascher Verlag, Zrich, 1958) (9) Michael Titze: Fundamentos del teleoanlisis adleriano, Editorial Herder, Barcelna, 1983 (Lebensziel und Lebensstil, Grundzge der Teleoanalyse nach Alfred Adler, Pefeiffer, Munich, 1979)

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Raising kidsa challenge or a deception?


Willy Hoekstra

In our turbulating world parents try to do their best to raise their children in a proper way. Sometimes it is a real struggle for life for both of them: children and parents. Parents do find it difficult to understand the behaviour of their children. It is a dangerous world for children and parents. In the real world is raising kids a challenge or a deception? Parents combine several things in daily life- work, sports, family-life-and very important they are even self-growing in their responsibility as parent and becoming an adult. The central task of growing up and parenting have always been the most difficult tasks of life. Face life as it is: we have to deal with loss, catastrophic threats to economic, social and spiritual survival. Job loss, drugs, and other forces have a great influence on peoples lifes. There can be a lot of concern about the future. As a teacher I am optimistic about all those things. I think parents can manage to be good parents to their children. I also think that children can become happy children and that they can full fill their tasks of life and having good friendships and relations. In this turbulent time people are looking for tools to raise their children in a proper way. Alfred Adler(1870-1937) is founder of the Individual psychology. In his perception there are five fundamental issues: 1) Human beings are social beings. They do want to belong 2) Each behaviour is purposeful. You cannot understand a person, if you do not know which goal he is after 3) Each individual takes decisions 4) Each individual is a holistic person 5) We see things not as they are, but as we are As teachers and parents we need to understand that children everywhere want love and connection, want to feel valued and respected and want to belong to family and community, whether at home, at school or on the playground. So lets see how teachers and parents can take a role in raising kids. Kids who are in trouble are missing four necessities that each child must have in order to become successful in life. These four necessities are no rules that children always need to remember, but
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they are beliefs for internal certainty. Those four are: Being connected to others, a part of family and community Having the capability to take care of oneself Being valued by others, the knowledge that one counts and make a difference Having courage (The crucial Cs) If we are raising kids these four crucial Cs make children: Responsible Productive Cooperative Self-reliant Resilient Resourceful Contributing Happy

If one of those crucial Cs is missing we have a discouraged child. Such a child shows us his /her behaviour in very different and creative ways. The child shows us his/her ways goals of misbehaviour :
Childs belief I only count when Im being noticed My strength is in showing you that you can no make me and you cannot stop me I knew Child feels Childs negative goal ATTENTION Adults feel Adults impulse REMIND What, again? Childs response to correction temporarily stops

Insecure alienated

Irritated annoyed

Inadequate dependent others are in control

POWER

Angry Challenged

FIGHT I insist that you do as I say

Misbehaviour intensifies

insignificant

REVENGE

Hurts or

PUNISH

Wants to get

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you were against me. No one really likes me. Ill show you how it feels I cant do anything right, so I wont try. If I dont try, my failures wont be so obvious Inferior useless hopeless

Get back Get even

wants to punish

How could you do this to me? us? them? Ill teach you a lesson

even Makes selfdisliked

AVOIDANCE

Despair I give up Hopeless

GIVE UP Its no use

Passive no change More hopeless Displays inadequacy

From: Amy Lew and Betty Lou Bettner (1995)A parents guide to understanding and motivating children

Misbehaviour is a symptom. The child is discouraged. Misbehaviour is not the real problem . The child shows us his/her solution to the problem in his/her own way to the mistaken goal. Now how can we encourage the child again? Lets look to the matrix of the Crucial Cs:
Crucial Cs CONNECT Constructive alternatives Replace negative attention with positive attention. Plan activities together. Childs belief I belong Child feels Secure Childs positive goals COOPERATION

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CAPABLE

Dont ignore the child, ignore misbehaviour Teach selfsufficiency Dont try to I can do it win. Give opportunity and choices so child can display power constructively. Maintain friendly attitude Avoid anger and hurt feelings. Maintain appreciation in relationship. Offer chances to help. Seek support and help in identifying positives (dont give up) Notice only strengths and ignore the negative. Set up steady exposure to manageable tasks that have a guarantee of success. No criticism

Competent Self-control

SELF-RELIANCE

COUNT

I matter

Significant Valuable

CONTRIBUTION

COURAGE

I can handle what comes

Hopeful willing to try

RESILIENCY

From: Amy Lew and Betty Lou Bettner(1995) A parents guide to understanding and motivating Children

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Once we begin to understand childrens behaviour in a different way, we adults can change our responses. We have to modify our response to the childs behaviour based on an understanding of the childs goal. Here you have some strategies and tips you can use in raising and encouraging kids and help them to develop their self-esteem: Develop rules together in classroom or at home(family meetings) Use games, plays, songs to develop working together(being cooperative) Use cooperative learning activities Show an interest in each student Give positive attention Find and recognize strengths and talents Show acceptance Nobody is perfect Dont criticise, dont judge Build confidence Make them responsible Built up a good relation Act before there is a problem Act ,dont talk Think about what you can do rather then what they should do Focus on the behaviour ,not the child Dont escalate Make a list of positives about the child Dont humiliate Allow for a cooling off period Dont give up

I hope that you are encouraged now how to raise children rather at home or at school. Is it really a challenge? ..or a deception? Last but not least: R.Dreikurs some basic principles: If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love If a child lives with honesty, he learns what truth is If a child lives with friendliness, he learns the world is a nice place in which to live, to love and be loved.

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I wish you much encouragement in the next time. Books: Amy Lew, PH.D, Betty Lou Bettner, Ph.D., Responsibility in the Classroom,Connexionspress,1998 Betty Lou Bettner, Ph.D., The Creative Force,Connexionspress,2006 R.Dreikurs, P.Cassel, Discipline Without Tears,1972

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Individual Psychology: to the Next 100 Years


Guy J. Manaster, Ph.D.

Spence Professor Emeritus in Education University of Texas at Austin President, International Association of Individual Psychology Around the world Adlerians are acknowledging and celebrating 100 years of Individual Psychology, 100 years since Alfred Adler set out, with a handful of followers, to develop his nascent theory and associated practice. From 1911 until his death in 1937 he substantially expanded and refined his theory of personality and mental health into a comprehensive psychological theory with wide social and cultural ramifications and broad applications. Alfred Adler was the first to leave Freuds (group) and Adlers initiatives led to many of the developments in social, group and community psychiatry (Ivor Browne: Music and Madness, Atrium, Cork, Ireland, 2008, p.310). In this brief essay I want to take account of the essential elements of Adlers theory as they have become central to clinical and counseling practices. In a few words I hope to highlight the tremendous contribution Individual Psychology practitioners make and then speculate how Individual Psychology could, and I think should, grow, evolve and contribute in the next 100 years. The seeds for these developments are in Adlers works augmented by the works of his followers in the ensuing decades. The key terms and concepts that comprise Individual Psychology are: holistic, phenomenological, teleological, field-theoretical, socially oriented; assuming individual uniqueness, self-consistency, activity, and creativity (life style); an open dynamic system of motivation (striving for a goal of success); and an innate potentiality for social life (social interest). These elements form the whole of Individual Psychology which as a holistic theory in itself needs each of them. However different elements can be emphasized for different purposes. Again, in brief, a hundred years ago when Adler formed the first Society of Individual Psychology the theory focused on individual dynamics in a social context taking off from his inferiority notions, compensations and the natures of superiority. With his 1910 paper on inferiority feeling and masculine protest as overcompensation, Adler dropped drive (Freuds basic motivational concept)as his operating concept and replaced it with value. The concept of masculine protest was followed by striving for power and then striving for superiority as primary goals, teleological motivators. Then, holistically, these constructs were incorporated and developed into the notions of life plan, and then life-style to represent the unified individual striving toward a self-created goal or goals. Adlers theory was almost fully explained and clarified in The Neurotic Constitution published in 1912, which was considered by many to be Adlers most important book. His last major construct, the focus on social interest, draws together his theory with a positive mental health orientation for the individual and a positive view of the healthy and utopian human community. This construct was not introduced until 1918.

Emphasizing the holistic nature of the theory one can divide the evolution of the theory into the psychological and personological aspects in which inferiority/superiority are primary and the
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sociological and idealistic aspects in which social interest is primary. The personological, inferiority/superiority portion of the theory was earlier and most developed by Adler because it is central to understanding and the practice of treating individuals. Although fully understanding individual personality and goals of superiority requires awareness of social interest and community feeling, modifying extremes of inferiority feeling improves mental health. That this modification implies increased social interest is not always recognized. It is only with Adlers later amplification and stress on social interest that one realizes that mental health is measured by social interest for the individual, and, a point of this essay, society. Adlers personal development foretells the development of his theory. In 1915, as World War 1 took its toll on human misery, Adler was drafted to serve as a physician in the Austro-Hungarian army. He served in Vienna and in a Polish province of Austria. Confronted with the enormity of the suffering of war casualties, both physical and psychological, he concluded, one should not be content to cure mental illnesses, but one should make every effort to prevent them. He came to see social interest, community feeling, as the standard of an individuals mental health. This was accompanied by his conviction that the benefits of social interest should run through society in education, parenting, organizations, and community. After the war he became more involved with politics through the Socialist-Democratic Party with particular emphasis on educational activities and educational reform. He received permission to establish his first child guidance clinic in Vienna in 1922. He welcomed parents, teachers, and visitors in the audience at open forum counseling Starting in the 1920s, Adler spent more and more time teaching in different formats with a major emphasis on prevention of mental illness, and maladjustment. He continued to counsel and to attend to his clinics and to lecture but his evenings were increasingly occupied with discussions held at his home with supporters, enthusiasts and adherents. In 1926 he began to spend more time in the United States. He met and counseled people in New York and traveled across the country lecturing to a wide variety of audiences. His academic lectures drew large crowds at Harvard and Brown as did his public lectures in Cincinnati and Milwaukee and at several schools in California. His lecture for teachers at the Opera House in Chicago was sold out and 2,500 applications to attend had to be turned down. Adler published articles, pamphlets, and books throughout his professional life. His most popular book, Understanding Human Nature, was published in 1927. This book, like several other publications, was based on lectures that were taken down and transcribed by supporters and followers. This was valuable, in that these materials might not otherwise have been published, particularly his views on feminism and the woman question. When the Austrofascists overthrew the Austrian Republic in 1934 they almost immediately abolished school reform with related programs. Adlers clinics were closed; the educational reforms they practiced philosophically contradicted the Fascists viewpoint. Adlers Jewish heritage may also have played a role (even though he had converted to Christianity long before). His wife, Raissa, and their oldest daughter, Valentine, had remained in Europe until this time when so many who were able fled the Nazis. Raissa moved to be with Adler in New York. Valentine, whose political views were closer to her mothers, went to the Soviet Union. She was not heard from again. He made great efforts and every contact he had including Albert Einstein to locate her, but to no avail.

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Through the 1930s Adler worked at a frenetic pace. In the spring of 1937 he embarked on a tour of Europe, lecturing and meeting friends and a variety of colleagues. He was scheduled to lecture in Aberdeen on May 28th. In the days prior to this lecture he mentioned that he was still upset not knowing his daughter Valentines whereabouts and condition. He wrote that his heart was breaking. Before he was due to lecture that evening he took a walk in the neighborhood of his hotel and he collapsed from a heart attack. He died in the ambulance taking him to the hospital. A sickly middle class European Jewish boy, Adler realized the feelings of inferiority and the dynamics of compensation. He felt for the downtrodden and different and these sympathies were evident in his early practice, writings and political involvements. His ambitions were to assist humankind. Yet he began by trying to understand individuals and saw that individuals were responsible for who they were as they were responsible for whom they wanted to be. And he saw too that they were influenced by their immediate and greater social environment as they perceived this world and their perceived place in it. The way they thought they could belong, the demands they made on themselves, their goal(s) to have a place was their own individual creation. They created their goals, and life plan or lifestyle, on their own understanding of the world, their environment. This phenomenological approach allows detailed and comprehensive understanding of individuals and equal understanding of social life. What is the present state of Adlerian Psychology.? As I see it, the clinical/counseling theory and practice has grown in sophistication and use. In many countries Adlerian therapists and counselors are active and prevalent. Adlerian Psychology is also the basis for classroom and school wide practices in many places. The individual personality in a social setting, as understood by Individual Psychology, the inferiority-superiority axis, forms the underpinning of these practices. An aim, possibly THE aim, of Adlerian practice is for the individual to accept his place, and operate, as an equal, worthy individual among others who are the same. That is, for the individual to live as a socially interested person, and thereby to live following the Golden Rule. Much in the development of Individual Psychology has emphasized treating, changing , helping the individual one on one, in the family, in small groups, and through education. Education is the one of these vehicles that can somewhat efficiently reach large numbers of persons. Adler clearly wanted to reach the masses, to cure the world, to imbue the world with social interest. The first 100 years of Individual Psychology have stressed the well being of the individual first, and, as IP has influenced the rest of psychology it has done so within this individualist model. In my view, the emphasis needs to change. Adlerians know that if families function on an egalitarian, cooperative model the potential increases for its members to be healthy socially interested citizens. Communities and countries organized the same way should have the same outcomes. The challenge for the next 100 years, for Adlerian Psychology and the world, is to organize for equality. Hierarchical societal structures and international political and economic structures have to be recognized for their destructive power. The structures have to be altered or the issues of superiority and inferiority will continue to be central to social living and individual personalities. Adler focused on the potential for social interest. The potential still exists. The challenge for Adlerians is to organize the worlds communities along egalitarian lines to realize that potential.

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And maybe Adlerians have begun by helping individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities to become cooperative, egalitarian, and democratic.

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Using The Number One Priority and Sensory Type to Understand Life Style in the Group Workshop
Hironori Nakajima

Adlerian psychology stresses the uniqueness of the individual. We must understand that each individuals particular life style. Using typology is very useful that we can use this tool as a bridge (Pew, 1976) or door knob to understand each individuals life style in the group setting. Adler believed that typologies were helpful in understanding each individuals. The purpose of this presentation is to indicate the point of which we devised into segments to better understand different life style. Using typologies in the group Adler made typologies based on its activity and social interest in which are; ruling type, getting type, avoiding type and useful type. Mosak (1977) made getter, driver controller, and the one who wants to be right and so on. We find that by using sensory type with number one priority in group workshop helps to understand how others see, hear, and feel about themselves and the world itself. Also, we believe that by using these theories simultaneously and letting the members to describe his/her own life style as well as other members life style by nick-name is very effective way to understand the life style. The number one priority As all of us may know well these theories, however, let us go through a brief explanation. Pew (1976) wrote; The number one priority is a set of convictions that a person gives precedence to; it is a value established by order of importance or urgency that takes precedence over other values. Dewey (1978) wrote; The number one priority is one aspect of life style. and they are answers to the questions, What is most important in my quest for belonging? and what must I most urgently avoid? The four priorities are divided into these categories: Comfort, Pleasing, Control, and Superiority. Now that we use new categorization by taking into account the variables of Problem Solution vs. Human Relation Maintenance, Passive Movement vs. Active Movement. The articles related to number one priority (1) Following are showing how the Number One Priority is implemented in the field of therapy and research. (1) Appling number one priorities to understand family dynamics, the pattern of transactions, and their purpose. (Dinkmeyer & Carlson, 1983 (2) Using priorities for financial counseling. (Poduska, B., 1985) (3) Using priorities in Training in Marriage Enrichment (TIME). ( Dinkmeyer & Carlson, 1985) (4) Investigated the role personality priorities play in forming a marriage. (Evans T., & Bozarth J., 1986) (5) Using priorities as indicators of marital adjustment. (Main & Oliver, 1988) (6) To explore the relationship between personality priorities and wellness orientation. (Britzman & Main, 1990, 1992) (7) Research on personality priority pairings in marriage and marriage counseling. (Holden, J., 1991) (8) Using personality priorities as avenues for understanding couples. (Bitter J., 1993)

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(9) Research on relationships between personality priorities and affect, depression, self-efficacy, and fear of intimacy. (Kottman T. and Ashby J., 2000) (10) Using personality priorities in marriage education. (Dinkmeyer D., 2007) We found the sources from The Journal of Individual Psychology. This theory is effective especially for marriage, couples and group counseling. Example to understand priority This is about one fictive example to better understand what is Priority. We inquired to several certified Adlerian Psychotherapists. All of them said it was difficult to say if not asking more of Mr. As feeling. Although, all of them said that he may be a pleasing type. At the conference, Mr. A did a presentation of a project to his colleagues. Then, Mr. B said to Mr. A, The project must reconsider based on my plan. Mr. A was upset about his comments. After the conference, Mr. C told Mr. A that You dont need to reconsider your plan. Because you know the project more than Mr. B. Mr. A was confused. Mr. A, then, asked his friend, Mr. D What I should do? Mr. D told him Just do what you want to do. So Mr. A changed his plan as Mr. B told him at the conference. Still, Mr. A was concerned about how Mr. C would feel his decision. Following figures are showing the characteristics of number one priorities. We modified Deweys chart.

