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

Edición Centeneario

Centenary Edition

Abril de 2011/ April 2011

Montevideo-Uruguay

ISSN: 1688-7948

www.centroadleriano.org

E-mail: psicoterapias@centroadleriano.org

Cada artículo es responsabilidad exclusiva de su autor

Every Article is the sole responsibility of the author

 Nota del editor / Editor's note:

En esta edición de homenaje al centenario de la Psicología Individual, nos acompañan 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

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Índice / Index

Orientación adleriana a jóvenes en situación de fracaso educativo / 5

Adlerian counseling to youth at risk of secondary education failure 9
Andrés Buschiazzo Figares

Comment nous lisons Adler en France 13

François Compan

The Perfect Love Dyada 21

Ramona Covrig

El parkinson en el estilo de vida: presentación desde una técnica 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 síntoma / 33
The symptom 36
Yaír Hazán

Raising kids…a 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

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

The roots of Adlerian identity / 80

Le radici dell’identità adleriana 84
Michael Titze

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER 87

FRANCIS X. WALTON

VOLUNTAD E INFERIORIDAD 91
Alberto Zurrón

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Orientación adleriana a jóvenes en situación de fracaso educativo

Andrés Buschiazzo Figares

Pensar en clave adleriana la situación de la enseñanza secundaria en el Uruguay es pensar ante

todo en su situación política, social y económica. En el Uruguay, según datos obtenidos en
2009 por la Encuesta de Hogares Ampliada del Instituto Nacional de Estadística, los estudiantes
entre las edades de los 15 y los 17 años son los que abandonan la educación formal, aumentado
aún más la deserción en aquellos jóvenes que provienen de contextos socio-económicos
críticos. Otro de los aportes que revela la encuesta fue que hasta los 14 años la asistencia a
centros educativos es alta y casi homogénea en todos los sectores.

Por otra parte, Uruguay posee los indicadores más bajos del Mercosur de egresos en ciclo
básico y superior de secundaria. El 48,1% de las personas con 15 o más años de edad no logran
concluir la educación secundaria básica. 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 enseñanza secundaria ha sido atribuida, al
menos en parte, a niveles altos de repetición, rezago acumulado y alta deserción (Cardozo,
2008)” (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), pág. 98).

Sin embargo, el porcentaje de los uruguayos sin ninguna educación es el menor de la región
con un 1,3%, al tiempo que le sigue Argentina con un 1,4%, Paraguay con un 2,9% y por último,
Brasil con un 8,7%. Asimismo el estudio señaló que “el porcentaje de personas con estudios
terciarios ─ completados o no ─ de Uruguay, está por detrás del argentino, es aproximadamente
igual al paraguayo, y mayor que el brasileño” (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), pág. 99).
En tal ocasión los porcentajes son: Argentina 27,4%; Uruguay 17,2%; Paraguay 16,4%; Brasil
13,6%.

Esta situación de fracaso en la educación formal en los adolescentes uruguayos, hace pensar
sobre la vital importancia de introducir a la enseñanza primaria y secundaria las ideas propuestas
por Adler y continuadores, en lo que respecta a la educación social del individuo. Principalmente
sobre los procedimientos de psicoterapia y asesoramiento adleriano orientados ambos a la salud
y la educación y no a así, como el modelo psicológico y médico clásico, a la enfermedad. Las
diferencias entre ambos procedimientos están claramente explicadas en la expresión de Rudolf
Dreikurs “formar para el comportamiento práctico es misión de la educación y del consejo;
modificar la estructura de la personalidad lo es de la psicoterapia” (Rudolf Dreikurs en Erich
Stern y colaboradores, 1965, pág. 75).

La política 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 económico)
en detrimento del interés social y al mismo tiempo, necesite consecutivamente de la valoración
externa. “La teoría adleriana, fue desde un principio, un sistema…” (Sigmund Freud, 1970, pág.
813) que combina elementos sociológicos, médicos y psicológicos sustentados por un modelo
ecológico y ético de abordar al individuo en comunidad y pretende promover autonomía,
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

5
todo, social y educativo en un sentido amplio, mientras que el principal protagonista del cambio
es el sujeto en cuestión.

El objetivo de la psicología adleriana es la adaptación social del individuo. Éste se construye

ineludiblemente en un contexto social y es en el mismo donde el individuo orienta sus objetivos
de vida. La educación es el medio por el cual se orienta y se prepara al niño para las tres
grandes tares de la vida. Adler siempre expresó que todos los asuntos de la vida permanecen
subordinados a los tres problemas capitales de la vida humana (vida social – profesión – amor).
Y una cuarta tarea es la del arte, formulada por la biógrafa de Alfred Adler, Phyllis Bottome
(Alfred Adler Apóstol de la Libertad, 1952). Estos problemas vitales o tareas se encuentran
intrínsecamente relacionados y requieren para su correspondiente solución un adecuado grado
de sentimiento de comunidad. La forma con que el individuo resuelva más o menos cada uno de
los respectivos problemas, expresa de alguna manera el estilo personal de vida, es decir la
técnica de vida con la cual afronta los obstáculos del mundo interior y exterior.

“El hombre, en tanto que producto de nuestro planeta, desde el punto de vista de su relación
cósmica, no ha podido desarrollarse y conservarse sino en contacto íntimo con la comunidad,
gracias a la continua asistencia física y espiritual prestada por ésta; a su aplicación, a la división
del trabajo y a la debida multiplicación” (Alfred Adler, 1959, pág. 60).

Los jóvenes siempre necesitaron y obtuvieron orientación de un modo u otro. Cuando la

sociedad era mucho menos tecnológica, sofisticada y compleja, los padres y las familias con la
ayuda de los sacerdotes, maestros y profesores, podían proporcionar cierta orientación. 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 orientación vocacional. Tampoco los ritos de iniciación, que funcionaron en otro
tiempo para obtener respuestas en los momentos críticos de la vida, son tenidos en cuenta en la
actualidad como modos de sostener y acompañar al individuo por los períodos vitales de
transición. “La iniciación 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 iniciación al acentuar los valores de la juventud sobre los valores de la madurez (…)
Mientras continúa fomentando la libertad y fuerza creadora de la juventud, nuestra era necesita
descubrir también la productividad más poderosa y el uso inteligente de la libertad, reservados a
la madurez” (Fritz Künkel y Ruth Gardner, 1950, pág. 305).

De acuerdo con lo formulado por Fritz Künkel y Ruth Gardner en el libro “El consejo psicológico
En los momentos cruciales de la vida”, el arte de aconsejar tuvo un desarrollo tardío como
actividad específica, estando durante siglos reservado al maestro, al sacerdote y al médico. “Los
maestros han aconsejado sobre sus alumnos, a los padres de estos alumnos. Los sacerdotes
han dirigido la formación religiosa de sus feligreses. Los médicos han advertido o sugerido
siempre a sus pacientes determinados cambios en su modo de vida” (Fritz Künkel y Ruth
Gardner, 1950, pág. 49).

Fue Alfred Adler el pionero en proponer a la educación formal herramientas prácticas y efectivas
para formar hombres capaces de actuar con independencia en la vida. Fue tal su preocupación,
que lo llevó a establecer los primeros consultorios escolares y educativos en Europa como forma
de solucionar los problemas relacionados con la educación y la socialización en época de
posguerra (primera Guerra Mundial). A su vez, fomentó la creación de escuelas no formales para
psicólogos, trabajadores sociales, médicos y padres que quisieran capacitarse y experimentar
por sí mismos los principios adlerianos. “La primera escuela de verano, diseñado por Sophie

6
Lazarsfeld, se llevó a cabo bajo la dirección de Alfred Adler, en los Alpes austríacos en el verano
de 1932. En esta escuela de verano el trabajo y el ocio se unen de forma natural. El
Gemeinscheftsgefühl se puso a prueba otra vez de manera muy directa. Rudolf Dreikurs, que
estaba con ellos desde el principio, tomó esta idea en los años sesenta, después de emigrar a
los EE.UU y por lo tanto creó ICASSI, que se desarrolló como una institución típica adleriana”
(Titze, 1993 pág. 4).

Los autores anteriormente citados señalan que “el consejero de orientación profesional,
pongamos por ejemplo, no solamente habrá 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, perjudicará con ello a su aconsejado. Si la hace gravitar
totalmente sobre éste, le hará que cargue con un lastre que no podrá sobrellevar. Su cometido
estriba en enseñarle a elegir profesión. Pero enseñar, aquí, no se limita a una enseñanza teórica,
sino a ayudarle a superarse, a encontrarse a sí mismo, a descubrir sus posibilidades y ajustarlas
a las necesidades exigidas por nuestra civilización. El consejero ha de ser siempre un verdadero
educador y un guía capaz de orientar al individuo hacia el concepto de la propia responsabilidad”
(Fritz Künkel y Ruth Gardner, 1950, pág. 50).

La orientación educacional que realice el psicólogo adleriano en el campo de la educación está

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 sí misma la conveniencia o no de tal intervención.