Tries to:

Assets:

Reaction of others:

Comfort

Seek his comfort

Easy-going, demands, peace maker

Feel peace few and or Annoyance

Pleasing

To please others

Feel pleased Friendly, considerate, and or Non-aggressive Exasperation

Control

Reliable Leadership Control oneself or potential, organized, or control others and productive Feel challenged Respect Knowledgeable, Want to be better precise, and or than others idealistic feelings of inferiority

Superiority

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Price that one pays:

Tries to avoid:

Feelings they often experience: Tiresome Anxiety Anger Depression

Comfort Pleasing Control Superiority

Reduced productivity Reduction in orientation Social distance Feel over-responsible

Stress Rejection The unexpected Meaninglessness in life

Categorization of Number one Priority (1) This figure is showing Our categorization taking into account the variables of Problem solution vs. Human relation maintenance, Passive movement vs. Active movement.

We use this categorization because members of the group can image the difference of each priority. For example, in Japan people often think that their priority is Superiority because they work very hard. We ask why you want to work hard. If the member said I want to be more knowledgeable. then his/her priority may be superiority. But if he/she said I want to meet others expectation. then his/her priority may be a pleasing type. Categorization of Number one Priority (2)

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This figure is useful for members of the group to understand that we must think contributive side of the priority.

The sensory type theory The Sensory Type Theory states that we have dominant sensory type when we recognize the environmental events. Adler himself didnt systematize the Sensory Types typology. Although he often used these types in his case studies. There are three sensory types; Auditory type - especially sensitive to story and listening. Visual type - especially sensitive to image and perspective. Sensory-motor type - especially sensitive to kinesthetic sense and emotion. Comparing the Number One Priority and the Sensory Type theory, we find fewer articles about sensory type theory. The NLP stresses the effectiveness of the Sensory type. We researched Adlers articles on sensory type. (1) From Understanding Life It is convenient for certain purpose to classify individuals in to types. For instance, let us take the case of person who remembers that she saw a marvelous Christmas tree, filled with lights, presents, and baubles. What is the most interesting thing in this story? The fact that she saw these things. she is always interested in visual things. (p60-61) In school, the education of children often disregards this principle of types. We may find children interested in visual things who will not listen to the teacher because they always want to be looking at same thing. (p61) (2) From Understanding Human Nature

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Of all the tools with which a child attempts to conquer the world, the sense organs play the most important part in determining the essential relationships with the world in which child lives. (p38) A child perceives only elements in her environment that fit into a behavior pattern. The perceptions of children whose visual sense is especially well developed have a predominantly visual character. (p40) (3) From What Life Could Mean to You If a teacher is to attract the interest of a child, he must discover what the childs interests have previously been and convince her that she can make success of these interests and of others. From the first, therefore, we should find out how the child looks at the world and which sense organ has been used most and trained to the highest degree. Some children are most interested in seeing, some in listening, some in moving. (p139) If in a childs first memories we see an interest in visual things, he will be more suited to an occupation in which he can use his eyes. A child might mention impressions of someone talking to him, of the sound of the wind or of a bell ringing he is an acoustic type and we can guess that he might be suited for some profession connected with music. In other recollections we can see impressions of movement. These are individuals who need more activity. (p204) (4) From The Education of Children What we have said about subjects of interest applies also to the sense organs of children. We must find out which sense organ is the most used and what type of sensations fascinate the child most. There are many children who are better trained in seeing and looking, others in listening, still others in moving, etc. (p185) Summarization of the characteristics of the sensory type. From Adlers article and our clinical experiences, we have summarized the characteristics of the sensory type.

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Auditory type Sensitive to story and listening

Visual type Sensitive to perspective image and

Sensory-motor type Sensitive to kinesthetic sense and feeling

Audience Grasps by sound and/or words

Observer Grasps by form , a color and an image Certain scene and pattern is important

Actor Grasps with an atmosphere and air A feeling and a sense is important

Logical and rational understanding and context is important Explains time progress and flow Tells it as a story

Explains placement

Explains the atmosphere

Tells one scene

Tells a general atmosphere

Sensitive to the tone of the voice

Cares much expression

on

facial

Sensitive to physical sense

Using typologies in the group We have studied that knowing sensory type is very effective method to understand how other people recognize themselves and the world itself, it is just like put ones feet into other peoples shoes. For example, Visual type person often uses visually perceivable information to understand others. Here is an example; visual type person thinks its OK if other people are smiling even in a fact they are actually tired. It could use as a trigger to increase his/her ability to fully perceive the reality by using all of the other senses. So we devised to implement sensory type with the Number One Priority at group workshop to be able to examine from a distanced point of view whats others priority in his/her position. Disadvantages There are some disadvantages of these typologies. (1) Members often forget the uniqueness of each individuals life style. And they tend to generalize the individual life style excessively. (2) Members often emphasize too much value on each type. For instance, Superiority type is better than Pleasing type, others believe that Auditory type is more mature than Visual type. (3) Members often believe that each type uses an individual rather than an individual uses each type. This leads to the wrong statement such as I am a comfort type thats why I dont want to work hard. or You are a control type that is why you always command me to what to do. (4) Members often want to belong to the type too much.

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(5) Members often forget the useful side of their life style, etc. We think that these disadvantages increase Aggressiveness. Is there any method that enables to understand the uniqueness of each members life style by these typologies? As we explained on the previous, if we put too much emphasize on selecting and dividing each types, we tend to lose our principal and the most important purpose of this classification which is; to better understand each unique individual. What do we need to do if we want the members of the group to discover that even the same type of the members are very different in many ways after each member of the group finds out his/her type? What we should do after each member of the group finds out his/her type? We think that we need the members of the group to discover that even the members belongs the same type are actually very different in many ways. What we should do after each member of the group finds out his/her type? We find it is very effective to listen and get to know the members' episode to understand their life style, referring to the others' type. Also, if the members find out his/her and other members personal strength and contribution from their episode, the members can understand his/her and other members life style in more positive and contributive way. If the group member puts the most suitable nickname to oneself and/or to other members, it will help them to understand his/her or other members life style in more positive and contributive way. These steps will increase Tenderness. The Flow of the Workshop (1) (1) To learn The Number One Priority and Sensory Type. (2) To find each members type. (3) To discuss with same type members how they think, feel and act in the certain situation. (4) To discuss with different type members. (5) To search each individuals strength of each type in their episode. (6) To find the most suitable terms or sentence in order to describe each members life style. The Flow of the Workshop (2)

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Case study #1 Lately, I was assigned to write the essay and the short report at school. It was very troublesome for me. Because I had to write 800 words for the essay and that I needed at least 1300 words for the short report. I eventually finished writing the essay and the report and counted the words by using Micro Soft's WORD software. What I did for the report and short essay was that I wrote down as much words as it came out from my mind onto each cards and I shuffled them and put them together to try to make a whole sentence. Priority: Comfort type. Sensory type: Visual type. Nickname: Koala. By giving a nick name on him, we recognize that he is a person who strives to achieve his goal with minimum power. Also, he is a person who makes other people happy and comfortable. He is a kind of person who will see things visually at first and then he tries to composite in order to perceive the matters around him. In this way, the goal for being comfortable is described more clearly and uniquely. Case study #2 I bought some cookies as a souvenir for my colleagues at workplace. I went to Hokkaido for a trip. I bought some cookies from Hokkaido as a souvenir and handed it my colleagues. They thanked me so politely and it gave me a warm feeling. At the same time, I also felt that maybe I made them feel an unnecessarily care due to the fact that I gave them a souvenirs. I felt sorry about that. Priority: Superiority type. Sensory type: Sensory-motor type.
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Nickname: Snow crystals. In this case, we can classify this person as Comfort Type or Superiority Type, without a nick name, we would be just concluding by only discussing what type she would be. However, with a nick name enables the member of the group to find his or her unique goals and senses. She, together with others help, decided to nickname herself as a Snow Flake That she always wanted to be a person to make other people happy, heartfelt and comfortable. Just as a snow flake transforms its shapes and anyone who sees would feel such happiness. She is happy if someone else is happy, but still, she wishes to remain as a humble person and just wants to be as Unsung Hero and not being too showy. So the Snow Flake is a perfect metaphor to describe her characteristics. Conclusion When we describe ones life style to distinguish by nickname, it would be more acceptable and without any resistance. It can be very pleasant and amusing to get to know the life style of others. This method is very effective to categorize into segments in order to understand other group members. References () () () () () () () () () () Pew, W.L.,The Number One Priority, Monograph: International Association of Individual Psychology, Munich, Germany, 1976 Kefir, N., Priorities: A Different Approach to Life Style and Neurosis, Paper presented at ICASSI, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 1971 Dewey, E. A., Basic Applications of Adlerian Psychology, p22, 1991 Mosak, H., On Purpose: Collected Papers, p183-p185, 1971 Dewey, E. A., Basic Applications of Adlerian Psychology, p22, 1991 Dinkmeyer & Dinkmeyer, Adlerian Family Therapy, Journal of Individual Psychology, 39(2), p116-p124, 1983 Poduska,B.,Financial Counseling Using Principles of Adlerian Psychology, Individual Psychology, 41(2), p136-p146, 1985 Dinkmeyer, D. Sr. and Carlson,J., TIME for a better Marriage, Journal of Individual Psychology, 41(4), p444-p452, 1985 Evance and Bozarth, Pairing of Personality Priorities in Marriage, Journal of Individual Psychology, 42(1),p59-p64, 1986 Main and Oliver, Complementary, Symmetrical, and Parallel Personality Priorities as Indicators of Marital Adjustment, Journal of Individual Psychology, 44(3), p324-p332, 1988 Britzman and Henkin, Wellness and Personality Priorities, Individual Psychology, 46(1),p43-p50, 1990 Britzman and Henkin, Wellness and Personality Priorities: The Utilization of Adlerian Encouragement Strategies, Individual Psychology, 48(2),p194-p202, 1992 Holden, The Most Frequent Personality Priority Pairings in Marriage and Marriage Counseling, Journal of Individual Psychology, 47(3), p392-p398, 1991 Bitter, J., Communication Styles, Personality Priorities, and Social Interest: Strategies for Helping Couples Build a Life Together, Journal of Individual Psychology, 49(3/4), p330-p350, 1993

() () () ()

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() Ashby, J.S., and Kottman, T., The Relationships Between Personality Priority and Affect, Depression, Self-Efficacy, and Fear of Intimacy, The Journal of Individual Psychology, 56(2), p.172-p183, 2000 () Dinkmeyer Jr., D. ,A Systematic Approach to Marriage Education, Journal of Individual Psychology, 63(3), p315-p321, 2007 () Adler, A., Understanding Life, p60-p61, 1998 () Adler, A., Understanding Human Nature, p38, p40, 1998 () Adler, A., What Life Could Mean To You, p139, p204, 1994 () Adler, A., The Education of Children, p185, 1970 () Nakajima, H., and Kamata, S.M.,One aspect of Number One Priority, Adlerian 12(2), pp165-p176, 1998 () Ansbacher & Ansbacher, The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, p166-p167,1964

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La adolescencia hoy
Adriana Naso

Literalmente, adolescencia (latn, adolescencia, ad: a, hacia + olescere: forma incoactiva de olere, crecer) significa la condicin o el proceso de crecimiento. As mismo, debemos tener presente que, de acuerdo a A. Aberastury y M. Knobel 1[la adolescencia, ms que una etapa estabilizada es proceso y desarrollo. Debe por lo tanto comprenderse para ubicar sus desviaciones en el contexto de la realidad humana que nos rodea. La adolescencia debe ser considerada como un fenmeno especfico dentro de toda la historia del desarrollo del ser humano, y por otra parte, estudiar su expresin circunstancial de tipo geogrfico y temporal histrico-social]. Debemos tomar en consideracin que en dicha etapa el adolescente presenta una gran inestabilidad y que, a pesar de que este sndrome es perturbado y perturbador para el mundo adulto, es absolutamente necesario, ya que, gracias a este proceso establecer su identidad. El adolescente debe enfrentar el mundo de los adultos y desprenderse de su mundo infantil. Este realiza tres duelos fundamentales: a) el duelo por el cuerpo infantil perdido. b) El duelo por el rol y la identidad infantiles que lo obliga a una renuncia de la dependencia y a una aceptacin de responsabilidades nueva. c) El duelo por los padres de la infancia a los que trata de retener buscando el refugio que ellos significan. En virtud de esta crisis, sta es la edad ms comn para sufrir los impactos de una realidad frustrante. Y es por tanto que la marginacin del adolescente puede llevarlo a presentar comportamientos o conductas no deseadas. Debemos tomar en cuenta que la participacin en el adolescente implica un abandono del como si del juego y del aprendizaje, para enfrentar el si y el no de la realidad activa. Sufre crisis de celos y susceptibilidad, exige vigilancia y dependencia. Es por ello que debe formarse un sistema de ideas, valores, principios a los cuales aferrarse. La calidad del proceso de maduracin, la estabilidad de los afectos, y la gradual adaptacin al medio ambiente marcarn su mayor o menor dificultad en su ingreso al mundo adulto. La actitud del mundo exterior ser decisiva para facilitar u obstaculizar su crecimiento. Son tres las exigencias bsicas de libertad que plantea el adolescente: -libertad de horarios. -libertad de defender una ideologa. -libertad de vivir un amor y un trabajo. Es necesario que participen dentro de las inquietudes de la atmsfera social en la que viven y soliciten la emancipacin porque necesitan adquirir derechos y libertades similares a las de los adultos y es a travs del ejercicio de dicha libertad que lograrn constituirse en personas adultas. La prevencin de una adolescencia difcil slo podr realizarse si la sociedad en su conjunto logra que el adolescente se desarrolle hasta el nivel adulto. Esto exige un clima de espera y comprensin, ya que es un momento crucial en la vida del ser humano. Es sorprendente, como deca el Dr. Francis Walton: [que hace ms de cincuenta aos el psiquiatra Alfred Adler haya podido articular en forma suscinta la cuestin que causa mayor nmero de problemas entre adultos y adolescentes. Adler manifestaba que2solamente aquel tipo de padre y maestro que haya sido hasta entonces compaero comprensivo del nio podr continuar en su capacidad de
Aberastury,A Knobel M: La adolescencia normal. Un enfoque psicoanaltico. Buenos Aires. Editorial Paids. 1989 pgs. 10-36. Primera edicin. 2 Walton, Francis. Como ganarse la cooperacin de los adolescentes en el hogar y en la escuela. Manual para padres, maestros, orientadores y directores. Editorial Centro de cambio y crecimiento. 1985. Caracas Venezuela. Primera edicin pg. 4 y 12.
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gua para los jvenes que estn a su cargo. Cualquier otro tipo de padre o maestro ser inmediatamente excluido por el nio durante este perodo; el nio no depositar en l su confan za y lo ver como intruso y an como enemigo. De nada sirve ser jefe si no hay quien siga las rdenes. Esa es la posicin en la que se encuentran muchos adultos]. Considero importante detenernos en el anlisis de la tendencia grupal por su estrecha vinculacin con la participacin y el rol que dicha tendencia cumple en el proceso del logro de una identidad adulta. En su bsqueda de identidad adolescente, el individuo recurre a la uniformidad para obtener seguridad y estima personal. Es all que surge el espritu de grupo. Es un proceso de sobreidentificacin masiva tan importante que la separacin del grupo parece casi imposible. El adolescente en este momento pertenece ms al grupo de coetneos que al grupo familiar. De esta manera, el grupo adquiere una importancia trascendental, y transfiere la dependencia previa a los padres hacia ste. El grupo se transforma en una especie de puente entre la infancia y el proceso de individuacin. Recurre al grupo para reforzar su identidad y a travs de su participacin en el mismo logra constituir su identidad. Otro elemento importante a considerar es la actitud social reivindicatoria, ya que sta se hace prcticamente indispensable debido a que la sociedad impone restricciones a la vida del adolescente. El adolescente trata de modificar la sociedad. En la medida que el adolescente no encuentre el camino adecuado para su expresin y realizacin personal, no podr ser un adulto satisfecho. Proveer al adolescente de las oportunidades para canalizar sus reivindicaciones determinar un futuro mejor. Uno de los signos ms destacables de esta etapa es la necesidad del joven de entrar a formar parte del mundo adulto, surgiendo conflictos debido a que el adulto rechaza la idea de tener que dejar paso a esa nueva generacin que le impondr una revisin de sus valores y de sus logros. Necesitamos hoy ms que nunca, recurrir a todos los conocimientos del hombre para contrarrestar la angustia que genera el crecimiento mismo y como manifiesta el Dr. Walton 3 [ Todos ganamos cuando la juventud ingresa a la sociedad adulta reconociendo que la vida requiere que cada uno de nosotros asuma su responsabilidad y que en la interaccin humana los objetivos positivos se logren por medio de la cooperacin; y todos ganamos cuando los jvenes confan en su propia capacidad de participar constructivamente en la solucin de los problemas que se les presenten]. En la formulacin de las medidas para una higiene mental del adolescente debe reflexionarse acerca de medidas especficas sociales que contribuyan al adecuado desarrollo del mismo, en una sociedad que le demanda adaptarse a un mundo globalizado, tcnico e industrializado, en el cual el nfasis se pone, de acuerdo a Juan Ignacio Pozo 4 [en aprender a aprender, siendo sta una demanda de formacin cada vez ms extendida en nuestra sociedad. La nueva cultura del aprendizaje requiere de los aprendices, cada vez ms construir o reconstruir los saberes recibidos, en vez de ser vidos consumidores de verdades absolutas]. Probablemente, uno de los grandes desafos, parafraseando a Jean-Louis Servan Schreiber5 es propiciar que el adolescente tenga [el coraje, entendido no como accin heroica sino despojado de vanidades y testigos, de asumirse a s mismo y al mundo externo con energa, integridad y rectitud]

Walton, Francis. Como ganarse la cooperacin de los adolescentes en el hogar y en la escuela. Manual para padres, maestros, orientadores y directores. Editorial Centro de cambio y crecimiento. 1985. Caracas Venezuela. Primera edicin pg. 33. Pozo, Juan Ignacio. Aprendices y maestros. Madrid. Editorial Alianza. 1998. Ficha bibliogrfica. Pg. 307. 5 Servan Schreiber, Jean-Louis. El retorno del coraje. Ed. Emec. S. A. Bs. As. Argentina. 1988. Primera edicin.
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Adolescence today
Adriana Naso

Literally adolescence means the condition or the process of growing. According to A. Aberastury and M. Knobel [ Adolescence is more than a stable stage; it is a process and development. It should be understood in order to locate its deviations in the context of human reality. It should be considered as a specific phenomena whithin the whole history of development of the human being and studied in its particular geographical, historical and social conditions]. We should take into consideration that in this stage the teenager presents instability and that although the sndrome is troublesome for adults, it is absolutely necessary because identity will be stablished throughout it. The teenager must face adults world and release childhoods world. He lives three fundamental mournings: a) The loss of childs body. b) The childs identity which forces the resignation of the dependence and the acceptance of new responsibilities. c) The parents of childhood. This is the most common period to suffer the impact of a frustrated reality. That is why the marginalization can lead to not desired behaviours. The participation implies to abandon playing, learning and facing the yes and no of active reality. He suffers crisis of jealousy and he demands monitoring and dependence. He must generate a system of ideas, values and principles. The quality of the process of maturation, stability of love and gradual adaptation to the environment will determine himself as an adult. The attitude of the external world will facilitate or hinder his development. Teenagers demand three basic liberties: timetable, defense of ideology and love and work. It is essential their participation in the social atmosphere they live in, because they need rights and freedom as well as adults in order to grow. The prevention of a difficult adolescence will only occur if society allows their development. This requires sympathy and tolerance. Dr. Walton states that: [ It is amazing that fifty years ago A. Adler could articulate the cause of problems among adults and teenagers. Adler stated that[ only the parent or teacher who has been sympathetic with the child will continue being a guide for him. Any other parent or teacher will be excluded by the teenager during that period; he will not trust him and he will be seen as an intrude and an enemy. It is worthless being a chief if no one follows the rules. Many adults are in this position ]. We should analyse the group tendency because of the importance this has in the process of conquering an adult identity. It is through the group that teenagers obtain security and selfesteem. The overidentification with the group is so strong that the separation of it becomes unthinkable. The teenager in this stage belongs more to the group than to the family. The group becomes a bridge between childhood and individuation. In this way he reinforces his identity and throughout his participation he builds it up. Teenagers try to modify society. If he does not find an adequate way of expressing himself he will not be a satisfied adult. Providing opportunities for expressing his vindications will determine a better future. One of the most remarkable signs is the need of becoming part of the adult world, which implies conflicts because the adults reject the idea of letting this new generation grow and revise their values. Today we need more than ever to utilize all the knowledge to diminish the anguish that the process of growth implies and as Dr. Walton states[ we all win when youth enters into the adult society recognizing that life demands the assumption of responsibility and that in human interaction the positive objectives can be reached through cooperation. We all win when teenagers rely on their ability to participate constructively in the solution of the problems that
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arise]. We should reflect upon the importance of contributing to build up an adequate growth of teenagers, in a society which demands the adaptation to a technological and globalized world. According to Juan Ignacio Pozo the emphasis is on: [learning to learn. The new culture of learning requires to build or rebuild received knowledge instead of being consumers of absolute truths. Perhaps one of the most remarkable challenges as Jean Louis Servan Schreiber states is: [to propitiate in adolescents the courage to assume themselves and the external world with energy, integrity and righteousness.

Bibliography Aberastury,A Knobel M: La adolescencia normal. Un enfoque psicoanaltico. Buenos Aires. Editorial Paids. 1989 pgs. 10-36. Primera edicin. Pozo, Juan Ignacio. Aprendices y maestros. Madrid. Editorial Alianza. 1998. Ficha bibliogrfica. Pg. 307. Servan Schreiber, Jean-Louis. El retorno del coraje. Ed. Emec. S. A. Bs. As. Argentina. 1988. Primera edicin. Walton, Francis. Como ganarse la cooperacin de los adolescentes en el hogar y en la escuela. Manual para padres, maestros, orientadores y directores. Editorial Centro de cambio y crecimiento. 1985. Caracas Venezuela. Primera edicin pg. 4 y 12.

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Newsletter Article Adler


Alyson Schafer

Alfred Adler was a man ahead of his time. He challenges us to think of ways that we can all get along co-operatively. Living as social equals in mutually respectful relationships seems easier to conceptualize today in our marriages and work place relations, but how do we do that in our role as parent? How can we live as social equals with our children and be respectful disciplinarians? Many rebuke Adlers child guidance ideas initially. They mistakenly think that social equality means children and adults are the same, which of course they are not. Adler was simply making an easy extension of the notion that if we find racism and sexism repugnant, so too should we revile acts of ageism. All human beings are granted respect and dignity as birth right. All humans should have a say in things that impact them, in accordance with their ability. Many resisters to Adlers parenting ideology hold fast to the idea that parents must keep an upper hand over their children least they become unruly. That attitude is the residual influence of Christian cultural, with its notions of original sin. Historically we conceptualized children as essentially wild and in need of taming, that the childs essential nature is something to conquer through force and other external control methodologies of achieving obedience. Scriptures reading spare the rod, spoil child are misinterpreted to mean corporal punishment is a requirement of proper childrearing. This is the mind my will or else thinking of parenting. Adlers IP presents a different perspective for parents to consider; more of a kids who feel good, do good parenting approach. Adlers evolutionist perspective, reminds us that human beings are actually social creatures who are hard wired to co-operate and find their social belonging in their group. The goal of the child then, is towards the positive and constructive. If the child can be helped to find their social place in the group, they willingly contribute towards the functioning of the entire group. In fact, its only if the child flounders at finding their place socially, do we see their struggle to solve this social challenge through more creative approaches that appear to parents as misbehaviours. Adler also is clear in stating that the discipline he espouses follows a learning model. He stresses guidance and education, not fear and submission. The parent in the role of shepherd or disciple to the child is charged with the duty of helping the child move from their infant state of dependence on others, toward self-sufficiency, and further onto interdependence and social integration. The iron clad logic of social living is made apparent to the child. These children learn to function using more common sense than private logic and learn to keep a focus on others rather than a self-interested perspective. Wed all agree that parenting is about preparing the child to function outside the family and in the larger society. Well, there has been a vast change in society since Adlers day. One may have argue with Adler that raising obedient child at home in the early 1900s was fair preparation for the obedience required in the autocratic classrooms of the day, where rows of desks and rote learning prepared children for line work in the factories of the industrial revolution. Adler would have won that debate given the time to espouse his full theory. But today? Today there is no debate. Its a no-contest fact that todays work world doesnt need conformist thinking or widget producing line workers. In fact, it may shock some to learn that todays workplace is not even looking for smart people anymore. Seems they have lots of those now. No, our millennial children need to be prepared for a work place that seeks out individuals who can work together in teams, who have people skills. They want people who are trained to be co-operative. Employers seek creative, outside the box thinkers, people who can synthesize ideas and solve problem

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creatively. The obedient conformist low risk child of the past may have found his home life preparation served him well for factory line work but todays information digital age wants the co-operative socially interested children that our Adlerian parenting paradigm will produce. This is our time to share Adlers original thinking with a world that may just finally be receptive to what we have to say. And I think THAT is exciting - for all Adlerians, and all humanity.

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HAPPILY EVER AFTER: A PRACTICE EXPERIENCE FOR FAMILY COUNSELORS, THERAPISTS AND EVEN THEIR CLIENTS!
Diana Snyder Al Milliren

One of the major concerns facing those who educate family counselors and therapists is the provision of adequate and effective practice opportunities. Although the issues are not common to all preparation programs, at least one or two of the issues present a problem to every program. What are some of these issues? First, we want a realistic or realistic-like life situation. Although we have attempted to utilize spontaneous role plays with students playing the parts, the practice opportunity provide is, at best, quite weak and often short-circuited due to lack of life experience. Second, we want to avoid negatively impacting those who would be real clients and provide them with the best service available. An inexperienced student could set up a volunteer couple for a really bad experience. Third, we want to be able to supervise the sessions either in vivo or by audio or video taping. Unfortunately, our real clients dont always cooperate and give us permission to make their business public. Plus, we cant always arrange for the best of settings in which to do the recording and many times the sound or picture or both suffer from a lack of quality. Fourth, it is so essential that we be able to provide effective supervision that we need our client couples to have tremendous flexibility. So many times, supervision occurs after the fact and the counselor/ therapist cannot stop to discuss what is going on in the session and try out something new. With this structure, we can stop the process at any time and offer hints and suggestions that will help the counselor/therapist be more effective in the moment. Fifth, when we recruit clients off the street, so to speak, we have no control over the kind of issues that our couples will present. Maybe our counselors/therapists would like to have practice with specific types of problems and no one shows up with those issues as the presenting problems. In this structure, it is possible to have the students deal with all sorts of issues from simple inattentiveness to infidelity. By creatively mixing and matching the major players in our practice groupings, we can have clients made to order! Sixth, we really want to protect the privacy of our clients since we cannot guarantee the tapes from going public. How many times have we picked up a supposed blank video tape to discover some folks that I knew, big as life, as the participants in a major therapy session. Seventh, the students have an invaluable opportunity to experience therapy in a large variety of roles dealing with a wide range of marital issues. This allows for them to gain an invaluable perspective. How often are we really given an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of the client? This creative activity offers a rich and rewarding addition to the preparation of family counselors. There are probably any number of needs that this structure can serve that we have not mentioned here. The best way to get a handle on the potential of this process is to use the activity as a practicum or internship experience. The Structure of the Activity As a way to introduce this activity, the students/participants are given a brief overview of Adlerian lifestyle assessments including the use of early recollections. The latter are explained with due consideration to their utility in couples counseling. It is explained that ERs provide meaning to current and past behavior that has led to issues in their relationships. This introduction requires

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only one facilitator, but it is recommended to use two. During the course of the activity, the clients and therapists are separated for some time, and it is preferred to have a facilitator for each group. This training may take anywhere from two to three hours depending on the expertise of the facilitator and the sophistication of the group. A breakdown of steps involved in the process and the time allotments are listed below: a) Overview of Adlerian lifestyle assessment and early recollections in couples counseling. Approximately 15-30 minutes. b) Character and early recollection creation, couple integration and formation, and therapeutic consideration discussion. Approximately 15-30 minutes. c) Demonstration of process. Approximately 30 minutes. d) Role-Play/First session. Thirty minutes. e) Process group. At least 30 minutes The Content and Character of the Activity Participants are asked to count off by threes: the ones and twos will become the clients; threes, the therapists. Each of the clients will be given a list of characters ~ persons of legend or fairy tale. (Refer to the appendix at the end of this article.) A brief description of each character and their lifestyle assessments are read aloud so that the participants who play the therapists are informed of their potential clients. The clients and therapists are then separated for 15 to 30 minutes. This length of time is at the discretion of the facilitators and should be determined by the readiness of the group. During this time, participants will choose the character they wish to play. This needs to be done on an individual basis. There are several reasons for this. First, there are equal numbers of female and male characters to choose from. When the clients choose their identity individually, there is a randomness that arises with the couple that is created. The couple will either be heterosexual, gay, or lesbian. In addition, the couple might represent different cultural backgrounds. Aside from Adlerian therapy, this technique has the opportunity for greater insight into cultural competence and diversity issues. Second, the couples that manifest are random providing a challenge to both the clients and the therapists. If the participants chose their characters together, there is a tendency for the participants to gravitate toward combinations which seem more likely. This would result in less creativity being required for all those involved. The character choice of one partner should not affect or influence the partner's decision. Finally, the client partners should create their early recollections independently. Clients should be encouraged to be as creative as they like and to develop details of the recollection which are consistent with their character's unique lifestyle and personality. The partner in the relationship should not be aware of the early recollection until it is revealed in the therapy session. This will ensure a more authentic experience and require spontaneity for all involved. Once characters are chosen and an early recollection created, the actual couples will form. Each couple will be formed from the sequential ones and twos that were counted off earlier during the introduction to the activity. At this time, the new couple decides on the issue they are bringing to therapy. The facilitators should encourage each couple to discuss the subissues that could arise as a result of each partners unique lifestyle and personality. The couples should be encouraged to layer the characters as they see fit and with as much detail as possible. Questions posed to the couples should include:

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a.) What are some conflicts and resentments that might arise from this match? b.) How have gender roles evolved over time and what will your character's stance on them be? c.) Who is the breadwinner in the couple? d.) What cultural clashes could arise? e.) How might diversity play a role in this relationship? f.) If a same sex couple, how might one's lifestyle orientation affect how the client presents in therapy? g.) What is the presenting problem? h.) How did the couple meet? i.) What qualities of the other first attracted the clients? j.) How have these qualities affected the presenting problem? k.) What would you add to this character's lifestyle assessment? Once these questions are addressed, and any additional ones the facilitators or clients might offer for consideration, the therapists are then asked to rejoin the group. At this point, the therapists have no idea who their clients are and what their presenting problem may be. During the separation period, one of the facilitators should lead a discussion with the therapists. This group should be encouraged to learn the background of each character as they will not know the identity of their client's until the session begins. Some of the therapists might be more versed in some of the character's histories than others. This fifteen to thirty minute separation may then be used by the therapists to discuss the backgrounds, lifestyles, and possible challenges of each client. It is always important for a therapist to recognize their own personal biases. For example, a female therapist might have an issue with Snow White's dependence on men. Each of the characters provided has a strong personality, and it is imperative that the therapist acknowledge this prior to the session. The facilitator should cycle between both discussion groups to ensure the conversation is on task as well as gauge the progress of the groups. If more than one facilitator, one may remain in each of the groups for the duration but should communicate with each other on progress. Once both groups reconvene, the facilitators will then demonstrate a 30 minute session. Depending on the number of participants and facilitators, there are a variety of ways by which this can be done. If only one facilitator, a couple with be used from the group. If there is an uneven amount of clients, the facilitator may partner with another client to create an even number of couples. Although the facilitator might use another couple in the demonstration, the odd numbered client with be coupled with the facilitator during the role-play. Lastly, if there are two facilitators, one of the facilitators will couple with the odd numbered client and this couple will be used during the demonstration. The demonstration should include several components. Alfred Adler (19), a famous Viennese psychiatrist, presented us with three basic elements that were essential to a good therapy session. Rudolf Dreikurs (1956), a protg of Dr. Adler, always discussed four phases. Other Adlerians, coming on later, expanded the activity of the counselor/therapist to include five elements. Essentially, there has to be the building of a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Next, there has to be some degree of psychological investigation in order to understand the clients life style and his or her present area of operation. Another element is the interpretation to help the client learn about his or her unique motivations, intentions and goals, which are often unconscious or unaware. The fourth ingredient in this process is noted as reorientation or reeducation, which has encouragement as a central ingredient. Finally, there is a need to include evaluation. Is the process working? Is it on target for the client? Is there any need to re-view anything that has been discussed so far? Does the client find the discussion useful?

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Dreikurs emphasized that these phases or elements often overlapped and that they did not take place in any specific order or sequence. These processes need to be attended to with different degrees of emphasis at different times. Rapport is usually one of the first that requires attention by the counselor/therapist, but understanding the client is also an important step in the initial part of treatment and may actually enhance the rapport-building by helping clients feel that someone actually understands them. A more important emphasis for the Adlerian counselor or psychotherapist is that the patterns of living that the client has adopted be disclosed to the client in a way that makes sense and is understandable. At various times during counseling or therapy (e.g., after a particularly discouraging week or difficult confrontation), the element of rapport building may again be emphasized while the other processes take a temporary back seat. Similarly, at some point it may be useful to explore additional early recollections or solicit other information typically thought of as part of understanding the client or patient in an effort to help the client learn about him or herself (Mozdzierz, Lisiecki, Bitter, & Williams, 1986). Once the demonstration is completed, the therapists and their clients will meet for their first session. The format should resemble the demonstration, yet the therapists are encouraged to incorporate their personal style as well. The role-play should limited to 30 minutes so that everyone has an opportunity to experience the process. Final Processing of the Activity Once the therapy sessions conclude, the entire group will process the completed activity. Some possible topics for discussion are as follows: 1. How did you choose your character? Did you choose one that resembled yourself or one that provided a challenge? 2. Were there any cultural issues that arose? 3. What was your process on creating your early recollection? How did the character help you in this process? When creating the early recollection, did you use an approach where you looked at lifestyle issues first, then worked backward to theorize some of the root causes? Or did you rather simply use your knowledge of the character's history as your starting point? 4. Was this approach easier or more difficult compared to other role plays you have done? Why? 5. What is the value of using already constructed characters in role play? How easily were you able to invest yourself in the role? 6. What insight, if any, did this exercise provide? More specifically, as a client or as a therapist? Did this insight influence the method you might use as a therapist? 7. Who were the characters in your couple? What was the presenting problem? What were your unique early recollections? What connections did you make between early recollections and presenting problems? 8. What value do you see in this training technique? 9. What were some of your challenges? 10. Does humor play an important role in the learning process? 11. What are you taking away from this experience?

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Conclusion The purpose of this activity is to provide a practical experience for family counselors in training. When it was first developed, the activity was perceived as providing a one-time experience for the trainee, however, such was not to be. By varying the characters selected by the trainees, any number of situations can be created; the combinations are almost unlimited. In a time when client privacy is an issue along with actual availability of clients, the use of this practice exercise satisfies training needs on multiple levels. A major advantage is that specific couple combinations can be set up, i.e., Little Red Riding Hood and King Arthur or Cinderella with Buffalo Bill. If a trainee has difficulty with the male partners in a relationship, the trainee can be encouraged to work with every possible combination of male characters with females. The uses are endless.

Appendix A ~ Character Descriptions for Happily Ever After The Wives Cinderella: Happiness is all you know until your mother falls ill and dies. You visit your mother's grave frequently and weep often. From this point, your father remarries and along with his new wife come her two daughters. Your new step-mother and step-sister undermine your every chance at happiness. You are forced to dress in rags and clunky old wooden shoes and are treated as a servant. The king has a festival in which hopes to find a queen. Although your stepmother and step-sisters attempt to prevent your attendance, you are able to pull yourself together by enlisting some bird friends to sew you a suitable dress and magical silken slippers. Your stepmother and sisters do not recognize you as they cannot conceive of such a transformation. Your escape is through physical transformation. Although you are not vain, you experience significant insecurity if you do not present in a beautiful dress. You have trust issues with females, especially acquired female family members. The Princess from the Frog Prince: In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends a frog (possibly meeting him after dropping a gold ball into his pond), who magically transforms into a handsome prince. Although in modern versions the transformation is invariably triggered by the princess kissing the frog, in the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw it against a wall in disgust. You have high expectations that you can change your man. Little Red Riding Hood: The story revolves around a young girl who was called Little Red Riding Hood, after the blood-red, hooded cape she wore. The girl walks through the woods to deliver food to her sick grandmother. A wolf wants to eat the girl but is afraid to do so in public. He approaches Little Red Riding Hood and she navely tells him where she is going. He suggests the girl pick some flowers, which she does. In the meantime, he goes to the grandmother's house and gains entry by pretending to be the girl. He swallows the grandmother whole, and waits for the girl, disguised as the grandmother. You cannot trust your own intellect and quite often second guess your feelings. Rapunzel: When the girl was born, the enchantress took her and raised her as a ward, naming her Rapunzel. When Rapunzel reached her twelfth year, the enchantress shut her away into a

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tower in the middle of the woods, with neither stairs nor door, and only one room and one window. You lack people skills and have trouble trusting people. Snow White: If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want. They warn her to take care and let no one in when they are away delving in the mountains. You are highly dependent and try to earn love through compliance and isolation. The Husbands King Arthur: King Arthur is about a boy named Wart, who befriends a magician named Merlin. As most readers will suspect all along, but it is not confirmed until the end, Wart is actually the future King Arthur. The story revolves around a sword that was magically embedded in a stone so that only the future, true-born king of England would be able to remove it. You feel entitled to your status and do not like compromise of any kind. You were always a king, long before you knew it. Peter Pan: A mischievous boy who can fly and refuses to grow up. Peter Pan spends his neverending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang, the Lost Boys. His adventures include interacting with mermaids, Indians, fairies, and pirates, and, from time to time, meeting ordinary children from the world outside. ,Enough said. Robin Hood: Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw of English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his Merry Men. You believe you must take in order to get your fair share. You are sensitive to any perceived inequality. Buffalo Bill: In addition to his documented service as a soldier during the Civil War and as Chief of Scouts for the Third Cavalry during the Plains War, Cody claimed to have worked many jobs, including as a trapper, bullwhacker, Fifty-Niner in Colorado, a Pony Express rider in 1860, wagonmaster, stagecoach driver, and even a hotel manager. It is unclear which claims were factual and which were fabricated for purposes of publicity. He became world famous touring with his Wild West Shows. You are easily bored and have a hard time with commitment. You have a tendency to run when the going gets tough. You also embellish your actions and adventures. Vlad the Impaler (Dracula): Dead and buried in a great tomb in the chapel of his castle, Dracula returns from death as a vampire and lives for several centuries in his castle with three beautiful female vampires, who lay similarly entombed in the chapel beside him. His relations with these so-called Brides of Dracula are intimate, and two of them seem to bear a possible family resemblance. Whether they be his lovers, sisters, daughters or an incestuous combination thereof, as some have conjectured, it has never been clear. You have several enmeshed relationships with family members especially women. You tell them everything.

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References: Adler, A. (1935). The fundamental views of Individual Psychology. International Journal of Individual Psychology, 1, 1 8. Barrie, J.M. (1911). Peter and Wendy. New York, NY: Scribner's. Buffalo Bill Historical Center (2011) Retrieved from http://www.bbhc.org/buffalobill/ Jamuary 12, 2011. Dreikurs, R. (1950). Fundamentals of Adlerian Psychology. New York: Greenberg. Grimm, J. & Grimm W. (2003). Grimm's fairy tales. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble. Mozdzierz, G. J., Lisiecki, J., Bitter, J. R., & Williams, A. L. (1986). Role functions for Adlerian therapists. Journal of Individual Psychology, 42 (2), 154-177. Pyle, H. (1883). The Merry adventures of Robin Hood of great renown, In Nottinghamshire. New York, NY: Scribners. Stoker, B. (1897). Dracula. Westminster, U.K.:Archibald Constable and Company. White, T.H. (1938). The Sword in the stone. New York, NY: Philomel Books

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LA NASCITA DELLA SOCIETA PER LA LIBERA RICERCA PSICOANALITICA


Ugo Sodini

PREMESSA Prima ancora che figure di grande rilevanza per i contributi apportati alla conoscenza dellessere umano e alla storia della psicologia, quali: Stekel, Jung e pi tardi Rank e Ferenczi, si allontanassero da Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler gi presidente della Societ Viennese di Psicoanalisi, interruppe ogni collaborazione con il padre della psicoanalisi e fond la Societ per la Libera Ricerca Psicoanalitica che, poco dopo, divenne la Societ di Psicologia Individuale Comparata. La collaborazione tra Adler e Freud, nata nel 1902 con la fondazione della cos detta Societ del Mercoled Sera (23), ebbe il suo epilogo nel corso del 1911, anno in cui si interruppe definitivamente (16, pp. 348-49). La rottura non fu n facile, n indolore ma, infine, sanc lautonomia intellettuale e scientifica di Alfred Adler (11, pp. 322-24; 24). Tale autonomia, per la verit, era presente sin dal tempo in cui egli si un a Freud ed essa fu sempre mantenuta, bench la circostanza che Adler fosse quattordici anni pi giovane di Freud, talora, ha fatto erroneamente ritenere che egli sia stato un suo allievo. Questo, per, non corrisponde a verit per almeno tre ragioni: a) sino dallinizio della collaborazione con Freud, Adler aveva idee proprie che ha continuato a sviluppare coerentemente e, alla fine, hanno condotto alla separazione tra i due scienziati; b) Adler stesso non si definiva o riconosceva come allievo di Freud; c) Adler non mai stato analizzato da Freud. Tutto ci, naturalmente, non significa che egli non abbia appreso da Freud; questo certamente accaduto ma accaduto anche lopposto cos che, come Ansbacher ha cercato di dimostrare (8), possiamo anche dire che Adler fu un freudiano quando Freud era un adleriano. Una maggiore vicinanza i due scienziati la ebbero nel periodo iniziale della loro collaborazione, periodo in cui limpostazione di Freud conteneva chiari aspetti umanistici o, se vogliamo, ideografici. E questo il periodo che va dal 1866 al 1900, periodo in cui i sintomi vengono considerati inconsciamente al servizio dellIo6, cosa che si pu evincere da lavori di Freud quali Studi sullisteria (1893-1895) e Linterpretazione dei sogni (1900) (8). Nel terzo periodo, dal 1923 al 1939, il pensiero di Freud si caratterizza per la rivalutazione dellIo e con ci torna a essere nuovamente vicino alla prospettiva propria del primo periodo, quindi, a quella concezione dellessere umano che originariamente aveva condotto Adler alla collaborazione con Freud. E a quella concezione che egli rimase coerentemente orientato sviluppandola per il resto della sua vita. Freud stesso ebbe consapevolezza che nellultima parte della sua elaborazione teorica tornava ad avvicinarsi ad Adler al punto che, pur senza farvi esplicito riferimento, sent il dovere di precisare come Il discorso riguarda anche cose che finora non sono state oggetto di trattazione psicoanalitica e non potr fare a meno di sfiorare alcune teorie enunciate da non psicoanalisti, o da ex psicoanalisti che hanno voltato le spalle alla psicoanalisi (14, p. 475). Il fatto che lultimo orientamento di Freud, il terzo periodo di cui parla Ansbacher, ha caratterizzato il successivo sviluppo della psicoanalisi e, come ha osservato Roazen, sulla base di questo sarebbe molto imbarazzante giustificare le accuse che Freud e gli psicoanalisti mossero ad Adler. Tale orientamento divenuto sempre pi parte costitutiva della formazione dello psicoanalista al punto che Ansbacher, giustamente, ha potuto affermare come nel mondo ci ciano cos tanti adleriani dal momento che i migliori freudiani sono adleriani (9). E un dato che
Sia Adler che Freud scrivendo in tedesco usavano il pronome personale Ich, che in italiano si traduce con Io. Tuttavia, si deve ricordare come ciascuno di loro con tale termine intendesse riferirsi a un concetto assai diverso. Coerentemente con ci, gli Ansbacher per tradurre il pronome tedesco Ich in inglese hanno utilizzato il termine Self, corrispondente allitaliano S, quando questo era riferito ad Adler, e il termine Ego, corrispondente allitaliano Io, quando questo era riferito a Freud. Gli Ansbacher, altres, in modo condivisibile, hanno specificato di ritenere pi appropriato il termine S, particolarmente dopo la distinzione che tra i due termini ha fatto Symonds nel 1951, concludendo come luso del loro S sia identico a quello che Allport fa del termine Io (1, pp. 190 e 546).
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il primo contatto accertato tra Adler e Freud avvenne proprio alla fine del primo periodo, databile 27 febbraio 1899, ed documentato da una cartolina di Freud ad Adler in risposta, apparentemente, a una sua richiesta di consultazione diagnostica (15, p. 242). In seguito, approssimativamente tra il 1901 e il 1922, linteresse di Freud vir distintamente verso una concezione delluomo pi meccanicistica, con la relativa accentuazione degli aspetti nomotetici, nella quale lIo venne fortemente svalorizzato e declassato a clown. Fu questo, come noto, il periodo in cui matur e giunse a compimento la separazione tra i due uomini. Ovviamente anche Adler, in quanto scienziato, svilupp principi nomotetici, principi, cio, che hanno una validit generale, quali la compensazione, laspirazione alla superiorit e il sentimento comunitario. Tuttavia, nella sua teorizzazione, laccento rimase sempre sulla dimensione ideografica, cio su concetti come stile di vita, opinione del s e meta individuale. ALCUNI RIFERIMENTI STORICI La rottura tra Adler e Freud, dopo un lungo periodo di latenza, divenne ufficiale con le dimissioni di Adler dalla presidenza della Societ Viennese di Psicoanalisi, rese note nella riunione del primo marzo 1911 (19, p. 178). La decisione matur in seguito ai dibattiti che si svilupparono dopo che egli ebbe presentato le proprie idee tenendo due conferenze davanti alla Societ, rispettivamente in data 4 gennaio e primo febbraio 1911 dai titoli Alcuni problemi di psicoanalisi e La protesta virile come problema centrale della nevrosi (19). Successivamente, nel mese di agosto dello stesso anno, Adler comunic le proprie dimissioni spontanee anche dal comitato di redazione dello Zentralblat fr Psychoanalyse (13, 20, p. 18). A quellepoca egli aveva smesso di frequentare gli incontri della Societ Viennese di Psicoanalisi della quale, con il sostegno dello stesso Freud, ne era stato il presidente sin dal 1910. Luscita di Adler dalla Societ, comera prevedibile, non pass n inosservata, n in silenzio. Una delle indicazioni del malumore che si era venuto a creare al suo interno - dopo che furono tenute le due conferenze e la discussione che ne segu - rappresentata dalla sottoscrizione, in data 26 luglio dello stesso anno, di una lettera aperta da parte di dodici dei trentacinque membri della Societ, in cui si proponeva di ristabilire una fruttuosa collaborazione; lettera che tuttavia non raggiunse lo scopo prefissosi dai firmatari (17, pp. 348-9; 15 p. 74). Con precisione non noto cosa abbia fatto Adler nelle settimane estive del 1911, ma probabilmente lavor a organizzare la Societ per la Libera Ricerca Psicoanalitica. In questo senso si pronuncia anche Leibin, affermando che nel settembre del 1911 Adler costitu il nuovo gruppo del quale furono cofondatori Furtmller, Otto Kaus, Oppenheim, Erwin Wexberg, oltre ad altri che lasciarono la Societ Viennese di Psicoanalisi (18, p. 28) quando fu chiaro che a quanti avessero voluto frequentare gli incontri tenuti dal gruppo di Adler non sarebbe stato permesso di frequentare anche quelli tenuti dal gruppo di Freud (19, p. 283). Infatti, dopo la pausa estiva, quando l11 ottobre del 1911 la Societ Viennese di Psicoanalisi riprese le riunioni, venne messa ai voti una mozione che prevedesse lincompatibilit per quanti volevano frequentare le riunioni del nuovo gruppo di Adler a partecipare anche al gruppo di lavoro di Freud. Lesito di quella votazione, cos gravido di conseguenze per lo sviluppo della psicologia del profondo, sanc lincompatibilit con undici voti a favore, cinque contrari e cinque astenuti. In seguito a ci Furtmller annunci le proprie dimissioni e quelle di Oppenheim, Hilferding, Franz e Gustav Grner e Paul Klemperer (19, p. 283). Successivamente, a nome di tutti, ringrazi il gruppo per gli anni stimolanti di sforzo comune, poi i dimissionari lasciarono la riunione per dirigersi verso il Caff Centrale dove si incontrarono con Adler e festeggiarono fino a notte tarda (17, p. 77). In precedenza, come risulta dai verbali della riunione della Societ, oltre ad Adler si erano dimessi anche David Bach, Maday e il barone Hye. Il fatto che Adler si sia dimesso dalla presidenza della Societ Viennese nel mese di marzo e che successivamente al mese di maggio non abbia pi partecipato agli incontri, una chiara evidenza della sua determinazione a separarsi da Freud. Ci pu essere compreso meglio ricordando come egli, nel 1908, avesse gi manifestato lintenzione di lasciare la Societ bench, in quella circostanza,