Un tipo de intervención, denominada asesoramiento directo, implica que el psicólogo adleriano

trabaje directamente con el estudiante proyecto a desertar de la educación formal en los
aspectos psicológicos, vocacionales y sociales. Además, puede enseñarse a los padres métodos
educativos nuevos y democráticos. El propósito de este tipo de intervención versa sobre la
resolución de problemas concretos, ya sea en el individuo o en el seno de la familia. Este
abordaje no constituye una situación de psicoterapia adleriana propiamente dicha. La
psicoterapia, es muy recomendada en casos especiales e involucra recursos teóricos - técnicos
específicos así como de tiempos y espacios particulares. El común denominador de ambos
procedimientos está determinado por el enfoque educativo del trabajo a desarrollar. Al respeto,
“Dreikurs acentúo expresamente, que la psicoterapia es en el fondo un proceso pedagógico en el
cual no sólo la “lógica privada”, sino también valores sociales desalentadores tienen que ser
reflejados” (Michael Titze, 2009). Continúa una cita de Dreikurs, “el consejo psicológico, a
diferencia del psicoterapeuta, puede y debe dar efectivamente consejos. Todos pueden y tienen
que aprender a saber lo que hacen y lo que podrían hacer para resolver sus problemas
interhumanos” (Rudolf Dreikurs en Erich Stern y colaboradores, 1965, pág. 81). En última
instancia es el sujeto el responsable de elegir y decidir sobre su destino final. El asesor no puede
ni debe persuadir sobre esta decisión, pero sí orientar y alentar hacia el sentimiento de
comunidad (Gemeinscheftsgefühl).

Otro tipo de intervención es el asesoramiento indirecto, el psicólogo adleriano en este caso

informa de sus conocimientos a los profesionales y no profesionales interesados en aprender
sobre el enfoque adleriano aplicado al ámbito educativo. Estas personas han de obtener una
formación básica sobre los principios de la “psicología profunda teleológica” que explican el
comportamiento humano impartido mediante cursos, talleres, seminarios, demostraciones y
conferencias.

7
Quisiera terminar el presente artículo 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 niño - observó un día Adler -, entonces se
nos debe culpar a nosotros, pues ello demuestra que no hemos trabajado con bastante ahínco;
si en alguna parte existen personas que son antisociales y no cooperan, entonces todos somos
responsables conjuntamente, pues bien sabemos cuán fácilmente surgen errores en la infancia
que deforman el mundo para el niño y le privan de colocarse junto a otras personas. Sólo 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, ¡sólo entonces habremos cumplido
con nuestro deber!” (Phyllis Bottome, 1952, pág. 345).

Bibliografía

Alfred Adler: La psicología individual y la escuela, Editorial Losada. S.A. Buenos Aires, 1947
(Individualpsycologie in der Schule: Vorlesungen für Lehrer und Erziecher, Leipzig, [1929])

Alfred Adler: Comprender la vida, Editorial Paidós Ibérica, 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 Psicología Individual de Alfred Adler, Ediciones

Troquel. Buenos Aires.1959 (The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Burlington, Vermont
[1956])

Phyllis Bottome: Alfred Adler Apóstol de la Libertad, Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1952

Sigmund Freud: Historia del movimiento psicoanalítico, Editorial Santiago Rueda, Buenos Aires,
1970. (Schriften zur Geschichte der Psychoanalyse [1914-1916])

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE): Principales Resultados 2009. Encuesta Continua de

Hogares, Uruguay, 2009. En:
http://www.ine.gub.uy/biblioteca/ech/ech2009/PrincipalesResultados_%202009_Totalv12.pdf

Fritz Künkel y Ruth Gardner: El consejo Psicológico 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, Zürich, [1958])

Michael Titze: Gli Adleriani in cerca di identitá, Revista de Psicologia Individuale Nº. 33: 39 – 48,
1993. En: http://www.centroadleriano.org/publicaciones/rivista2.pdf

Michael Titze: Rudolf Dreikurs -el hombre y su obra-, 2009. En:

http://www.centroadleriano.org/Dreikurs_Titze.html

8
Adlerian counseling to youth at risk of secondary education failure
Andrés 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), pág. 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), pág. 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, pág. 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.

9
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 Adler´s 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
youth´s 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
student’s 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
Gemeinscheftsgefühl 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

10
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
(Gemeinscheftsgefühl).

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 children´s 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 humanity´s welfare, then we’ll accomplish our duty!" (Phyllis Bottome, 1952,
pg. 345).

11
References

Alfred Adler: La psicología individual y la escuela, Editorial Losada. S.A. Buenos Aires, 1947
(Individualpsycologie in der Schule: Vorlesungen für Lehrer und Erziecher, Leipzig, [1929])

Alfred Adler: Comprender la vida, Editorial Paidós Ibérica, 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 Psicología Individual de Alfred Adler, Ediciones

Troquel. Buenos Aires.1959 (The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Burlington, Vermont
[1956])

Phyllis Bottome: Alfred Adler Apóstol de la Libertad, Editorial Luis Miracle, Barcelona, 1952

Sigmund Freud: Historia del movimiento psicoanalítico, Editorial Santiago Rueda, Buenos Aires,
1970. (Schriften zur Geschichte der Psychoanalyse [1914-1916])

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE): Principales Resultados 2009. Encuesta Continua de

Hogares, Uruguay, 2009. En:
http://www.ine.gub.uy/biblioteca/ech/ech2009/PrincipalesResultados_%202009_Totalv12.pdf

Fritz Künkel y Ruth Gardner: El consejo Psicológico 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, Zürich, [1958])

Michael Titze: Gli Adleriani in cerca di identitá, Revista de Psicologia Individuale Nº. 33: 39 – 48,
1993. En: http://www.centroadleriano.org/publicaciones/rivista2.pdf

Michael Titze: Rudolf Dreikurs -el hombre y su obra-, 2009. En:

http://www.centroadleriano.org/Dreikurs_Titze.html

12
Comment nous lisons Adler en France
François Compan

Le sentiment d’infériorité et le sentiment social, sont les deux idées les plus connues dans la
pensée d’Alfred Adler. Ces deux éléments participent à la formation du style de vie. Lorsque le
sentiment d’infériorité n’est pas compensé par le developpement harmonieux du sentiment social
la formation du style de vie comporte des erreurs qui se manifestent par des difficultés pour faire
face aux problèmes posés par la vie en la société.

La pensée d’Adler ne se résume pas à ces notions. La lecture de son œuvre montre, à partir des
cas cliniques, qu’il appréhande ses patients avec le point de vue de l’analyse systémique. Les
exemples qu’il décrit, sont très brefs. En quelques lignes il résume une histoire qui demanderait
des dizaines de pages. Il ne procede pas comme Freud qui décrit 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 mère-fille, il écrit dans « Le tempérament nerveux »:
« Son attitude à l’égard de sa fille etait totalement inconsciente et servait, pour ainsi dire,
de couverture à une ligne d’orientation infantile: au désir de dépasser une sœur que ses
parents avaient gatée à l’excés. Mais cette derniere ligne d’orientation se montra, à son
tour, équivalente à la ligne fondamentale, à savoir au désir d’acquérir une importance plus
grande, d’être à la place du frère. »

Cet exemple montre clairement qu’Adler situe l’individu, par rapport à une histoire qui comporte
plusieurs générations. Notre travail a consisté à faire apparaître la démarche systémique dans la
pensée d’Adler à l’aide d’hypothèses, qui permettent de comprendre d’où viennent ces conflits et
comment ils se compliquent de génération en génération. Nous pouvons considérer Adler comme
un pionnier de l'analyse systémique. Notre méthode permet rapidement de comprendre l'histoire
qui menace d'aboutir à un drame. Nous n'avons pas besoin d'écouter nos patients pendant des
heures pour comprendre son histoire. Un patient comprenant la logique de son style de vie, se
sent déculpabilisé et coopere plus facilement pour surmonter les problèmes qu'il rencontre .Cette
méthode nous oriente directement vers la prévention. Il est regretable que les Adleriens n'aient
pas toujours compris cet aspect de la pensée d'Adler qui exprime son génie, et ouvre de nouvlles
routes à la medecine à la suite de Pasteur, Claude Bernard, Fleming, et tant d'autres savants en
avance sur leur époque.

Que pouvons-nous faire pour aider une mère qui ne peut rester seule avec son garçon âgé de 8
ans et qui voit arriver le temps des vacances scolaires avec terreur (Fig.5). Que pouvons-nous
faire pour cette jeune mère d'une fillette de quelques mois qui à peur de jeter son enfant par la
fenêtre? (Fig.4)

En appliquant les idées d'A.ADLER à l'hôpital psychiatrique dans une thérapie de groupe, nous
avons été amené à élaborer des hypothèses (2) de travail qui permettent d'envisager la logique
d'une histoire qui conduit une mère à vivre son enfant, dés sa naissance et parfois même avant,
comme un enfant du père idéalisé protecteur (Dieu) ou comme un enfant du père idéalisé
persécuteur (Le Diable).Ces hypothèses rassemblent des caractéristiques souvent observées par
les auteurs ayant travaillé auprès des familles maltraitantes (3) :
-confusion des rôles, des générations et des sexes, secret familial, jeux d'alliances aboutissant à
des transgressions perverses.

13
Ces manifestations sont les conséquences des jeux d'alliances qui aboutissent aux
transgressions des differences et des interdits du système de parenté.
Dans cet exposé, nous aborderons la première hypothèse concernant le vécu d'une mère à la
naissance de l'enfant.

Le groupe de départ comportait la présence d'un schizophrène âgé de 20 ans (Christian), d'une
jeune mère hospitalisée pour une psychose puerpérale (Marise), et d'une femme de 40 ans
adressée à l'hôpital pour un épisode érotomaniaque (Madeleine). Leur génogramme etait le
suivant: Fg 1

Dans la famille de Maryse, nous constatons une relation mère-fils privilégiée, comme cela
apparaît aussi dans la famille des parents de Christian, même si lui n'en a pas bénéficié.
L'observation d'une relation mère-fils apparemment privilégiée est fréquente dans l'histoire des
patients. Toute une littérature est là pour nous évoquer l'importance de ce phénomène dans le
destin individuel d'un grand nombre de femmes écrivain, qu'il s'agisse de Marguerite DURAS (4),
ou Gisèle Halimi (Fritna) (5).