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Freud riuscisse a dissuaderlo. Di ci abbiamo notizia da una lettera di Freud ad Adler nella quale, tra le altre cose, si legge del tentativo di persuasione messo in atto: Mi piacerebbe persuaderla a riconsiderare la sua decisione e io sono desideroso di fare cambimenti conformi alle sue richieste (15, p. 244). Del resto, la stima e la considerazione che Freud aveva per Adler fino allinizio dei loro dissapori sono note. Anche la lettera appena citata lo conferma poich, in essa, Adler viene considerato il pensatore pi forte del gruppo viennese. Non solo, al tempo in cui i due scienziati erano in buoni rapporti, come ha scoperto Roazen, Freud gli invi per unanalisi la cognata Sophie, che era stata sposata con suo fratello minore Alexander (22, p. 201). Con tutta probabilit, quindi, il gruppo adleriano si costitu nellestate del 1911 a un tavolo del Caff Centrale di Vienna, e tra i suoi appartenenti ci furono Carl Furtmller, i fratelli Franz e Gustav Grner, il medico Margarete Hilferding, il barone Franz von Hye, Stefan von Maday, David Ernest Oppenheim, i medici Otto Kauss e Erwin Wexberg oltre a Paul Klemperer che ne fu anche il primo segretario e tesoriere. (5, p. 124). Inoltre, al gruppo si aggiunsero studiosi di Spinoza e di Kant, studiosi di Nietzsche, di Bergson e fino dallinizio latmosfera dellAssociazione fu in completo contrasto con lisolamento austero del circolo di Freud. Il fatto che il nuovo gruppo si costituisse in un Caff non deve sorprendere dato la sua struttura informale e Adler era solito dibattere a lungo sulle questioni al Caff Centrale, a volte dalle otto della sera fino alle quattro del mattino (12, p. 80). Inoltre, il Caff veniva frequentato abitualmente da persone che erano suoi amici di lunga durata. Tra questi possiamo ricordare leditore Franz Blei, lo scrittore ungherese Egon Kisch, il giornalista Egon Friedell, lo psicoanalista Otto Gross e gli scrittori Peter Altenberg, Rober Musil, Alfred Polgar e Franz Werfel (17, p. 85). LE ATTIVITA INIZIALI DEL NUOVO GRUPPO La migliore e pi esaustiva documentazione dellattivit iniziale del gruppo, e delle persone che ne fecero parte, ci proviene dai verbali che di quelle prime riunioni tenne la stessa moglie di Adler, Raissa Timofeyewna Epstein dallautunno del 1912 agli inizi del 1913. Molti anni fa appresi dellesistenza di questi verbali da Heinz L. Ansbacher e la cosa fu assai interessante, anche perch nella letteratura sullargomento vi erano indicazioni contrastanti circa la loro reale esistenza. Infatti, Paul Klemperer aveva riferito che le riunioni tenute dal gruppo erano piuttosto informali e che di queste non venivano tenuti verbali (5). Lo stesso Ansbacher riferisce di aver saputo dellesistenza dei verbali nel corso dellanno 1979 (10), mentre si trovava a Mosca, grazie a V. M. Leibin (18). Il procedere dellattivit del gruppo, inoltre, documentata sia dal fatto che alla fine del marzo 1912, cio pochi mesi dopo la rottura con Freud, ebbe inizio la pubblicazione di una serie di monografie dal titolo Scritti della Societ per la Libera Ricerca Psicoanalitica, sia dal sostegno progressivo che la nuova Societ andava ricevendo da diversi Paesi Europei, tra i quali la Francia, la Germania, la Serbia e la Russia. Inoltre, come osserva Leibin, il fatto stesso che i Dibattiti della Societ per la Libera Ricerca Psicoanalitica venissero pubblicati originariamente nel 1914 su Psikhoterapia, una Rivista edita a Mosca, dimostra linteresse che quel Paese ebbe, almeno inizialmente, per il pensiero di Adler. Infatti, nel 1912 lo psichiatra Russo N. A. Vyrubov, che era anche redattore del periodico bimensile Psykhotherapia, divenne membro della Societ Adleriana e poco dopo fece la stessa scelta anche I. A. Birstein. Sempre sulla stessa Rivista, tra il 1912 e il 1914 comparvero diverse traduzioni di scritti di Adler, oltre a recensioni di suoi libri e a notizie circa le attivit del gruppo adleriano (18, p. 28-9). Dopo la loro pubblicazione i dibattiti, come confermato anche da Ansbacher, sono rimasti a lungo dimenticati (10) e solo nel 1982 furono pubblicati sulla rivista americana edita dalla North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (3)7. SUI DIBATTITI
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Attualmente in corso la loro pubblicazione in lingua italiana.

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I verbali dei dibattiti giunti fino a noi, complessivamente otto, coprono il periodo che va dal 17 settembre 1912 al 2 gennaio 1913 (3). Gli incontri, tutti tranne il primo, si tennero di gioved e, secondo quanto ha riferito Klemperer, ebbero luogo in casa di Adler, al numero 10 di Dominikanerbastei (5, p. 124), nel cuore di Vienna, poco distante da Stefanplatz. Si tratta di documenti di notevole importanza sia da un punto di vista storico (poich riportano i nomi delle persone che presero parte agli incontri), che scientifico in quanto riferiscono la vasta gamma degli argomenti affrontati e dibattuti che, apprendiamo, spaziavano dalle osservazioni cliniche su un falso senso di colpa nei casi disteria, alla psicologia della paura, allomosessualit, alla nevrosi, alla psicologia di Pascal. Inoltre, testimoniano il fervore che animava il gruppo in quel primo periodo dattivit e mostrano, una volta di pi, come era diverso il clima che caratterizzava la Societ di Adler rispetto a quella di Freud. Le differenze tra questi due uomini sono state ampiamente notate e descritte nel corso del tempo (16, pp. 350-51) ed esse, del resto, non potevano che riflettersi anche nel loro lavoro. Unulteriore differenza pu essere colta nel fatto che Raissa, la moglie di Alfred Adler, partecipasse a questi dibattiti redigendone anche i resoconti. Da ci si evince come ella si interessasse al lavoro del marito, a differenza di quanto faceva la moglie di Freud per lattivit del proprio marito. Sempre con riferimento ai verbali dei dibattiti si deve osservare, comunque, come questi non coprano realmente tutti gli incontri che il gruppo tenne in quel periodo dal momento che, come riferisce Lou Andreas-Salom, almeno un incontro fu tenuto in data 7 novembre 1912, al quale ella stessa prese parte riferendone nel suo Diario, e di cui non abbiamo la verbalizzazione di Raissa Adler8. Dal resoconto di AndreasSalom si apprende che, assieme ad Adler, ella assistette alla seconda parte della conferenza tenuta da Oppenhein sul Faust, della quale ebbe ad annotare: Buona e interessante. Stimolante anche il dibattito provocato da Furtmller (4, p. 52). Dal momento che Andreas-Salom afferma di aver partecipato alla seconda parte della conferenza di Oppenhein ragionevole supporre che il gruppo abbia tenuto ancora un altro incontro anteriormente al 7 novembre 1912, del quale non abbiamo il resoconto, dove Oppenhein present la prima parte della sua conferenza. Incidentalmente, considerazioni analoghe sono state fatte anche da Ansbacher (7). Inoltre, sempre da Andreas-Salom, apprendiamo inoltre che ella partecip a un altro incontro del gruppo tenutosi il 21 novembre 1912, nel quale Adler lesse un proprio scritto sullomosessualit. Dal resoconto che ella ne fa si apprende che era presente anche Stekel si fatto vedere durante le riunioni, ed stato citato parecchie volte nelle relazioni (4, p. 65). La presenza di AndreasSalom e di Stekel al dibattito del 21 novembre non si evince dai verbali, probabilmente, perch i due non presero parte alla discussione. La presenza di Stekel invece documentata al dibattito successivo, quello del 28 novembre. Incidentalmente, interessante rilevare come la nota valutazione critica di Andreas-Salom espressa su Adler e la psicologia individuale abbia incluso, comunque, pi di un apprezzamento. Infatti, ella considerava Adler gentile e molto intelligente e si era avvicinata a lui non attraverso la psicoanalisi ma tramite i suoi lavori di psicologia religiosa (4, p. 39). Inoltre, espresse valutazioni positive sia su Oppenhein e Furtmuller, due tra i massimi collaboratori di Adler, e per il gruppo adleriano nel suo insieme Questo gruppo di Adler avrebbe molte qualit stimolanti, se si mantenesse alla larga dalla psicoanalisi (4, p. 52). Di altra prospettiva la valutazione espressa su Stekel, con il quale ella ebbe un vivace scambio di parole. Ma poich, essendo ospite di Adler, non mi era possibile provocare uno scandalo, Ellen ed io durante la pausa ce ne siamo andate (4, p. 65). Infine, espresse un ulteriore apprezzamento per il lavoro del gruppo adleriano: Anche indipendentemente dalla sua presenza [di Stekel] qui in queste circostanze, vedo bene che dovr ora rinunciare alle serate di Adler. Sono certamente interessanti, ma non sono soltanto i fatti interessanti quelli che mi prendono (4, p. 65). Di interesse anche la relazione tra Adler e Stekel in merito alla quale, in questa sede, possiamo

I verbali degli incontri redatti da Raissa Adler portano le seguenti date: 17 settembre 1912, 26 settembre 1912, 10 ottobre 1912, 14 e 21 novembre 1912, 28 novembre 1912, 5 dicembre 1912, 2 gennaio 1913.

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ricordare solo come entrambi furono coredattori dello Zentralblat fr Psychoanalyse e che, poco dopo luscita di Adler, anche Stekel lasci la Societ Viennese di Psicoanalisi. CONCLUSIONE Sono passati cento anni da quando Adler e Freud interruppero definitivamente la loro collaborazione. In questo lungo periodo, molti si sono chiesti perch allepoca non sia stato possibile per i due scienziati superare le loro divergenze o incomprensioni e procedere assieme lungo il percorso comune. Sullargomento si molto discusso, e ancora sarebbe necessario discutere, ma lobiettivo di questo scritto, vista loccasione che lo ha determinato, soprattutto quello di celebrare i cento anni di vita della psicologia individuale e non richiamarne le sue differenze con la psicoanalisi, per una sintesi delle quali si rinvia direttamente ad Adler (2, pp. 225-36). Pertanto, in questa sede, ci limitiamo a ricordare una sola considerazione: che Adler stato loriginario promotore di una psicologia del profondo soggettivistica in contrasto con quella oggettivistica fondata da Freud (6, pp. XIII). Il fatto, di per s, cos tanto rilevante che non possiamo fare a meno di richiamare lidea e la concezione che egli ebbe di un essere umano dotato di altruismo, umanitarismo, capacit cooperativa, creativit, unicit e consapevolezza. Queste caratteristiche che Adler attribu alluomo, hanno anche consentito di restituire allessere umano la dignit e il valore che la psicoanalisi aveva largamente compromessi e altres hanno fornito un concetto positivo di salute psichica opposto a quello di Freud incentrato essenzialmente sullidea di disturbo mentale (25, p. 31). In questo i pu ravvisare la cifra pi alta del pensiero di Adler: aver dato vita a una psicologia per tutti, a una psicologia che ciascuno possa afferrare, comprendere e utilizzare per il proprio e altrui benessere (26).

BIBLIOGRAFIA

1. ADLER, A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Harper & Row, New York, tr. it. [a cura di Sodini e Sodini], ANSBACHER, H. L. & R. R., La psicologia individuale di Alfred Adler, G. Martinelli & . Firenze, 1997;

2. ADLER, A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Superiority and Social Interest, 3a Ristampa rivista, Norton Company, tr. it. [a cura di Sodini e Sodini], Aspirazione alla Superiorit e sentimento comunitario, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma, 2008;

3. ADLER, R. (1982), Minutes of the Society for Free Psychoanalytic Research, Journal of Individual Psychology, 18, 1 : 22 - 27;

4. ANDREAS-SALOME, L. (1958), In der Schule bei Freud, Max Niehans Verlag A. G., Zurich, tr. it. I miei anni con Freud, Newton Compton, Roma, 1980;

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5. ANSBACHER, H. L. (1964), Editorial, Paul Klemperer, 1887 1964, J. Individual Psychology, 20, 124;

6. Prefazione, in ADLER, A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Harper & Row, New York, tr. it. [a cura di Sodini e Sodini], ANSBACHER, H. L. & R. R., La psicologia individuale di Alfred Adler, pp. 11-15, G. Martinelli & . Firenze, 1997;

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13. FREUD, S. [Editore], (1911) Zentralblat fr Psychoanalyse, Verlag, J. F. Bergmann, Wiesbaden. I annata, fascicolo 10-11, agosto;

Quando, dintesa con il prof. Ansbacher, stavamo preparando ledizione italiana di ADLER, A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Harper & Row, New York, egli ci sugger dinserire nel volume anche questo suo scritto, come gi era accaduto per la IV edizione tedesca del libro. Ovviamente, fummo lieti di accogliere il suo suggerimento.

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14. (1923), Das Ich und das Es, G. W. 13, 235-289, STUD. III, 273-330, tr. it., FREUD OPERE, Vol. IX, LIo e lEs, pp. 469-520; Boringhieri, Torino;

15. FREUD, S., ADLER, A. (1908), unpublished correspondence, on FIEBER, M. S. (1997), In the Out of Freuds Shadow: A Chronology of Adlers Relationship with Freud, Individual Psychology, 53, 3 : 241-69;

16. FURTMLLER, C. (1964) Alfred Adler, un saggio biografico in ADLER, A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Superiority and Social Interest, 3a Ristampa rivista, Norton Company, tr. it. [a cura di Sodini e Sodini], Aspirazione alla Superiorit e sentimento comunitario, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma, 2008, pp. 335-389

17. HOFFMAN, E. (1994), The Drive for Self, Addison-Wesley, New York;

18. LEIBIN, V. M. (1982), Comments on Minutes of the Society for Free Psychoanalytic Research, I. P. Journal, 38, 1 : 28 31;

19. NUNBERG, H., FEDERN, E. (Eds.), Wiener PsychoanalytischeVereinigung, tr. ingl. Minute of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, Vol. III, 1910-1911, New York, Int. Univer. Press, 1974;

20. ORGLER, H. (1956), Alfred Adler Der Mann und Sein Werk, Urban & Schwarzenberg, Wien, tr. it., Alfred Adler e la sua opera, Astrolabio, Roma, 1970;

21. ROAZEN, P. (1975), Freud and his followers, A. A. Knopf, New York; tr. it., Freud e i suoi seguaci, Torino, 1998;

22. ROAZEN, P., (1993), Meeting Freuds family, University of Massachusetts Press, tr. it. I miei incontri con la famiglia Freud, erre emme, Roma, 1997;

23. SODINI, U. (1985), Alfred Adler e la nascita della psicologia individuale, Psicologia contemporanea, Giunti, Firenze, XII, 71 : 60-2;

24. - (2004), Alfred Adler, la nascita di una psicologia per tutti, Attualit in Psicologia, 19, 34 : 205-220, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma;

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25. (2008), Introduzione alledizione italiana di ADLER, A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Superiority and Social Interest, 3a Ristampa rivista, Norton Company, tr. it. [a cura di Sodini e Sodini], Aspirazione alla Superiorit e sentimento comunitario, pp. 115-34, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma, 2008;

26. (2009), Insieme per sempre, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma.

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The roots of Adlerian identity


Michael Titze

In 1990 I talked to Pier Luigi Pagani, then president of the Societ Italiana die Psicologia Individuale, on the occasion of a meeting of the Scientific Commission of the International Society of Individual Psychology. He reported about the beginnings of Adlerian Psychology in Italy. In these early days he was taking part in a psychiatrist congress and presented himself as Adlerian. Dr. Pagani reported that the chairman of this congress then went up to him to see with his own eyes what a genuine Adlerian looked like! All Adlerians belonging to the older generation should have already had this experience one way or the other: As members of a small or even exotic group we trace our identity back to a man whose teachings have been built within the dialectics of greatness and smallness, of power and weakness, and of superiority and inferiority. This man, Alfred Adler, did not to take the easy way out by fitting into the established conditions. How could it otherwise be that he left the Psychoanalytic Association just in that moment when it was making its way into consolidation and establishment? It is not without significance for the history of Adlerian Psychology that our movement had started, in the very beginning, with an act of solidarity with an outsider. When Sigmund Freud came up, by the turn of the century, with his both innovative and provocative theses, he was fiercely attacked by many of his colleagues. A well known contemporary psychiatrist had even declared that Freuds assertions concerning the childs sexuality were no matter of a serious scientific discussion but rather a case for the police! At this time Adler was simply a medical practitioner being interested rather in problems of social medicine than in the investigation of psychiatric diseases. Nevertheless, he got involved into this dispute with his supporting of Freud. The following is a statement written by Mans Sperber in 1928: 1899 or 1900 was the first time that Adler attended a lecture of Freud. This took place in the rooms of the Vienna Medical Association where the statements of Freud resulted in laughter and ridicule ... Adler then reviewed the lecture given by Freud in a Viennese medical journal. He pleaded for an understanding of Freud and he demanded that one should come to terms with Freud and his teachings in an objective manner. Today it is arguable whether or not such a positive criticism gave the incentive for Freud to contact Adler. But there is no doubt that Adler belonged to the very few physicians being willing to join Freud in these heroic times. As a participant of the Freudian "Wednesday Society", Adler indeed was a loyal follower of the founder of psychoanalysis, even though he proved himself to be a genuinely original thinker himself. Problems, however, arouse immediately after psychoanalysis had begun to take shape as a successful movement. Now Freudian psychology was more and more acknowledged in academic circles so that its adherents needed no longer to fear for their specific reputation. Just at this time, Adler began to take a less comfortable path. In a more and more unconcealed and crass manner, he went on to criticize just those Freudian assumptions that on the whole he had accepted in the previous years. And he was not the sort of man to be put off by the offer of an important position within the Psychoanalytical Association of Vienna.

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One explanation for this development could well be Adlers unwillingness to take on an already established position of power. A fine example for this inclination is mentioned by Hertha Orgler describing Adlers activities at the age of 3 years: Alfred had developed an intensive passion for flowers. It even grew to such an extent that the little fellow was not permitted to enter the Imperial Gardens of Schnbrunn. This prohibition was not completely unjustified, as Alfred was surprised many times by the inspectors, squatting in the flower bed with his fist full of flowers. All the directions of the police that the picking of flowers was strictly prohibited, fell on deaf ears. Again and again Alfred escaped his nurses watchful eye and continued with his misdeeds. So the guardians of the law had no other alternative but to refuse him access to the gardens. Adlers exit from the psychoanalytical association (preceded by a bitter struggle against Sigmund Freuds authority) again resulted in a prohibition: namely the famous interdiction of Freud against citing Adlers works. Many Adlerians have suffered severly under this directive. The founder of psychoanalysis argued that such an inadequate theory and method should be ignored completely. In his exposition of the History of the Psychoanalytic Movenent, Freud indeed dismisses Adlers teaching out of hand and he goes on to draw a negative picture of Adler's personality itself. In this context, for example, Freud points to Adler's minor talents for the appreciation of unconscious material. And he goes on to define Adlers psychology as being less characterized by what is contended than by what is denied. Freud even gave a round to the contention that Adlers psychology could be associated with the process of repression in neurosis: His theory does what all insane people also do, namely rationalize for the purpose of covering the unconscious motive. Anyway Adler dared, despite this obvious persecution (Freud himself insisted on using this expression), to continue his own way. Together with only seven followers he left the psychoanalytical association in 1911 and formed his own society. The participants met in Adlers home and they dealt with very original topics. The identity of a new movement began to crystallize. Adlers group now was no longer dominated by natural scientists but by persons being concerned in some way with human sciences and societal problems. This is mainly because Adler was an avowed humanist who always saw the problems of the individual within larger social contexts. This very fact is of crucial importance for understanding the identity of Adlerian psychology. Classical psychoanalysis did not take these problems into account. A cordial, even familiar atmosphere went hand in hand with this preference for inter-individual problems. Adlers fondness for coffee houses led to meetings in the famous Caf Central. Later the Adlerians of Vienna met in Caf Siller, another well-known meeting place for literates. Viktor E. Frankl described the special atmosphere of these meetings at the 15th International Congress of Individual Psychology: The club-meetings were in the famous Caf Siller where Adler reigned evening for evening in his own kingdom. In the summertime he usually consumed a portion of the famous chocolate ice-cream which he stirred as long as it melted. Sometimes we were allowed to follow him into the club room on the first floor where we could listen to his piano playing and sometimes even to his singing. This type of uncomplicated social interaction found a close correlation in the specific therapeutic style. Adler always treated his patients as equivalent partners. Phyllis Bottome describes this special atmosphere of communication: There they sat, Adler und his patient, knee to knee, smoking like chimneys, and in the communicative process, each of the two attempted to fool the other. At the same time they tried together to fool everyone who was against them.

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Considering this human and genuinely humorous approach in terms of therapeutic relationship, one may come to a better understanding of Adlers notion that Individual Psychology is a cheerful and optimistic science. Against this background, an identification of the Adlerian self-concept will become possible. In any case it is related to that genuine feeling of social coherence and tolerance which Adler has called Gemeinschaftsgefhl (= community feeling). In spite of all scientific definitions of this term being worked out in the last nine decades, I am convinced that the very source of Gemeinschaftagefhl can be traced back to those specific encounters in the coffee-houses of Vienna! Formally Adler introduced the concept of Gemeinschaftsgefhl immediately after the end of World War I. Phyllis Bottome und Vincent Brome report: After war had ended, Adler was not the same person anymore, one of his old friends said. He seemed to be much calmer and stronger. Somebody asked Adler in the course of one of the meetings in Caf Central what the world of that time needed. And Adler replied: I think the world of today mainly needs Gemeinschaftsgefhl. Adlers biographers mention expressively that those sitting around him looked at him amazed. Was this the grand message he brought home out of the tempest of war? It is reported that Alexander Neuer, one of Adlers disciples, claimed: Gemeinschaftsgefhl! How can you understand this word you cant even find it in philosophy! This is, what the world needs, Adler repeated calmly. Phyllis Bottome writes: Beginning at this time in Caf Central, Adler wanted to influence, together with those men who sat with him at the table, the history of humanity. That is why they joined him unconditionally.

References: 1. BOTTOME, P. (1957) Alfred Adler. Apostle of Freedom. Faber & Faber: New York. 2. BROME, V. (1967) Sigmund Freud and His Early Circle: The Struggles of PsychoAnalysis. London: Heinemann. 3. FRANKL, V. E. (1984): Die Begegnung der Individualpsychologie mit der Logotherapie. Beitrge zur Individualpsychologie, 3: 118-126. 4. FREUD, S. (1971) Selbstdarstellung. Schriften zur Geschichte der Psychoanalyse. Frankfurt: Fischer. 5. ORGLER, H. (1963). Alfred Adler: The Man and His Work: Triumph Over the Inferiority Complex. New York: Liveright. 6. ROAZEN, P. (1975) Freud and His Followers. New York: Alfred Knopf. 7. SPERBER, M. (1928): Alfred Adler. Der Mensch und seine Lehre. J. F. Bergmann: Mnchen.

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8. SPIEL, W. (1990) Historische Reminiszenzen zur Entwicklung der Tiefenpsychologie, besonders der Individualpsychologie in Wien. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the German Society of Individual Psychology, Konstanz (Germany), May 25-27, 1990.

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Le radici dellidentit adleriana


Michael Titze

Nel 1990 ho parlato con Pier Luigi Pagani, allora presidente della Societ Italiana di Psicologia Individuale, in occasione di una riunione della Commissione Scientifica della Societ Internazionale di Psicologia Individuale. Egli rifer l'inizio e lo sviluppo della Psicologia Individuale in Italia ed in questo contesto mi disse: A quei tempi, quando, a un congresso di psichiatria, dichiarai di essere adleriano, il chairman venne da me per vedere coi suoi occhi come fosse un genuino adleriano! Tutti gli adleriani appartenenti alla generazione "storica" in qualche modo potrebbero aver sperimentato questo: come membri di un gruppo piccolo o forse anche "esotico", riceviamo la nostra identit da un uomo che ha costruito i suoi insegnamenti su una dialettica di opposti come grande-piccolo, potente-debole, superiore-inferiore. Quest'uomo, Alfred Adler, non era il tipo da scegliere la facile strada di adattarsi ad affermate condizioni di potere. Per quale motivo avrebbe lasciato lAssociazione Psicoanalitica proprio nel momento in cui si stava consolidando ed affermando? Non senza significato per la storia del nostro movimento che Adler abbia incominciato con un atto di solidariet nei confronti di un outsider con una cattiva reputazione: quando Freud si mise in luce allinizio del secolo con le sue tesi innovative e provocatorie, fu fieramente attaccato da molti suoi collegi. Un noto psichiatra dellepoca, come fu poi riferito, avrebbe dichiarato che la posizione di Freud sulla sessualit infantile non poteva essere oggetto di una seria e scientifica discussione, ma che piuttosto costituiva un caso per la polizia! Adler, nonostante fosse a quel tempi pi interessato ai problemi della medicina sociale che alle ricerche sulla nevrosi, si coinvolse e appoggi Freud. Il passo seguente stato scritto da Mans Sperber nel 1928: Nel 1899 o 1900 Adler assistette per la prima volta a una conferenza di Freud, che si tenne nelle sale dell'Associazione Medica di Vienna e fu oggetto di risa e ridicolizzata. Adler che recens la relazione su un giornale medico di Vienna, si batt per la comprensione di Freud e chiese che le persone si accostassero agli insegnamenti di Freud in modo obiettivo (7, p. 16). Oggi si pu solo ipotizzare se una tale critica positiva abbia incentivato o meno Freud a contattare Adler, ma non c dubbio che Adler fu uno dei pochi medici pronti a unirsi a Freud in quei tempi eroici. Come partecipante alla Societ psicoanalitica del mercoled Adler fu un leale seguace del fondatore della psicoanalisi, anche se dimostr di essere lui stesso un pensatore originale. I problemi sorsero dopo che la psicoanalisi ebbe preso forma come movimento. Ora la psicologia freudiana era pi conosciuta e i suoi aderenti non avevano pi bisogno di temere per la loro reputazione personale. Proprio in quel periodo Adler inizi una strada meno facile. Con modi sempre pi manifesti e pesanti cominci a criticare quelle posizioni freudiane che negli anni precedenti, allinizio, aveva accettato in toto: non era quel tipo d'uomo che si poteva dissuadere con l'offerta di importanti posizioni nella Societ Psicoanalitica di Vienna. Una spiegazione di questo potrebbe essere la riluttanza di Adler ad accettare una posizione di potere gi consolidata. Herta Orgler, quando descrive la vita di Adler a tre anni, ricorda un esempio divertente di questa tendenza: Alfred aveva sviluppato un'intensa passione per i fiori ed essa crebbe in modo tale che al bambino non fu pi permessa l'entrata ai Giardini Imperiali di Schnbrunn. La proibizione non era del tutto ingiustificata perch fu sorpreso pi volte dai guardiani mentre stava abusivamente sul prato fiorito col pugno pieno di fiori. Tutte le direttive dei poliziotti sul fatto che fosse proibito raccogliere fiori caddero nel vuoto e Alfred continu a sfuggire all'occhio attento della governante e a cogliere fiori. Per questo ai tutori della legge non rimase che l'alternativa di rifiutargli l'ingresso nei giardini (4, p. 11). Luscita di Adler dalla Associazione Psicoanalitica, preceduta da un'amara lotta contro lautorit di Freud, fu ancora il risultato di una proibizione, cio la famosa interdizione di Freud di citare i lavori di Adler. Molti adleriani hanno sofferto per questa proibizione, che era stata intesa da Freud allinizio collie una direttiva per ignorare teorie e metodi inadeguati. Il mio assunto pu essere