"Être un fils", pour être aimé de sa mère et avoir les mèmes privilèges que l'homme, constitue, un
facteur fondamental de la protestation virile chez la femme selon ADLER. Ce qui peut aussi se
traduire par le désir de prendre la place du frère, en réalisant les rêves ou les ambitions
maternelles, comme le raconte Gisèle HALIMI dans son livre, "Fritna."
Persuadée qu'elle ne sera jamais un garçon pour sa mère, une fille peut aussi fantasmer d'avoir
un fils du père comme équivalent de l'amour que la mère donne au fils. Cette problématique etait
clairement apparente chez Maryse, Et pourtant elle n'acceptait pas un enfant qu'elle semblait
avoir désiré. Parfois ses propos laissaient penser qu'elle voulait occuper la place laissée vacante
par son frère, en y plaçant son propre fils. Ce qui permet d'évoquer le tableau de Léonard de
VINCI représentant Sainte ANNE, MARIE assise sur ses genoux et l'enfant Jésus jouant avec un
agneau, qui symbolise son destin de victime.
Les observations cliniques d’ADLER nous montre une approche qui tient compte d'un contexte
culturel qui tend à privilégier la relation Mère-fils. Dans le Tempérament nerveux, il écrit à propos
d'une patiente:

“Dans ses antécédents infantiles, on découvre un formidable sentiment d'infériorité,

entretenu en état de tension constante par la préférence dont jouissait auprès de la mère
un frère plus jeune qu'elle et par la supériorité intellectuelle de celui-ci. "
Et il précise:

“Le désir le plus ardent de cette malade a toujours été d'être un homme " en empruntant
au Père " les attitudes qui devaient l'aider à réaliser cet idéal viril "

Les concepts d'Adler ne sont jamais exposés sous une forme cohérente et systématisée. Sa
lecture fait d'abord apparaître les notions telles que compensation du sentiment d'infériorité ou

14
sentiment social comme les bases fondamentales de sa théorie. C'est à partir des cas cliniques
épars dans son oeuvre que nous pouvons mettre en évidence son approche systémique. Ces
cas cliniques se présentent comme des éléments de puzzle que nos hypothèses permettent de
rassembler pour relier l'histoire et la
et la formation du style de vie du sujet.
En présence d'un schizophrène qui tente de violer sa mère et d'une jeune maman qui menace
son nouveau-né nous pressentons qu'il s'agit de deux cas de figures d'une même histoire à deux
étapes différentes. Dans un cas, la structure psychotique de la mère se révèle dès la naissance
de l'enfant vécu comme un danger pour elle. Dans l'autre cas, nous sommes en présence d'une
interaction mère enfant qui aboutit à réalisation de cette menace sous la forme d'une tentative de
viol incestueux.

Mais comment une mère peut-elle être conduit à vivre son enfant comme un grave danger
pour elle?

C'est la présence d'une personne hospitalisée pour un épisode érotomaniaque (Madeleine) qui
allait nous permettre de faire le lien. Cette femme âgée d'une quarantaine d'années se sentait
persécutée par son employeur, un avocat âgé de 60 ans. Elle était persuadée qu'il s'adressait à
elle par télépathie pour lui exprimer ses sentiments, et lui faire éprouver des sensations
érotiques. Mais d'autre fois, elle l'entendait essayer de la convaincre de se prostituer pour payer
ses dettes de jeux, et là il devenait franchement menaçant. Son employeur était vécu tantôt
comme protecteur, tantôt comme persécuteur. Madeleine habitait avec sa grand-mère et vivait
dans un climat de guerre permanente avec sa mère. Durant son hospitalisation, la mère avait
demandé 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'éléments pour comprendre le climat de malveillance
dans lequel Madeleine avait vécu son enfance, sans manifester de révolte apparente. C'etait une
enfant sage et sans histoire pour son entourage.
À l'aide du matériel clinique que nous apporte ADLER, il était possible d'interpreter la relation de
Madeleine avec son Protecteur/Persécuteur, comme un mécanisme de défense contre
une mauvaise mère archaïque, selon la (FIG 2). Elle avait ensuite projeté ce
"Protecteur/persécuteur sur son employeur.

15
-Dans un premier temps le pere idéalisé est fantasmé comme un protecteur pour l'enfant, et
persécuteur pour la mauvaise mère. Mais chez la femme adulte, le même personnage devient
à la fois protecteur et persécuteur, ce qui constitue un facteur important de conflit et de rupture
dans les couples, et ses enfants pourront être des enfants protecteur (enfants de Dieu) ou du
persécuteur (enfants du Diable). (Fig3).
- Les enfants du protecteurs sont considérés comme ayant toutes les qualités, les élus, les
prédestinés.Ce sont parfois des enfants brillants et confiants dans leur destin. L'absence du père
entraine une fragilité de ces fils qui trouvent parfois dans l'homosexualité le dernier rempart
contre la psychose.Les enfants du persécuteurs sont considérés comme porteurs de pulsions
sadiques."Le bébé de Rose Mary" d'Ira Levin illustre ce problème.Lorsque la mère reproduit avec
son fils une relation privilègiée, la petite fille va reproduire le même schéma que sa mère .Et ainsi
la mère et la fille auront le même scénario inconscient. Chacune voudra s'allier avec le
protecteur, pour qu'il devienne le persécuteur de l'autre. Nous avons là la cause la plus
importante du conflit mère-fille. Lorsque le père prend partie pour la mère, le conflit peut aller
jusqu'à la maltraitance. Lorsque le père prend partie pour la fille, c'est la mère, supplantée, qui se
présente comme une femme dépressive.

-Quand la femme craint son partenaire, vécu comme un persécuteur, elle se détache de lui. Ce
qui lui fait perdre son protecteur. Privée de son protecteur, la femme est alors menacée par
l'image de la mauvaise mère. Ce qui se traduit par le cycle: insomnie, angoisse, cancérophobie.
Le retour auprés du persécuteur permet à la femme de retrouver son protecteur et de voir
disparaitre tous ses symptomes. C'est pour cette raison que la femme battue tend à revenir vers
son agresseur.
-Il faut bien comprendre que ce mécanisme est inconscient et s'impose à la volonté de la mère,
comme un véritable "virus psychique". Ainsi une mère peut rêver que sa petite fille, agée de deux
mois, vient faire l'amour avec son mari pendant qu'elle dort. A cet age; la mère qui aime son
enfant, peut réagir contre cette absurdité. Mais plus tard, lorsque l'enfant exprime son
identification à la mère, et son fantasme de la supplanter pour avoir un enfant de papa, la mère
ne voit pas une enfant qui se construit en la prenant comme modèle, mais une rivale qu'elle traite
comme une adulte. C'est alors que le conflit peut devenir dangereux. La pluspart des prostituées
ont été vécues comme des rivales, qui ont été, maltraitées et incestées. Nous voyons
l'importance de la prévention, qui peut démarrer dés la naissance, et même pendant la grossesse
.Nous ne sommes plus comme Pasteur devant le problème d'un enfant mordu par un chien
enragé. Le virus de la rage est remplacé par un "virus psychique" qui se manifeste dans les
relations de la famille, en détruisant les liens.

16
L'histoire de MARYSE et celle de MADELEINE nous permettent de comprendre l'évolution d'une
histoire, qui se déroule sur plusieurs générations, pour aboutir à cet enfant vécu comme un
enfant de Dieu ou du Diable. Ce qui était le cas de CHRISTIAN.

Concernant l'enfant de Dieu, L'hypothèse pourrait s'appliquer à l'écrivain Romain GARY (6)
comme le suggère son roman " la Promesse de l'aube ", ou à Saint Augustin (7) mené sur le
chemin de la foi par sa mère Monique. Le clinicien rencontre cependant plus souvent l'enfant du
Diable. Roman Polanski a porté à l'écran le film d'Ira Levin (8) : " Rose Mary baby " qui illustre
clairement ce phénomène clinique abondamment représenté dans la littérature, mais aussi dans
les faits divers, comme ce fut le cas pour Charles Manson, fils d'une jeune prostituée de 17 ans,
et gourou d'une secte criminelle. Nous pouvons aussi évoquer des aspects du délire d'Antonin
Artaud, qui signe ses textes à 14 ans du nom de Louis des Atrides, lorsqu'il écrit (9)1:

" .Je m'étais trouvé à Bethléem une certaine nuit d'hiver et retrouvant le couple du crime
qui s'appelait Marie et Joseph j'avais tué son enfant à sa naissance mais si j'avais détruit
en lui tout ce qui provenait de ces manoeuvres occultes je n'avais pas pu tout de suite
empêcher la naissance d'un démon qui me poursuivit toute sa vie avec son idée d'être
Jésus-Christ "
Le tableau du CARAVAGE , "La vierge au serpent" exprime ce fantasme délirant de l'enfant vécu
en même temps comme un enfant de Dieu et du diable .(Rome galerie Borghse).Ce thème
délirant ,qui associe Jesus-Christ avec un démon ,est évoqué par un tableau d'Odilon REDON,
représentant une tète de Christ avec un corps de serpent.

L'intuition exprimée par la mère de RASKOLNIKOV, sur le destin de son fils, dans le roman de
DOSTOÎEVSKI: " Crime et châtiment " " (10) traduit également chez une mère le sentiment d'un
drame prévisible, vécu comme une fatalité. Cette femme persuadée 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, c’est que mon coeur de mère a pressenti le malheur.
Dès que je t'ai vu l'autre soir, tu te rappelles, à notre arrivée à Pétersbourg, j'ai tout deviné
à ton seul regard et mon coeur de mère a frissonné "

Bruno BETTELHEIM (11) cite le cas du jeune Harry que sa mère considérait comme "l'enfant le
plus méchant du monde " alors que " sa première soeur, dés, sa naissance fut reconnue comme
l'enfant gentil "2
À partir de ces hypothèses, nous pouvons rapidement utiliser les quelques éléments d'un premier
entretien pour comprendre ce qui est sous tendu dans l'insomnie d'une jeune mère qui vit sa

17
fillette âgée de quelques mois comme une rivale dangereuse, ou la terreur de cette autre maman
à l'idée de se retrouver seule avec son garçon âgé de 8 ans.
Dans le premier cas (FIG4),

il s'agit d'une enfant incestée par le beau-père, allié d'une mère incestigatrice. À la naissance de
sa fillette. Sa réaction a pour but de se protéger à son tour contre une alliance père-fille. Dans le
second cas (FIG5),

nous sommes en présence d'une rivale " victorieuse " qui a toujours pu s'imposer dans la famille,
avec le soutien de son Père. Après le suicide de sa mère, elle achève sa victoire par la
conception d'un fils, vécu comme un enfant du Pére-idéalisé PERSECUTEUR, porteur de
pulsions sexuelles sadiques. Dés sa naissance, la mère peut le craindre au point de vouloir le
détruire (Cas clinique No 2), alors que parfois ces pulsions finissent par s'exprimer dans un
passage à l'acte incestueux psychotique (Cas clinique No1), qui peut aussi aboutir à un
matricide.
Retrouver dans son histoire le cheminement de cette construction qui conduit une mère à vivre
son enfant comme un enfant du persécuteur, c'est-à-dire du diable, permet à ces mères
d'aborder leur problème en se libérant de leur culpabilité pour s'engager dans un travail de

18
coopération qui va dans le sens de la prévention. C'est dans cette perspective de la prévention
que nous devons nous engager pour dépasser les drames de la délinquance et de la
maltraitance.

Dans une société qui tend à dévaloriser la femme, celle-ci aura tendance à s’exprimer à travers
un fils et à le favoriser. Les réactions des autres membres vont avoir des conséquences dans les
relations de la famille. Le père peut se sentir supplanter par son fils, comme s’l était supplanter
par un frère plus jeune. Il peut aussi chercher une alliance avec sa fille. Comme la petite fille rêve
de prendre la place de maman et d’avoir un enfant de son père, père et fille peuvent former un
couple dominant .Adler signale le cas d’une adolescente qui avait réussi à attirer le père de son
côté, en devinant ses idées, et en prevenant ses désirs. La mère réagira en cherchant à
désamorcer l’alliance père-fille.
- Ces réactions se déroulent parfois sans drames. Mais d’autres fois elles peuvent aboutir à la
matraitance ou à la délinquance. La premiere hypothèse n’est pas suffisante pour préciser ces
évolutions. C’est la pratique de la médecine de ville qui a permis de préciser d’autres facteurs
intervenant intervenant dans les relalations familiales.
Un enfant né dans une famille structurée par un système de parenté qui donne à chacun sa
place et qui comporte des differences et des interdits:
--- Differences de génération, de sexe, et de position dans la fratrie.
--- Interdit du cannibalisme, de l’inceste et du meurtre. Ce système de parenté est en équilibre
avec des jeux d’alliances. Le soir à la maison le père peut opter pour le choix du programme de
télévision de sa fille, si en contre partie elle s’occupe de sortir le chien à sa place. Ce n’est pas
parce que le père est de l’avis de sa fille pour le programme de télévision, que la fille est
autorisée à prendre la place de sa mère. Un autre jour la fille peut opter pour le choix des
vacances de sa mère. Tant que les jeux d’alliances sont en équilibre avec le système de parenté,
les conflits sont réglés harmonieusement.

C’est avec les enfants du père-idéalisé-persécuteur, les enfants du diable, que les problèmes
vont commencer. Ces enfants sont considérés, dans l’inconscient des parents, dés la naissance,
et même pendant la grossesse, comme ceux qui vont transgresser les differences et les interdits.
Ce sont eux qui vont etre encouragés à passer de l’équilibre parenté/alliances, aux
transgressions. Ils peuvent devenir des délinquants, etre maltraités, ou éliminés dés la
naissance. Dans la famille de Christian le système parenté/alliance commence à etre gravement
déséquilibré. Maryse était une enfant incestée, donc pouvant passer à l’acte plus facilement,
avec un enfant vécu comme un enfant du persécuteur, donc diabolique. La mère de Madeleine
avait supplanté sa propre mère. Elle se sentait en danger avec une enfant diabolique qui pouvait
l’éliminer.

Le premier schéma précise comment se forment les acteurs. Le deuxieme schéma indique les
régles des jeux qui peuvent aboutir aux transgressions. Précisons que ces transgressions ne se
font pas toujours de façon pathologique. Les transgressions peuvent être sublimées dans toutes
les formes de créations artistiques ou scientifiques. La création est parfois un mode de guérison
chez beaucoup d’artistes que nous étudions dans nos séminaires. Le malade mental subi
l’emprise de processus psychiques inconscients, sans pouvoir prendre de distance. L’homme
équilibré parvient à les surmonter. Le pervers comme le tyran les utilisent. Ce qui pose le
problème sur la prévention autant chez l’individu, qu'au niveau collectf.

19
BIBLIOGRAPHIE

(1) ADLER. Alfred: Le tempérament nerveux. Payot .1976

Le sens de la vie. Payot.1975
Connaissance de l'homme. Payot
(2) COMPAN François -Psychologie individuelle comparée
Encyclopédie Medico-Chirurgicale
37813 A 10,5-1989
-Logique de la maltraitance
In Les sévices sexuels sur les enfants
Ères .1999
(3) -SABOURIN Pierre: La violence impensable Nathan.1991
-BOURGUIGNON Odile: Mort des enfants et structures familiales PUF.1984
-MANCIAUX Michel et STRAUSS Pierre: L’enfant maltraité Editions Fleurus.1993
(4) DURAS marguerite: L’amant de la chine du nord. Poche
(5) HALIMI Gisèle Fritna Poche
(6) GARY Romain: La promesse de l'aube. Poche
(7) BROWN Peter: La vie de Saint Augustin. Éditions du seuil.1967
(8) LEVIN Ira: Rose Mary Baby. Poche
(9) ROUMIEUX André: ARTAUD et l'asile. Séguier .1996
(10) DOSTOIEVSKY TH: Crime et châtiment. Poche
(11) BETTELHEIM Bruno: Evades de la vie. Poche.
(12) O'NEIL : Le Deuil sied à Electre
(13) COCTEAU : Les parents terribles
(14) LARS NOREN : Automne et hiver
(15) Nicolas GENKA : L'épi Monstre
(16)Arthur SCHNIZLER : Thérèse, 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'été dernier

20
The Perfect Love Dyada

There is no perfect love, but

this doesn’t 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. Don’t look down your partner and don’t look him or her up either; approach love as a pair
(don’t look for superiority but don’t 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 partner’s 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 man’s 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

21
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 doesn’t 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 wife’s 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 wife’s 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 partner’s 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-of-
the-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 partner’s 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 Adler’s 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.” That’s 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 don’t take long to
show up. These days, one of my patients was telling me that he had stepped aside from his wife’s
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 mother’s presence. Or, whether he was willing to praise his mother in his wife’s 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 daughter’s–in-law

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behaviour and actions. Whatever he might do, he was discouraged and thought nothing worked
well. Honestly speaking, he hadn’t 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.
Today’s 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 don’t 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 long-
term 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.Watson’s 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
individual’s 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 don’t 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: presentación desde una técnica proyectiva grupal