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verificato da vari commenti forniti dallo stesso Freud. Nella stia esposizione della Storia del Movimento Psicoanalitico, Freud scarta linsegnamento di Adler e tratteggia un quadro negativo della personalit di Adler. Per esempio, in questo contesto, Freud segnala che Adler ha abilit minori per valutare il materiale inconscio. Definisce la psicologia di Adler come una teoria caratterizzata maggiormente da ci che si rifiuta che da ci che si afferma, contribuendo a diffondere lidea che la Psicologia Adleriana avrebbe potuto essere associata al processo di repressione presente nella nevrosi. La sua teoria - scrive Freud in questo contesto - fa tutto quello che fanno anche gli insani, cio razionalizza col proposito di coprire la motivazione inconscia (3, p. 188). Adler os, in ogni modo, nonostante una chiara persecuzione Freud insistette nell'usare questo termine ed and avanti per la sua strada. Con altri sette seguaci lasci nel 1911 lAssociazione Psicoanalitica con lintenzione di formare una sua Societ. Il gruppetto si incontrava nellappartamento di Adler ed era interessato a temi, che non erano stati considerati dagli psicoanalisti dellepoca, orientati in modo positivistico. L'identit di questo gruppo cominci a cristallizzarsi. Il gruppo ormai non era pi dominato dagli studiosi di scienze naturali, ma da persone che erano interessate a scienze umane ed a problemi sociali. La ragione era che Adler stato un umanista dichiarato che ha sempre visto i problemi del singolo all'interno del pi ampio contesto sociale. Questo un fatto di cruciale importanza, per comprendere lidentit della psicologia adleriana. La Psicoanalisi classica non tenne conto di questi problemi, ma restrinse la sua area di interesse all'investigazione del processi individuali. Insieme a questa preferenza per i problemi interpersonali si instaur nel gruppo unatmosfera cordiale, quasi familiare. Questo era in contrasto con la fredda e riservata oggettivit dell'Associazione Psicoanalitica. La preferenza di Adler per le Kaffehuser port agli incontri nel famoso Caf Central e pi tardi nel Caf Siller, noto luogo dincontro di letterati. Viktor Frankl descrisse la speciale atmosfera di questi incontri al XV Congresso Internazionale di Psicologia Individuale: Il Club di Psicologia Individuale si radunava, sera dopo sera, al famoso Caf Siller, dove Adler era come un re. Destate, di solito, mangiava una porzione del famoso gelato di cioccolata che mescolava a lungo, finch si scioglieva. Talvolta ci era permesso di seguirlo nelle stanze del Club, al primo piano, dove potevamo ascoltarlo mentre suonava il piano e talvolta anche cantava (3, p. 119). Questo semplice modo di comportarsi socialmente influenz molto, in modo specifico, lo stile terapeutico di Adler che trattava sempre i suoi pazienti in modo paritetico. Phillys Bottome descrive questo nel passo seguente: Sedevano l, Adler e il suo paziente, ginocchio contro ginocchio, fumando come ciminiere e, nel processo comunicativo, ognuno cercava di imbrogliare l'altro. Contemporaneamente insieme si alleavano contro chi era contro di loro (1, p. 58). Considerando questo umano ed anche umoristico approccio, applicato alle problematiche della relazione terapeutica, il che di cruciale interesse per la moderna psicoterapia, si pu arrivare a comprendere meglio la nozione adleriana che fa della Psicologia Individuale una scienza piena di ottimismo e di allegria. Forse proprio questo atteggiamento di intimit e cordialit tra gli esseri umani che ha contraddistinto i primi adleriani. Di fronte a questo background, una determinazione dellidentit adleriana diverr possibile per la prima volta: In ogni caso questo ha a che fare con quel genuino sentimento di coerenza sociale che Adler chiam gemeinschaftsgefhl. A dispetto di tutte le definizioni scientifiche di questo termine, su cui si lavorato negli ultimi settant'anni, sono convinto che la vera radice del gemeinschaftsgefhl, come dell'identit adleriana possa essere rintracciata in quegli incontri nelle kaffeehuser di Vienna. Adler introdusse formalmente

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questo concetto subito dopo la fine della Grande Guerra. Phyllis Bottome e Vincent Brome riportano il passo seguente: Al termine della guerra, Adler non era pi la stessa persona, come disse uno dei suoi vecchi amici. Sembrava essere pi forte e tranquillo. Qualcuno gli disse, durante gli incontri al Caf Central di che cosa avesse bisogno il mondo in quel tempo. Adler replic: Penso che il mondo di oggi abbia semplicemente bisogno di gemeinschaftsgefhl! (2, p. 210). I biografi di Adler hanno ricordato espressamente che le persone sedute intorno, al Caf Central, lo guardarono sbalorditi: era questo il grande messaggio che Adler aveva portato a casa dalla tempesta della guerra? Si riporta che Alexander Neuer, uno degli allievi, abbia esclamato: Gemeinschaftsgefhl! Come puoi capire questa parola: non la trovi neanche nei testi filosofici. di questo che il mondo ha bisogno!, replic con calma Adler. Phyllis Bottome scrive: Nel periodo del Caf Central, Adler, con coloro che sedevano al tavolino con lui, voleva influenzare la storia dellumanit. Questo il motivo per cui si unirono a lui senza condizioni ( 1, p. 115). Bibliografia 1. BOTTOME, PH. (1957): Alfred Adler. Apostle of Freedom. Faber & Faber, New York. 2. BROME, V. (1969): Sigmund Freud und sein Kreis. Wege und Irrwege der Psychoanalyse. List, Mnchen. 3. FRANKL, V. E. (1984): Die Begegnung der Individualpsychologie mit der Logotherapie. Beitrge zur Individualpsychologie, 3: 118-126. 4. FREUD, S. (1971): Selbstdarstellung. Schriften zur Geschichte der Psychoanalyse. Fischer TB, Frankfurt. 5. ORGLER, H. (1974): Alfred Adler. Triumph ber den Minderwertigkeitskomplex. Kindler, Mnchen. 6. ROAZEN, P. (1976): Sigmund Freud und sein Kreis. Lubbe, Bergisch Gladbach. 7. SPERBER, M. (1928): Alfred Adler. Der Mensch und seine Lehre. J. F. Bergmann, Mnchen. 8. SPIEL, W. (1990), Historische Reminiszenzen zur Entwicklung der Tiefenpsychologie, besonders der Individualpsychologie in Wien. Documento presentato alla riunione annuale della Societ Psicologia Individuale, 25.-27. maggio 1990, Costanza.

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BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER


FRANCIS X. WALTON

Alfred Adler, the founder of Individual Psychology, helped us understand that all the main problems of life are problems of human cooperation. He emphasized the importance of finding our place among fellow human beings as an equal among equals. Adler helped us to understand how our inclination to avoid being in a position of social inferiority is so strong that no one will tolerate being in such a situation. (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956) When you see a relationship in which one partner seems to be agreeing to settle for a position of inferiority, look again, look more closely, because somehow, someway, the person who senses himself to be in a position of inferiority is likely to overtly or covertly deny their cooperation to the person who is treating him disrespectfully. The keystone of every cooperative relationship is respect for ones self and ones partner. We must sensitize ourselves to behavior that is disrespectful of ourselves and others. We must identify it in ourselves and reduce its presence. Respectful behavior does not include attempting to control our partner or the relationship. It does not include making disparaging comments about our partner, or citing imperfections of our partner to our partner or to others. It does not mean winning an argument or insisting upon being right. It does not include blaming our partner even if the placement of such blame is accurate. It does not mean using humor as a thinly veiled attempt to belittle our partner. It does not include punishing our partner openly or covertly by means of anger or tears. It does not mean using our superior financial status to demean or control, nor does it include using our greater command of logic or facility at debate to belittle our partner or attempt to make her powerless. It does not mean using alcohol to make life appealing as a substitute for the natural high which is a corollary of a respectful effort to face lifes daily problems. It does not mean using overt or subtle means of punishing a partner for our perception of his failure to meet our needs or wishes. It does not mean feeling mistreated or unappreciated when we conform to our partners wishes and leave our own thoughts and wishes unvoiced, and it surely does not mean using a coddling relationship with a child to gain a position of superiority in the marital relationship. One means to help us get a clearer view of the private logic we use that gets us into difficulty in intimate relationships is to take a bit of time to focus upon the models for relationships provided by our parents. If you experienced your parents relationship as one in which both parties demonstrated their respect for themselves and their spouse, you are indeed fortunate and probably are amongst a relatively small number of people. If even one of your parents modeled these positive characteristics you are quite fortunate. However, having such models does not compel us to act in the same manner as our parent in a relationship, but at least we have the opportunity to observe a respectful approach to a relationship in action, and we have the opportunity to make such behavior part of our approach to life as we move through the process of creating the belief system that becomes part of our style of life. (Ansbacher, Ansbacher, 1978) More frequently, it seems to this therapist, that we experience modeling of behavior between our parents that falls short of the ideal. Such modeling may include the following behavior: - A parent who dominated a spouse. - A parent whose primary goal was to please a spouse. - A parent who expected to receive special service.

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A parent who used anger and/or tears in an effort to have their way or punish their spouse. A parent who took little part in family life and essentially abdicated family responsibilities and neglected love ones. A parent who abused alcohol and helped to create an unsafe and frightening atmosphere. A workaholic parent who valued achievement to the detriment of the relationship with a spouse. A parent who was a martyr, whose effort to gain a high state of moral superiority involved laying down their life for the family in order to be above reproach. Parents who frequently were involved in conflict and disharmony. A parent who felt sorry for himself or herself who adopted the style of the victim. A parent whose primary goal was to be right.

The list of possible mistaken approaches to life that may manifest themselves in our parents relationship is probably unlimited, but the above list provides some idea of the information available to us as we are creating our own approach to the challenge of forming a respectful and cooperative relationship. The conclusions we draw from our observations become part of the belief system and are manifested in the style we will use in our relationship. We may copy our parents style, we may attempt to improve upon our parents style, but frequently we reject and even guard against a style that we judge as mistaken. We can analyze our own feelings and thoughts about mistakes we believe our parents made, and we can analyze our feelings and thoughts about aspects of our parents style of interaction which we value. This self analysis can help us understand what may constitute a position of inferiority for us. (I would not be a worthwhile person if I made the mistake my parent made, or, I would not be a worthwhile person unless I can emulate the good characteristics my parent brought to their relationships.) Understanding aspects of the private logic we bring to our intimate relationship can place us in a position to be more aware of our choices. It can put us in a position to be much more aware of what we would judge to be an imperfection in ourselves. Such insight can help us to be aware of our inclination to guard against falling to a position of assumed inferiority in the relationship by use of any of the great variety of tactics we human beings may use in an attempt to prove our superiority. When we wish to focus upon developing a more respectful approach to our relationship we must adopt an approach to our relationship that is not complex, but on the other hand, is not always easy to implement. This approach begins with self acceptance. Self acceptance requires us to acknowledge our imperfections while simultaneously regarding ourselves as an equal among equals. You see, while we may indulge in a lifelong effort to reduce our imperfections, a great deal of the strength we bring to our relationship with our partner (and elsewhere) is derived from our understanding that such imperfections do not require me to perceive myself as less than others. We do not need to perceive ourselves as less than others when our imperfections are revealed to us by virtue of our own insight, or when highlighted by others including our partner, or simply by the challenges of daily living. Probably the most beautiful quality we human beings possess is that we absolutely choose our attitude towards every situation we encounter. When we picture ourselves as being relegated to a position of social inferiority by virtue of our partners behavior, it greatly increases the likelihood

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that we will attempt to compensate for that perceived position of inferiority by belittling our partner or in other ways attempting to place ourselves in a position of superiority through some uncourageous and selfish means. Kurt Adler, son of Alfred Adler and a highly successful psychiatrist and teacher in Manhattan for many years, wrote that the most powerful thing that therapists have to offer their clients is to help them understand themselves more clearly to understand what they are up to, what they are trying to accomplish with their behavior. I believe this is also the most powerful thing we have to offer ourselves. Increased understanding of our objectives includes learning to use our emotions as clues and signals that can alert us to the private logic we are using and the objective we are seeking. When we wish to strengthen and maintain our relationship with a loved one we are being so courageous and caring when we alert ourselves to the fact we are calling upon the emotion of anger to help us defeat or punish our loved one. We need to train ourselves to understand that when we call upon resentment, anger, and rage we are preparing ourselves to fight or punish our partner. No one makes us angry. In fact, it is impossible for your partner to make you angry. How fortunate for mankind that regardless of the treatment we receive from our partner, we are not forced to become angry and vindictive, but instead can seize the moment to remind ourselves: I am beginning to get angry, and obviously the purpose of doing so is to help me defeat or punish my partner. I am not certain what I will do, but I am certain what I will not do. I will not attempt to overwhelm or punish my partner. Such action may involve quitting when we are behind, or letting our partner have the last word. In such situations strength comes from focusing upon those matters we control, side stepping the inclination to feel put down, and capturing in our mind the loving, courageous, generous thought, my effort is going to be to help, not to win or punish. Sometimes, it is helpful to invite our partner to focus on our mistake: I realize I am getting myself angry and Im not much help to us when I do that. Let me take a little break and come back to this when my effort is to help instead of fight. By means of such an action we are passing up the opportunity to make ourselves superior by putting our partner down. This is a courageous and respectful act. So often we find that when we treat another with respect, it is difficult for others to treat us disrespectfully. It is not impossible, of course, but it becomes more difficult. Such a courageous decision on our part so often stimulates a partner to feel caring towards us and to lose the will to treat us badly. Couples will benefit enormously from understanding that the issue in a fight is almost never what it seems to be. We may believe that the fight is about some disagreement as to how we should discipline our child, or which parents we should visit during Christmas holidays, but if we are in a fight, the real issue is who will win and who will lose, who will control my life, or in other words, who is up and who is down. In a fight each person knows exactly what the other person should do, which is the most useless information they can have, because the other person is not going to agree with us. It is actually comical to picture one partner saying the in midst of a fight, You know, thats a good point, honey. I never thought about it that way. So our point is, teach yourself to recognize when you are getting ready to fight. Recognize the courage and love of self and others you are

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manifesting at that moment. It is so valuable to learn to encourage yourself. If others are a source of encouragement to us, it is very nice, but that decision is out of our hands. If you learn to encourage yourself, you possess an endless supply of encouragement. One might ask why am I not focusing more upon methods to bring about cooperation, the collaboration that we hear is so important in a relationship? What about compromise? What about sex? Well friends, this is the way it works. Once you are able to accept yourself and your partner with your imperfections; once you are able to side step the inclination to feel put down and put your partner down; once you have reduced the use of the disjunctive emotions that turn us against one another; a byproduct of such behavior is that many obstacles to communication, to cooperation, and to genuine displays of affection have been removed. You see, we simply cannot move in two directions at once. If I am against you, I am not for you. When the greatest impediments have been removed, the rest of the job is easy by comparison. Perhaps the most common detriment to a loving, cooperative, affectionate, productive relationship is not the overt displays of power that we see in some households, but rather the very subtle, covert and passive use of power that is present when we are not openly fighting but we are commonly against one another, resisting, jostling and often hiding our real intentions which are tied so tightly to our determination to avoid some position of assumed inferiority. No structured approach to cooperation will have any lasting effect until we truly view our self as an equal among equals. Our mentor Alfred Adler said it this way: Comrades must be equal, and when people are equal, they will always find a way to settle their difficulties. (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1978) Of course, our willingness to relate to ourselves and each other in such a manner does vary, but once you and your partner have experienced the reality of the relationship of which I speak, you possess the recipe. You have the road map. You can find your way back to the path where you move forward hand in hand, addressing the problems that life brings your way. References Ansbacher, H.L., & Ansbacher, R. R., (Eds). (1956) The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. New York: Harper and Row, 129-333. Ansbacher, H. L., & Ansbacher, R. R., (Eds). (1978) Cooperation Between The Sexes. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 124-125, 250-251.