Paula Dodera

En el centenario, nos gustaría compartir algo sobre la psicología 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 médico de la enfermedad, a la vez que
notamos lo esencial que es el aporte desde el estilo de vida para comprender cómo las personas
responden creativamente a su problemática, para ulteriormente ayudarlos a tener una visión de
las posibilidades y estrategias que pueden ensayar, en lugar de centrarse en la pérdida y el
deterioro.
Presentamos el trabajo en taller sobre la imagen corporal, con un grupo enfermos de parkinson y
familiares de la Asociación 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 repercutirá en la autoimagen
(especialmente en la valía de uno mismo).
Trabajamos con una técnica de la figura humana grupal, tomando en cuenta la proyección de la
imagen del cuerpo y de los afectos. Se les presentó una silueta humana vacía, dibujada en una
cartulina blanca, con la consigna de decir todo lo que se les ocurriera, a modo de lluvia de ideas.
A continuación se les pidió que localizaran la lista de palabras y frases en una parte del dibujo o
de la hoja.
A continuación, 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, espíritu de joven.
Las palabras que colocaron en cada parte: en el centro de la cabeza, feliz, cabezón, ojos, relax,
boca, depresión, 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, espantapájaros, ojos y boca, posando, mameluco, traje de
buzo, maniquí. Algunos se identificaron con la figura y otros la criticaron duramente (era muy
sin… no tiene ojos ni boca… me dio la impresión de un judas, un espantapájaros…) expresando
disgusto.
Analizamos de este taller, qué cuerpo representa la figura sobre la que proyectan, qué 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 sí mismos, y el cuerpo que nunca
querrían 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 sólo como
algo del cuerpo sino del “corazón” (depresión, elementos inanimados)
Si pensamos en el personaje del boxeador en estado de relax, podríamos imaginarnos sus
sentimientos de agresividad frente a esta enfermedad que los debilita y de la cual no pueden
defenderse; también visualizamos que ellos se ven con las herramientas para luchar (guantes de
box) pero no pueden hacerlo solos.
Algo que habíamos visto, antes de plantear esta técnica, era la importancia del sentimiento de
sentirse útil y la depresión reactiva asociada a pérdidas (de status, de salud, laborales, pero
también 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 pérdida del prestigio asociado a la persona capaz, fuerte, que cuida o dirige a los
demás. 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 elaboración 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 relación de esto con
personajes inanimados (espantapájaros, mameluco, judas) por la carencia de sentimientos y
alegría. Luego se desata el tema de la mirada, cómo a través del tiempo uno pasa de ver la
imagen, o la foto, de una persona a entenderla, y nace la confianza, la amistad. Por oposición, la
mirada de los demás la sienten como discriminación, el ser vistos como enfermos,
discapacitados, locos, etc. Están hablando del proceso de conformación del grupo, pero también
de la seguridad que brinda por oposición al afuera de la sociedad como lugar donde se hallan
desamparados, a merced de la mirada crítica e ignorante de los otros.
En la técnica aparecieron los miedos pero también el germen de una salida; si en la pasividad y
dependencia que sienten resultado de la enfermedad se conecta la vergüenza y la depresión,
entonces se prescribe la actividad como generadora de cambios positivos en los modos de
percepción. 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 técnica, que por un lado permite al grupo entrar en la
percepción de sí mismos, con las diferencias personales que denotan su posición de vida, para
llegar a una síntesis que destaca lo que preocupa a nivel grupal, en este caso la mirada de los
demás (la discriminación es un tema que se desarrollará en distintos encuentros del grupo)
Como crítica, que se podría utilizar en combinación con el dibujo de la figura humana para
comparar con aspectos personales, en un abordaje multifacético. Por otro lado tiene como
ventaja que no tener que dibujar es menos ansiógeno en las etapas iniciales de abordaje de un
grupo con estas características, o si se conoce la presencia de dificultad para manejar el lápiz.
Queremos remarcar que tanto en la imaginería 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 interpretación que uno hace de los hechos. Por tanto, el objetivo
terapéutico 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 síntomas y las consecuencias de la misma son utilizados por la persona en base a las
líneas 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 lógica 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 crónica y degenerativa, más cuando
al mismo tiempo se hace todo lo posible por encontrar medios de combatirla.
Hay que añadir el carácter de arreglo que tiene la depresión, síntoma muy mencionado como
posterior a la declaración 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 percepción de ser discriminado, y no poder realizar
de forma segura actividades que formaban parte de su vida diaria, como conducir, cocinar,
manejar máquinas de precisión, se le pueden proponer alternativas para compensar de una
forma constructiva. La clave de sentirse mejor está en el grupo porque es un lugar para
recuperar el sentimiento de comunidad, a partir de la pertenencia y de la colaboración con los
demás participantes.

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Gracias a la Lic. R. Curcho (co-creadora de la técnica 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 (it’s 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

29
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.

30
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 people’s
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.
Adler’s 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 person’s 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.

31
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.

32
El síntoma
Yaír Hazán

Adler estuvo siempre preocupado de que su psicología fuese sencilla, de allí que postulara que
“toda neurosis es cobardía” (1) y agregaba que del mismo modo pudo haber dicho que “toda
neurosis es vanidad”, lo que parece una cita del Eclesiastés. La neurosis (o lo que es lo mismo:
el estilo de vida) está determinada causalmente, pero sus síntomas no lo están (Sicher (1),
obedecen a una teleología o intencionalidad inconsciente.

Cuando los primeros psicoanalistas quisieron que su teoría tuviese el status de ciencia
realizaron una transposición del lenguaje médico al psicológico con los consiguientes
inconvenientes. En sus conferencias y escritos, Adler insistió que “no hay enfermedades que no
tengan síntomas innecesarios”; más categórico aún fue cuando afirmó que “los síntomas son
basura”, categoría en la que habrán de entrar todas las nosografías y taxonomías psiquiátricas
(2).

Es necesario recordar que Freud partió de un síntoma histérico, llamado “conversión somática” y
más tarde simplemente “conversión”. Tal es el caso de Ana O, Emmy von N y Dora a quienes
Lacan llamó “las grandes teóricas del psicoanálisis” (3). En su reduccionismo a la lingüística,
para realizar una puesta al día de Freud (3) escriben: “El error es desde luego para Lacan ‘el
engaño del inconsciente`: “el síntoma funciona como metáfora”. De caminos similares partió
Adler al ver las complicaciones orgánicas en “La inferioridad de los órganos”, y antes todavía
cuando observó los síntomas que ocasionaba el trabajo de sastre, especialmente en aquellos
sastres que no estaban agremiados, vivían, en suburbios, trabajaban en sótanos 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 también los síntomas
tienen una etiología y una teleología diferentes. En Adler, lejos de ser una lucha entre instancias
del psiquismo, como en la segunda tópica, un conflicto entre el “yo” y el “ello” es
“desenmascarada como una desviación social” (1). Bernstein en “Práctica y teoría de la
psicología individual” (4) anota que el fundamento de la neurosis y su cuadro sintomático “no es
biológico ni psicológico, es social”.

También aquí hay una nota identidad que diferencia claramente la psicología adleriana tanto del
psicoanálisis como del conductismo corrientes que tuvieron un origen temporal casi simultáneo.
El conductismo aún un su variante cognitivo comportamental (contradicción en los términos,
porque lo “cognitivo” reemplaza el viejo constructo idealista platónico kantiano que en filosofía
llamábamos “cognoscitivo”) y por otro lado lo comportamental, que hace alusión a lo
objetivamente observable, el síntoma, de raigambre filosófica materialista y lockiana. Para los
conductismos curar es hacer desaparecer el síntoma, lo que en medicina se denomina
“tratamiento sintomático”: Cuando se desconocen las causas (etiología) el médico se conforma,
aunque de mala gana, con tratar los síntomas, a sabiendas de que es un tratamiento incompleto
y de no muy buen pronóstico. Veamos un ejemplo. Nos tocó ver una profesora de música que
cada vez que había una fiesta patria ella debía tocar en el piano el Himno Nacional y le venía un
“terrible dolor de cabeza”. Todos menos ella eran conscientes de que se trataba de una conducta
de evitación, puesto que pondría de manifiesto que no era una buena ejecutante. Pero ella no
era consciente de la finalidad de su síntoma. Como tratamiento sintomático se le podría haber
prescripto un antijaquecoso, pero la causa finalis, expresándonos en un lenguaje kantiano-
adleriano, hubiera permanecido intacta o hubiera encontrado otro síntoma que cumpliese la
misma finalidad. De allí el papel secundario y de distractor que ocupa el síntoma en nuestras
psicoterapias y counselings. Podemos encontrar aquí continuaciones de Adler no reconocida:

33
“Peguntarle por el síntoma hubiera sido negativo, pues enseguida habría encontrado otro”,
Botome (1).

Teresa Robles, en una técnica ericksonia narra como a una paciente con fobia a los aviones, le
hizo alucinar que el avión se sacudía hacía arriba y hacia abajo y que aterrizaba. “Qué tipo de
intervención es ésta -se pregunta la autora-. Prescripción del síntoma. La paciente está viviendo
el síntoma en el consultorio”. En el texto citado, como si fuera poco, se ejemplifica con Master y
Johnson quienes también prescriben el síntoma, por ejemplo, durante una semana le prohíben 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 él tenga erección. Cómo es fácil ver es una continuación de Adler vía Frankl de aquel
paciente insomne a quien Adler le prescribió no dormir o de la niña onicofágica a la que le hizo
poner un cartel sobre la cama que decía “debo molestar a mis padres”. Porque argumentaba
Adler, “será mejor que haga conscientemente lo que hacía inconscientemente”. En el cartel
estaba develada la meta, pero por un procedimiento antisujestivo. Es un verdadero
empobrecimiento de la cultura psicológica y de la honestidad intelectual que no se cite a Adler
como verdadero autor de éste y otros aportes a la psicoterapia contemporánea. Por eso, en este
centenario proponemos como medida revolucionaria no reaccionaria, una relectura de Adler y de
los adlerianos de los primeros tiempos. Una aclaración: la intervención paradojal o prescripción
del síntoma fue usada, como hemos visto, por primera vez por Adler, pero fue Viktor Frankl quien
poniéndole nombre la hizo una técnica más conocida. Esa es la causa de por qué erróneamente,
a veces, se le atribuya a Frankl en lugar de Adler.

Ansbacher (5), que se ocupó de la obra de Adler a efectos de hacerla más ordenada y
comprensible, clasificó los síntomas por período y por función, a saber:
1) Salvaguardias o protección (1913);
2) Excusas (1929 -1936);
3) El precio de los síntomas (1930, 1933, 1936).

Tratar síntomas directamente, es un fracaso terapéutico. El neurótico ya ocupó mucho tiempo

infructuosamente en deshacerse de los síntomas. Es el equivalente a la situación de cuando
terapeutas ingenuos le dicen al obsesivo, “no piense más en eso”. Dice Sicher (1) comentando
las demostraciones de Adler: “Psicóticos enfurecidos se tranquilizaron cuando él les hablaba y
los síntomas más complicados se disolvían, porque apelaba a la colaboración y les ayudaba a
ver no sólo lo que eran, sino lo que podían 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 teoría y la práctica adlerianas: “Otra contradicción, más frecuente
consiste en que el paciente crea poder eliminar sus síntomas 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
prácticas psicoterapéuticas cuando manifiesta que “los rasgos de carácter son actitudes
elaboradas para solucionar problemas de la vida, el carácter entero se presenta en la psicología
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 teoría y
práctica impregnados de pensamiento adleriano, en un artículo que circula aún por la internet

34
realiza una crítica a Titze diciendo: “Titze brillante psicólogo individual (sic) cree como los demás
adlerianos, que todo síntoma es un arreglo”.

Del mismo modo Titze (9) se ha ocupado de la formación del síntoma y de la neurosis en la falta
de coraje. El autor de referencia ve la angustia como consecuencia de la absolutización de los
peligros de la vida. En otros términos, es una apercepción tendenciosa negativa la que genera la
angustia y el síntoma. Titze enfatiza la afirmación adleriana de que “no es el shock sino su
utilización lo que provoca el trauma”.

Resulta inevitable si queremos una psicoterapia eficiente ver el telos intrínseco del síntoma. Un
joven actor de orientación homosexual que le creaba conflictos éticos, sufría ataques epilépticos
sólo los 2 de noviembre (día de los muertos). Tales ataques comenzaron a los 12 años, cuando
murió su padre. Por eso Ansbacher una vez más nos clarifica el pensamiento de Adler: “Los
factores endógenos y psicógenos están presentes en todo síntoma neurótico”.

El hijo de Reich (7) contaba que su madre le decía que “dentro de cien años, las diferencias
personales dejarán de contar, lo que cuentan son los principios científicos”. Ahora bien, el
centenario se ha cumplido, todos los adlerianos tenemos que hacer el esfuerzo por el homenaje
de difusión que perpetúa el ejemplo de la teoría y la conducta de Adler en el tiempo a venir.
Porque no sólo es actual sino eficaz y revolucionaria.

Bibliografía

(1) Phyllis Bottome: Alfred Adler, apóstol de la libertad, Luis Miracle, Editor, Barcelona, 1952).
(2) Alfred Adler: Superioridad e interés social. Una colección de sus últimos escritos, compilada
por Heinz Ansbacher y Rowena Ansbacher, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 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: Práctica y teoría de la psicología individual (Prólogo de Bernstein), Editorial
Paidós, Buenos Aires, 1953 (Praxis und Theorie der Individual Psychologie)
(5) Heinz y Rowena Ansbacher: La psicología 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
México, Editorial, México, 1991
(7) Peter Reich: Libro de ensueños. 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, Zürich, 1958)
(9) Michael Titze: Fundamentos del teleoanálisis adleriano, Editorial Herder, Barcelna, 1983
(Lebensziel und Lebensstil, Grundzüge der Teleoanalyse nach Alfred Adler, Pefeiffer, Munich,
1979)

35
The symptom
Yaír Hazán

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
unconscious´s 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 tailor´s 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 neurosis´s 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 Adler´s unacknowledged continuation: “Ask her for the
symptom if this one would have been negative, cause immediately she would had find another
one.”, Botome (1).

36
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 symptom´s 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 Adler´s
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 Adler´s 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 Adler´s 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
Adler´s 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

37
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”.

Reich´s 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 Adler´s theory and conduct in times to come. Because is not only actual but also
efficient and revolutionary.

References

(1) Phyllisl Bottome: Alfred Adler, apóstol de la libertad, Luis Miracle, Editor, Barcelona, 1952).
(2) Alfred Adler: Superioridad e interés social. Una colección de sus últimos escritos, compilada
por Heinz Ansbacher y Rowena Ansbacher, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 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: Práctica y teoría de la psicología individual (Prólogo de Bernstein), Editorial
Paidós, Buenos Aires, 1953 (Praxis und Theorie der Individual Psychologie)
(5) Heinz y Rowena Ansbacher: La psicología 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
México, Editorial, México, 1991
(7) Peter Reich: Libro de ensueños. 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, Zürich, 1958)
(9) Michael Titze: Fundamentos del teleoanálisis adleriano, Editorial Herder, Barcelna, 1983
(Lebensziel und Lebensstil, Grundzüge der Teleoanalyse nach Alfred Adler, Pefeiffer, Munich,
1979)

38
Raising kids…a 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 people’s life’s.

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 let’s 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

39
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 C’s)

If we are raising kids these four crucial C’s make children:

Responsible Resilient

Productive Resourceful

Cooperative Contributing

Self-reliant Happy

If one of those crucial C’s 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 :

Child’s Child feels Child’s Adults feel Adults Child’s

belief negative impulse response
goal to correction
I only Insecure ATTENTION Irritated REMIND “temporarily”
count alienated annoyed
when What, stops
I’m
being again?
noticed

My Inadequate POWER Angry FIGHT Misbehaviour

strength dependent intensifies
is in others are in Challenged I insist
showing control that you
you that do as I say
you can
no make
me and
you
cannot
stop me
I knew insignificant REVENGE Hurts or PUNISH Wants to get

40
you wants to even Makes
were Get back punish How could selfdisliked
against you do this
me. Get even to me? us?
them?
No one
really I’ll teach
likes you a
me. lesson

I’ll show
you how
it feels

I can’t Inferior AVOIDANCE Despair GIVE UP Passive no

do useless change
anything I give up It’s no use
right, so hopeless More hopeless
I won’t Hopeless
try. Displays
inadequacy
If I
don’t
try, my
failures
won’t
be so
obvious

From: Amy Lew and Betty Lou Bettner (1995)A parent’s 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?

Let’s look to the matrix of the Crucial C’s:

Crucial C’s Constructive Child’s belief Child feels Child’s positive

alternatives goals
CONNECT Replace I belong Secure COOPERATION
negative
attention with
positive
attention.

Plan activities
together.

41
 Don’t ignore
the child,
ignore
misbehaviour
Teach self-
sufficiency
CAPABLE Don’t try to I can do it Competent SELF-RELIANCE
win.
Self-control
Give
opportunity
and choices so
child can
display power
constructively.

Maintain
friendly
attitude
COUNT Avoid anger I matter Significant CONTRIBUTION
and hurt
feelings. Valuable
Maintain
appreciation
in
relationship.

Offer chances
to help. Seek
support and
help in
identifying
positives
(don’t give up)
COURAGE Notice only I can handle Hopeful willing RESILIENCY
strengths and what comes to try
ignore the
negative.

Set up steady
exposure to
manageable
tasks that
have a
guarantee of
success.

No criticism

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

42
Once we begin to understand children’s behaviour in a different way, we adults can
change our responses. We have to modify our response to the child’s behaviour
based on an understanding of the child’s 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
• Don’t criticise, don’t judge
• Build confidence
• Make them responsible
• Built up a good relation
• Act before there is a problem
• Act ,don’t talk
• Think about what you can do rather then what they should do
• Focus on the behaviour ,not the child
• Don’t escalate
• Make a list of positives about the child
• Don’t humiliate
• Allow for a cooling off period
• Don’t 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.

43
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

44
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 Freud’s (group) and Adler’s 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 Adler’s 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 Adler’s 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’ (Freud’s 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.
Adler’s theory was almost fully explained and clarified in “The Neurotic Constitution” published in
1912, which was considered by many to be Adler’s 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

45
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 Adler’s 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.
Adler’s 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
individual’s 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. Adler’s clinics were closed; the educational
reforms they practiced philosophically contradicted the Fascists viewpoint. Adler’s 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 mother’s, 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.

46
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 Valentine’s 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 world’s communities along egalitarian lines to realize that potential.

47
And maybe Adlerians have begun by helping individuals, families, groups, organizations and
communities to become cooperative, egalitarian, and democratic.

48
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
individual’s 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 individual’s 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)

49
(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.
A’s 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 don’t 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 Dewey’s
chart.

Tries to: Assets: Reaction of others:

Feel peace
Easy-going, few
Comfort Seek his comfort demands, and or
peace maker
Annoyance

Feel pleased
Friendly,
Pleasing To please others considerate, and or
Non-aggressive
Exasperation

Reliable
Leadership
Control oneself or
Control potential, organized, or
control others
and productive
Feel challenged

Respect
Knowledgeable,
Want to be better
Superiority precise, and or
than others
idealistic
feelings of inferiority

50
 Feelings
Price that one pays: Tries to avoid: they often
experience:

Comfort Reduced productivity Stress Tiresome

Pleasing Reduction in orientation Rejection Anxiety

Control Social distance The unexpected Anger

Superiority Feel over-responsible Meaninglessness in life Depression

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 other’s expectation.” then his/her priority may be a pleasing
type.

Categorization of Number one Priority (2)

51
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 didn’t 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
Adler’s 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”

52
“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 child’s 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 child’s 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 Adler’s article and our clinical experiences, we have summarized the characteristics of the
sensory type.