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VOLUNTAD E INFERIORIDAD
Alberto Zurrn

El hombre es una dualidad sintiente porque siente hacia fuera y hacia dentro. Nace al mundo programado no tanto para comprender cuanto para inducir certezas de la experiencia y extraer conclusiones con las que dominar la incertidumbre. A lo largo de la vida ese cmulo de experiencias van nutriendo una razonable necesidad de seguridad, de manera que el silogismo cognitivo por excelencia es a mayor conocimiento del medio mejor comprensin de los mecanismos de defensa contra las agresiones del medio. El problema radica en las agresiones originadas por el desconocimiento de uno mismo, en las agresiones originadas en el desconocimiento de los fines que mueven al hombre ms all de los impulsos irracionales ligados a lo biolgico, a lo fisiolgico, a lo sensitivo. En ese magma de sombras el hombre se siente perdido, desorientado. La disociacin entre ser y hombre es consecuencia de la distraccin entre medios y fines: es posible tender voluntariamente a unos fines, pero es imposible hacerlo con xito si se carece de una estructura inteligente de medios. La voluntad del fin puede resultar perjudicada por la errtica configuracin del medio, de manera que este desajuste de estructuras constituye una va hacia el fracaso. La novedad en el hombre fracasado es un instinto de revancha hacia el medio, la percepcin de la superacin como un derecho de represalia hacia el otro en forma de satisfaccin gratuita, la nocin de prjimo como enemigo fiable. Pero la inferioridad es la rama ontolgica de la debilidad. Nietzsche fue muy criticado (y mal entendido) cuando dijo que Jesucristo era una mezcla de enfermedad, sublimidad y debilidad. El genio alemn saba perfectamente a lo que se refera. El pronstico del hombre que se siente inferior no es un pronstico de fracaso, sino de sublimidad larvada. Convierte su singularidad en una oportunidad para demostrarse algo a s mismo: que slo es posible abandonar esa inferioridad a costa de proyectar sus conocimientos desde la intuicin a la voluntad. Por eso el hombre que se siente inferior es la viva imagen de un hombre llamado a soportar la prdida de proteccin para volcarse en la proteccin de su ideal, y ello sin otra arma ms que la voluntad, una voluntad correosa. La inferioridad de los rganos viene al mundo con una superestructura codificada para hacer posible la subsistencia en un medio hostil donde la evolucin no significar mejorar, sino compensarse para estar a la altura del otro y aborrecer la paridad con ese otro. Sin embargo, donde el otro no experimenta placer alguno el inferior s lo hace; tal es el premio aparejado a la vida como una sucesin de ciclos donde no se abandona un ciclo anterior y se entra en el siguiente si no es a costa de un cambio positivo, de una muesca en el principio de determinismo absoluto. No se trata de buscar un reconocimiento en los dems, sino el abandono del anonimato en que se encuentra el ser real para celebrar el hallazgo del ser ideal. El ser ideal es un camino sin regreso, una traslacin de la debilidad improductiva a una fortaleza slo existente en una representacin arriesgada de uno mismo, porque dar un solo paso en falso es desandar todo el camino y volver a ese estado hbrido entre el ser real que no puede y el ser ideal que no se deja. Es decir: retornar al ser real caricaturizado con la imagen del ser ideal frustrado. Las directrices del ser ideal que retorna fracasado al ser real ya no son las mismas que al inicio; el fracaso le ha hecho prudente y la inseguridad ya no es un valor al alza, sino un lastre que favorecer la claudicacin en sucesivos intentos. Eso es lo que hace al genio especial y diferente del resto de los fracasados: l ha sido capaz de sobreponerse una y otra vez a la asuncin de los fines como algo muy superior a los medios con que cuenta, ha logrado cultivar un aseado sentido de la responsabilidad hacia un fin del que se nutre en sus ansias por redimirse de la mediocridad. Por eso Adler tiene dicho que el fundamento de la psicologa individual es que todos los fenmenos de la vida del alma deben entenderse como una preparacin para una finalidad del objetivo. Sin embargo la caresta de fuerzas puede
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presentarse como un enemigo a batir en la persecucin de ese otro enemigo vital que es el propio objetivo. Es ah donde el concepto de inferioridad se disocia del de debilidad para seguir su propia contracorriente, para reconsiderar la escasez de fuerzas como una oportunidad impulsora de la reflexin y de la imaginacin. Podramos hacer arraigar aqu el concepto de neurosis tal como Adler lo contextualiza, pero sera atraer en el momento la en un inicio tan querida para l doctrina del Als Ob, del como si vaihingeriano, del ficcionalismo como apoyatura del ser que se siente dbil, pero no del ser que se siente inferior. La inferioridad protege al hombre de su debilidad y lo distancia de la tentacin ficcionalista. La neurosis es un protagonista secundartio que sobreacta all donde la voluntad ha olvidado su rol sobrecompensador: socava la confianza en las posibilidades reales y vertebra las ideales, contamina la magnificacin del ideal y evita el displacer del sacrificio a cambio del placer y la seguridad de la ficcin. En la polaridad hombre-mujer el axioma se traduce en acta como si fueras un hombre porque est impregnado de femineidad como una falla en la superestructura psquica; pero en el espectro de la realizacin personal la frmula es siendo dbil actuar como si el objetivo exigiera de m lo que no soy, la fortaleza que no tengo. Entonces la percepcin ya no es de una fuerza (ficcin), sino de una exigencia (realidad), lo que colinda con una voluntad libre de amenazas por estar tan slo enfrentada al objetivo (segunda realidad o realidad finalstica). Tejer el objetivo con el hilo de la voluntad en el telar de un sentimiento felizmente sobrevenido: el de personalidad. Pero qu pasa con el sentimiento de autoestima mientras el fenmeno de la personalidad va arraigando en el hombre que se siente inferior? Cmo canalizar mientras tanto el juego de debilidades cuando ya se ha perdido ab initio el juego de fuerzas? Adler alumbr y aliment su doctrina individual en una sociedad germinal de la actual en la que el sentimiento de comunidad tan slo era una agregacin de individualidades que no entraban en competencia, o mejor, en competitividad. En ese sentido el radio de accin de la voluntad suministraba mucha ms informacin de uno mismo que de los otros, por cuanto la prioridad para Adler era buscar el lugar ideal dentro de uno mismo ms que la insercin en el engranaje de la sociedad (comunidad) movido por un fin de utilidad. Si bien en aquel tiempo y lugar (Viena, aos 20) la inferioridad poda hilvanarse o coserse a un concepto de personalidad susceptible de evolucin triunfal, en nuestra poca la inferioridad se encorseta en el hombre como un traje estrecho que le impide la amplitud de movimientos en la escena social, imponindole un rol condicionado siempre por la accin del ms fuerte, del rival que menosprecia la utilidad del dbil y le condena a un crecimiento neurtico, a una rebelda insana, trastornada. Por eso Adler utilizaba el constructo de la represin para separarse de Freud, sin conducirla al terreno del inconsciente como instinto perverso, sino al terreno de la voluntad por la presin del sentimiento de comunidad. Algo as slo puede conducir a la asociabilidad, pero como un mecanismo de seguridad transitorio, en tanto la superestructura psquica se refuerza y cristaliza en la personalidad como sentimiento y no como un mero factum, de manera que la plena y verdadera satisfaccin del sujeto se consuma con una prdida de equilibrio a favor de una voluntad rebelde, extirpado de la misma el temor por sucumbir a la voluntad del ms fuerte. El temor ya no ser reverencial, sino introspectivo. En definitiva, esa voluntad cincelada en la adversidad conforma todas las fuerzas psquicas susceptibles de brindar seguridad (El carcter neurtico). El peligro reside en que esa voluntad inserta en lo que yo llamo una sociedad supervigilante sostenga un pulso con el sentimiento de personalidad para asegurarse la supervivencia y degenere en la voluntad de poder (Nietzsche) propia de una mentalidad dictadora que se impone al conjunto de sbditos con una parafernalia de actos reprobables. La experiencia individual del dictador es una experiencia balda porque no es una voluntad de enseanza, sino mando, un afn recolector ms que catalizador de voluntades para as nutrir la suya propia. La conquista del orden social y de la disciplina individual pasa por mutilar el hecho diferencial de la inferioridad en los sbditos con el

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instrumento del miedo, de ah que la tica de obediencia sea un concepto manipulado, una conducta impuesta para obtener la adhesin de yoes arrancados de la voluntad individual. Teniendo en cuenta que la voluntad de poder implica una obstruccin del fin al que naturalmente tiende un colectivo de voluntades la teora de Adler no se poda explicar adecuadamente en un rgimen de tirana vertical, slo en un rgimen de tirana horizontal o pacfico: la del ser inferior llamado a compensarse sin ms recompensa que la de su transformacin, algo que no ser posible sin la configuracin por el individuo de su prototipo, lo que Adler llamaba el estilo de vida, o mejor, el objetivo completo del estilo de vida, una visin del yo como un s mismo creador, basado en la autorreferencia y en un reduccionismo complejo. Pero si la curiosidad fue la primera piedra del edificio filosfico, la inferioridad es la primera piedra de una curiosidad implacable por conocerse a s misma en la faceta de la superioridad, en un nivel cuyo lmite ya no es la falsa suma de capacidades, sino la suma inteligente de artificios. La voluntad del ser real por hacer el difcil recorrido de su conversin slo puede cristalizar en la voluntad del ideal por modelar la aspiracin con las mismas formas que el objetivo. Slo entonces est ese objetivo asegurado. La experiencia acumulada poco importa en la aventura de la inferioridad, pues recordemos que buena parte de su estrategia es la confiscacin de ficciones y su transformacin en estratos verticales para edificar el ideal, el estar arriba como decantacin de una tregua rota por el miedo a sucumbir abajo. Es ah donde el hombre inferior acta con agilidad ontolgica (Salvador Pniker) y rompe el molde de su inmanencia. La ecuacin es quiero, ergo puedo, y aun cuando aquel edificio quede incompleto lo cierto es que el nmero de pisos y dependencias ser mayor que cuando el hombre era un proyecto desangelado, el incmodo cociente de un dividendo llamado malestar y un divisor llamado impotencia: el binomio del perdedor. En el caso del genio asistimos a una superproduccin de ideas como mbolo de una inferioridad que funciona a un voltaje mayor que en el resto de los hombres. El objetivo de aqul es buscar una sobrecompensacin desmesurada a la anomala de la inferioridad con la que ha venido al mundo y en la que se siente encorsetado, de ah que su dispersin intelectual no sea una tendencia, sino una necesidad. En su caso el sentimiento de comunidad no es un correctivo a su individualidad, sino el espacio vital donde volcar su necesidad de utilidad, de imponer su utilidad. La mutacin de su condicin inferior a travs del afn de superioridad pasa por una demostracin de sus facultades por las que puede llegar a hacerse perdonar el enorme hecho diferencial que supone la consumacin de su objetivo. La inferioridad del genio supone el ejemplo ms elevado de una voluntad carente de otras limitaciones que no sean aquellas con las que nace. Su concepto de virtud es una enucleacin de la tica como rgano y una entronizacin de la voluntad como forma de hacerse el bien, de forma que el concepto de mal slo sera la prdida de oportunidad en el camino de la superacin, de la sobrecompensacin. Es incapaz de afrontar o entender la tica si no es como ejercicio de autorresponsabilidad. En el genio la dicotoma bien-mal es ficticia, un residuo de sus fases primitivas de su evolucin anormal. La conformidad del genio con la comunidad deviene en la ltima etapa de su recorrido, cuando su s mismo creador ha cristalizado en una superutilidad que esgrimir como carta de presentacin; su sentimiento de inferioridad no le proporciona estrategias teraputicas para curarse de su voluntad enfermiza por sobreponerse, sino todo lo contrario: el genio se recrea en la perspectiva vitalista de una inferioridad forjada en el displacer de la enfermedad y la orienta al placer de la sobrecompensacin. Cuadra bien aqu el verso gnmico de Rilke al final de su Rquiem por el Conde Wolf: Wer spricht von Siegen? berstehen ist alles. Quin habla de victorias? Sobreponerse es todo.

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La conclusin es que en el genio bien puede hablarse de una supervoluntad como feliz excedente de la inferioridad. Su particular estilo de vida le condiciona, le aboca a la singularidad como correctivo de la normalidad, a una precipitada huida de la sensacin de igualdad. Su racionalizacin de medios para lograr el fin es un feroz anticipo del fin, de manera que el genio no ansa la meta para consolidar su singularidad, sino para probar la utilidad del medio como herramienta de su hazaa: la inferioridad, a la que el genio da voz a travs de una voluntad convulsa. La voluntad del ser inferior puede ser un hervidero saturado de una necesidad inagotable: la de estar arriba. En ese caso asistimos a una recombinacin de los pares antagnicos en un libre juego de fuerzas donde el estar abajo supone paradjicamente la concentracin de mayor energa, el lugar de trabajo para la psique en su tarea de proyectar y ejecutar lo proyectado con el mnimo margen de error. Es el modo en que la personalidad genial se cuela y se inserta en un momento cultural determinado y contribuye a su eternizacin. No en vano Adler defina la cultura como los cambios que la especie humana ha hecho en su medio ambiente. () Nuestra cultura es el resultado de todos los movimientos que las mentes de los hombres han iniciado para sus cuerpos. Nos encontramos ante una exacerbacin de la teleologa orgnica que incluso podra derivar en una resistencia intelectual para la comprensin del mundo con el objetivo de ceder el protagonismo evolutivo a la voluntad. A fin de cuentas ningn aliado mejor ha tenido la cultura que una voluntad de belleza, si bien al genio no le importa tanto la fenomenologa esttica cuanto la educacin esttica tal como Schiller la entenda, como un canal de comunicacin fiable entre el hombre como tarea y la sociedad como censor ltimo de cada individuo. En definitiva, la tarea que Adler impone a la voluntad del ser inferior es, primero, una introspeccin, y despus un ejercicio de credulidad, una ciega confianza en el juego de fuerzas interiores como trasunto de una potencialidad primaria que nos obliga a desarrollar. El rol colosal que Adler adjudica al ser inferior es una combinacin paritaria de sujeto y objeto, obligndoles a caminar en la misma direccin segn el plan de vida propuesto, ofreciendo un impulso ontolgico como compensacin a una inferioridad orgnica desgraciadamente irreversible.

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