53
Auditory type Visual type Sensory-motor type

Sensitive to story and listening Sensitive to image and Sensitive to kinesthetic sense
perspective and feeling

Audience Observer Actor

Grasps by sound and/or words Grasps by form , a color and Grasps with an atmosphere
an image and air

Logical and rational Certain scene and pattern is A feeling and a sense is
understanding and context is important important
important

Explains time progress and Explains placement Explains the atmosphere

flow

Tells it as a story Tells one scene Tells a general atmosphere

Sensitive to the tone of the Cares much on facial Sensitive to physical sense
voice expression

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 one’s feet into other people’s
shoes.
For example, Visual type person often uses visually perceivable information to understand others.
Here is an example; visual type person thinks it’s 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 what’s others priority in his/her position.

Disadvantages
There are some disadvantages of these typologies.
(1) Members often forget the uniqueness of each individual’s 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 that’s why I don’t 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.

54
(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 member’s 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 member’s 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 individual’s strength of each type in their episode.
(6) To find the most suitable terms or sentence in order to describe each member’s life style.

The Flow of the Workshop (2)

55
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.

56
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 other’s 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 one’s 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

(１) Pew, W.L.,The Number One Priority, Monograph: International Association of

Individual Psychology, Munich, Germany, 1976
(２) Kefir, N., Priorities: A Different Approach to Life Style and Neurosis, Paper presented
at ICASSI, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 1971
(３) Dewey, E. A., Basic Applications of Adlerian Psychology, p22, 1991
(４) Mosak, H., On Purpose: Collected Papers, p183-p185, 1971
(５) Dewey, E. A., Basic Applications of Adlerian Psychology, p22, 1991
(６) Dinkmeyer & Dinkmeyer, Adlerian Family Therapy, Journal of Individual Psychology,
39(2), p116-p124, 1983
(７) Poduska,B.,Financial Counseling Using Principles of Adlerian Psychology, Individual
Psychology, 41(2), p136-p146, 1985
(８) Dinkmeyer, D. Sr. and Carlson,J., TIME for a better Marriage, Journal of Individual
Psychology, 41(4), p444-p452, 1985
(９) Evance and Bozarth, Pairing of Personality Priorities in Marriage, Journal of
Individual Psychology, 42(1),p59-p64, 1986
(１０) Main and Oliver, Complementary, Symmetrical, and Parallel Personality Priorities as
Indicators of Marital Adjustment, Journal of Individual Psychology, 44(3), p324-p332,
1988
(１１) Britzman and Henkin, Wellness and Personality Priorities, Individual Psychology,
46(1),p43-p50, 1990
(１２) Britzman and Henkin, Wellness and Personality Priorities: The Utilization of Adlerian
Encouragement Strategies, Individual Psychology, 48(2),p194-p202, 1992
(１３) Holden, The Most Frequent Personality Priority Pairings in Marriage and Marriage
Counseling, Journal of Individual Psychology, 47(3), p392-p398, 1991
(１４) 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

57
(１５) 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
(１６) Dinkmeyer Jr., D. ,A Systematic Approach to Marriage Education, Journal of
Individual Psychology, 63(3), p315-p321, 2007
(１７) Adler, A., Understanding Life, p60-p61, 1998
(１８) Adler, A., Understanding Human Nature, p38, p40, 1998
(１９) Adler, A., What Life Could Mean To You, p139, p204, 1994
(２０) Adler, A., The Education of Children, p185, 1970
(２１) Nakajima, H., and Kamata, S.M.,One aspect of Number One Priority, Adlerian 12(2),
pp165-p176, 1998
(２２) Ansbacher & Ansbacher, The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, p166-p167,1964

58
La adolescencia hoy
Adriana Naso

Literalmente, adolescencia (latín, adolescencia, ad: a, hacia + olescere: forma incoactiva de

olere, crecer) significa la condición o el proceso de crecimiento. Así mismo, debemos tener
presente que, de acuerdo a A. Aberastury y M. Knobel 1[“la adolescencia, más 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 fenómeno específico dentro de toda la historia del desarrollo del ser
humano, y por otra parte, estudiar su expresión circunstancial de tipo geográfico y temporal
histórico-social”]. Debemos tomar en consideración que en dicha etapa el adolescente presenta
una gran inestabilidad y que, a pesar de que este síndrome es perturbado y perturbador para el
mundo adulto, es absolutamente necesario, ya que, gracias a este proceso establecerá 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 aceptación 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, ésta es la edad más común para sufrir los impactos de una realidad
frustrante. Y es por tanto que la marginación del adolescente puede llevarlo a presentar
comportamientos o conductas no deseadas.
Debemos tomar en cuenta que la participación 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 maduración, la estabilidad de los afectos, y la gradual adaptación al
medio ambiente marcarán su mayor o menor dificultad en su ingreso al mundo adulto. La actitud
del mundo exterior será decisiva para facilitar u obstaculizar su crecimiento.
Son tres las exigencias básicas de libertad que plantea el adolescente:
-libertad de horarios.
-libertad de defender una ideología.
-libertad de vivir un amor y un trabajo.
Es necesario que participen dentro de las inquietudes de la atmósfera social en la que viven y
soliciten la emancipación porque necesitan adquirir derechos y libertades similares a las de los
adultos y es a través del ejercicio de dicha libertad que lograrán constituirse en personas adultas.
La prevención de una adolescencia difícil sólo podrá realizarse si la sociedad en su conjunto
logra que el adolescente se desarrolle hasta el nivel adulto. Esto exige un clima de espera y
comprensión, ya que es un momento crucial en la vida del ser humano. Es sorprendente, como
decía el Dr. Francis Walton: “[que hace más de cincuenta años el psiquiatra Alfred Adler haya
podido articular en forma suscinta la cuestión que causa mayor número de problemas entre
adultos y adolescentes. Adler manifestaba que2…”solamente aquel tipo de padre y maestro que
haya sido hasta entonces compañero comprensivo del niño podrá continuar en su capacidad de

1
Aberastury,A Knobel M: La adolescencia normal. Un enfoque psicoanalítico. Buenos Aires. Editorial
Paidós. 1989 págs. 10-36. Primera edición.
2
Walton, Francis. Como ganarse la cooperación 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 edición pág. 4 y 12.

59
guía para los jóvenes que están a su cargo. Cualquier otro tipo de padre o maestro será
inmediatamente excluido por el niño durante este período; el niño no depositará en él su confían
za y lo verá como intruso y aún como enemigo. De nada sirve ser jefe si no hay quien siga las
órdenes. Esa es la posición en la que se encuentran muchos adultos”].
Considero importante detenernos en el análisis de la tendencia grupal por su estrecha
vinculación con la participación y el rol que dicha tendencia cumple en el proceso del logro de
una identidad adulta. En su búsqueda de identidad adolescente, el individuo recurre a la
uniformidad para obtener seguridad y estima personal. Es allí que surge el espíritu de grupo. Es
un proceso de sobreidentificación masiva tan importante que la separación del grupo parece casi
imposible. El adolescente en este momento pertenece más al grupo de coetáneos que al grupo
familiar. De esta manera, el grupo adquiere una importancia trascendental, y transfiere la
dependencia previa a los padres hacia éste. El grupo se transforma en una especie de puente
entre la infancia y el proceso de individuación.
Recurre al grupo para reforzar su identidad y a través de su participación en el mismo logra
constituir su identidad.
Otro elemento importante a considerar es la actitud social reivindicatoria, ya que ésta se hace
prácticamente 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 expresión y realización personal, no podrá ser un adulto
satisfecho. Proveer al adolescente de las oportunidades para canalizar sus reivindicaciones
determinará un futuro mejor.
Uno de los signos más 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 generación que le impondrá una revisión de sus valores y de sus logros.
Necesitamos hoy más 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 interacción humana los
objetivos positivos se logren por medio de la cooperación; y todos ganamos cuando los jóvenes
confían en su propia capacidad de participar constructivamente en la solución de los problemas
que se les presenten”]. En la formulación de las medidas para una higiene mental del
adolescente debe reflexionarse acerca de medidas específicas sociales que contribuyan al
adecuado desarrollo del mismo, en una sociedad que le demanda adaptarse a un mundo
globalizado, técnico e industrializado, en el cual el énfasis se pone, de acuerdo a Juan Ignacio
Pozo 4 [“en aprender a aprender, siendo ésta una demanda de formación cada vez más
extendida en nuestra sociedad. La nueva cultura del aprendizaje requiere de los aprendices,
cada vez más construir o reconstruir los saberes recibidos, en vez de ser ávidos consumidores
de verdades absolutas”].
Probablemente, uno de los grandes desafíos, parafraseando a Jean-Louis Servan Schreiber5 es
propiciar que el adolescente tenga [“el coraje, entendido no como acción heroica sino despojado
de vanidades y testigos, de asumirse a sí mismo y al mundo externo con energía, integridad y
rectitud”]

3
Walton, Francis. Como ganarse la cooperación 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 edición pág. 33.
4
Pozo, Juan Ignacio. “Aprendices y maestros”. Madrid. Editorial Alianza. 1998. Ficha bibliográfica.
Pág. 307.
5
Servan Schreiber, Jean-Louis. El retorno del coraje. Ed. Emecé. S. A. Bs. As. Argentina. 1988. Primera
edición.

60
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
síndrome is troublesome for adults, it is absolutely necessary because identity will be stablished
throughout it. The teenager must face adults’ world and release childhood’s world. He lives three
fundamental mournings:
a) The loss of child´s body.
b) The child´s 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 self-
esteem. 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

61
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 psicoanalítico. Buenos Aires.

Editorial Paidós. 1989 págs. 10-36. Primera edición.

Pozo, Juan Ignacio. “Aprendices y maestros”. Madrid. Editorial Alianza. 1998. Ficha bibliográfica.
Pág. 307.

Servan Schreiber, Jean-Louis. El retorno del coraje. Ed. Emecé. S. A. Bs. As. Argentina. 1988.
Primera edición.

Walton, Francis. Como ganarse la cooperación 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 edición pág. 4 y 12.

62
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 Adler’s 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 Adler’s 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 child’s 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.
Adler’s IP presents a different perspective for parents to consider; more of a “kids who feel good,
do good” parenting approach. Adler’s 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.
We’d 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 Adler’s day. One may have
argue with Adler that raising obedient child at home in the early 1900’s 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. It’s a no-contest fact that today’s work world doesn’t need conformist thinking or widget
producing line workers. In fact, it may shock some to learn that today’s 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

63
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 today’s information digital age wants the
co-operative socially interested children that our Adlerian parenting paradigm will produce.
This is our time to share Adler’s 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.

64
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 don’t always cooperate and give us permission to make their
business public. Plus, we can’t 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

65
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 three’s: the one’s and two’s will become the clients; three’s,
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 one’s and two’s 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 partner’s 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:

66
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 protégé 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
client’s 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 re-
education, 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?

67
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 step-
mother 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 step-
mother 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 naïvely 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

69
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 never-
ending 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.

70
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: Scribner’s.

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

71
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 dell’essere
umano e alla storia della psicologia, quali: Stekel, Jung e più tardi Rank e Ferenczi, si
allontanassero da Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler già presidente della Società Viennese di
Psicoanalisi, interruppe ogni collaborazione con il padre della psicoanalisi e fondò la Società per
la Libera Ricerca Psicoanalitica che, poco dopo, divenne la Società di Psicologia Individuale
Comparata. La collaborazione tra Adler e Freud, nata nel 1902 con la fondazione della così detta
Società del Mercoledì Sera (23), ebbe il suo epilogo nel corso del 1911, anno in cui si interruppe
definitivamente (16, pp. 348-49). La rottura non fu né facile, né indolore ma, infine, sancì
l’autonomia intellettuale e scientifica di Alfred Adler (11, pp. 322-24; 24). Tale autonomia, per la
verità, era presente sin dal tempo in cui egli si unì a Freud ed essa fu sempre mantenuta, benchè
la circostanza che Adler fosse quattordici anni più giovane di Freud, talora, ha fatto erroneamente
ritenere che egli sia stato un suo allievo. Questo, però, non corrisponde a verità per almeno tre
ragioni: a) sino dall’inizio 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 è mai
stato analizzato da Freud. Tutto ciò, naturalmente, non significa che egli non abbia appreso da
Freud; questo è certamente accaduto ma è accaduto anche l’opposto così 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 l’impostazione 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 dell’Io6, cosa che si può evincere da lavori di
Freud quali “Studi sull’isteria” (1893-1895) e “L’interpretazione dei sogni” (1900) (8). Nel terzo
periodo, dal 1923 al 1939, il pensiero di Freud si caratterizza per la rivalutazione dell’Io e con ciò
torna a essere nuovamente vicino alla prospettiva propria del primo periodo, quindi, a quella
concezione dell’essere 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 nell’ultima parte della sua elaborazione
teorica tornava ad avvicinarsi ad Adler al punto che, pur senza farvi esplicito riferimento, sentì il
dovere di precisare come “Il discorso riguarda anche cose che finora non sono state oggetto di
trattazione psicoanalitica e non potrà 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 è che l’ultimo 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 è divenuto sempre più parte costitutiva della formazione
dello psicoanalista al punto che Ansbacher, giustamente, ha potuto affermare come nel mondo ci
ciano così tanti adleriani dal momento che “i migliori freudiani sono adleriani” (9). E’ un dato che

6
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 ciò, gli Ansbacher per tradurre il pronome tedesco Ich in
inglese hanno utilizzato il termine Self, corrispondente all’italiano Sé, quando questo era riferito ad Adler,
e il termine Ego, corrispondente all’italiano Io, quando questo era riferito a Freud. Gli Ansbacher, altresì,
in modo condivisibile, hanno specificato di ritenere più appropriato il termine Sé, particolarmente dopo la
distinzione che tra i due termini ha fatto Symonds nel 1951, concludendo come l’uso del loro Sé 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, è
databile 27 febbraio 1899, ed è 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, l’interesse di Freud virò distintamente verso una
concezione dell’uomo più meccanicistica, con la relativa accentuazione degli aspetti nomotetici,
nella quale l’Io venne fortemente svalorizzato e declassato a clown. Fu questo, come è noto, il
periodo in cui maturò e giunse a compimento la separazione tra i due uomini. Ovviamente anche
Adler, in quanto scienziato, sviluppò principi nomotetici, principi, cioè, che hanno una validità
generale, quali la compensazione, l’aspirazione alla superiorità e il sentimento comunitario.
Tuttavia, nella sua teorizzazione, l’accento rimase sempre sulla dimensione ideografica, cioè su
concetti come stile di vita, opinione del sé 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 Società Viennese di Psicoanalisi, rese note nella riunione del
primo marzo 1911 (19, p. 178). La decisione maturò in seguito ai dibattiti che si svilupparono
dopo che egli ebbe presentato le proprie idee tenendo due conferenze davanti alla Società,
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 comunicò le proprie dimissioni spontanee anche dal comitato di
redazione dello Zentralblat für Psychoanalyse (13, 20, p. 18). A quell’epoca egli aveva smesso di
frequentare gli incontri della Società Viennese di Psicoanalisi della quale, con il sostegno dello
stesso Freud, ne era stato il presidente sin dal 1910. L’uscita di Adler dalla Società, com’era
prevedibile, non passò né inosservata, né 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 seguì - è rappresentata dalla sottoscrizione, in data 26 luglio dello stesso anno, di una
lettera aperta da parte di dodici dei trentacinque membri della Società, 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 è noto cosa abbia fatto Adler nelle
settimane estive del 1911, ma probabilmente lavorò a organizzare la Società per la Libera
Ricerca Psicoanalitica. In questo senso si pronuncia anche Leibin, affermando che nel settembre
del 1911 Adler costituì il nuovo gruppo del quale furono cofondatori Furtmüller, Otto Kaus,
Oppenheim, Erwin Wexberg, oltre ad altri che lasciarono la Società 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 l’11 ottobre del 1911 la Società Viennese di
Psicoanalisi riprese le riunioni, venne messa ai voti una mozione che prevedesse l’incompatibilità
per quanti volevano frequentare le riunioni del nuovo gruppo di Adler a partecipare anche al
gruppo di lavoro di Freud. L’esito di quella votazione, così gravido di conseguenze per lo sviluppo
della psicologia del profondo, sancì l’incompatibilità con undici voti a favore, cinque contrari e
cinque astenuti. In seguito a ciò Furtmüller annunciò le proprie dimissioni e quelle di Oppenheim,
Hilferding, Franz e Gustav Grüner e Paul Klemperer (19, p. 283). Successivamente, a nome di
tutti, ringraziò il gruppo per gli anni stimolanti di sforzo comune, poi i dimissionari lasciarono la
riunione per dirigersi verso il Caffè Centrale dove si incontrarono con Adler e festeggiarono fino a
notte tarda (17, p. 77). In precedenza, come risulta dai verbali della riunione della Società, oltre
ad Adler si erano dimessi anche David Bach, Maday e il barone Hye. Il fatto che Adler si sia
dimesso dalla presidenza della Società Viennese nel mese di marzo e che successivamente al
mese di maggio non abbia più partecipato agli incontri, è una chiara evidenza della sua
determinazione a separarsi da Freud. Ciò può essere compreso meglio ricordando come egli, nel
1908, avesse già manifestato l’intenzione di lasciare la Società benchè, in quella circostanza,

73
Freud riuscisse a dissuaderlo. Di ciò 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
all’inizio dei loro dissapori sono note. Anche la lettera appena citata lo conferma poiché, in essa,
Adler viene considerato il pensatore più forte del gruppo viennese. Non solo, al tempo in cui i due
scienziati erano in buoni rapporti, come ha scoperto Roazen, Freud gli inviò per un’analisi la
cognata Sophie, che era stata sposata con suo fratello minore Alexander (22, p. 201). Con tutta
probabilità, quindi, il gruppo adleriano si costituì nell’estate del 1911 a un tavolo del Caffé
Centrale di Vienna, e tra i suoi appartenenti ci furono Carl Furtmüller, i fratelli Franz e Gustav
Grüner, 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 dall’inizio l’atmosfera dell’Associazione fu in
completo contrasto con l’isolamento austero del circolo di Freud. Il fatto che il nuovo gruppo si
costituisse in un Caffè non deve sorprendere dato la sua struttura informale e Adler era solito
dibattere a lungo sulle questioni al Caffè Centrale, a volte dalle otto della sera fino alle quattro del
mattino (12, p. 80). Inoltre, il Caffè veniva frequentato abitualmente da persone che erano suoi
amici di lunga durata. Tra questi possiamo ricordare l’editore 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 più esaustiva documentazione dell’attività 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 dall’autunno del 1912 agli inizi del 1913. Molti anni fa appresi
dell’esistenza di questi verbali da Heinz L. Ansbacher e la cosa fu assai interessante, anche
perché nella letteratura sull’argomento 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 dell’esistenza dei verbali nel corso dell’anno 1979 (10), mentre si trovava a Mosca, grazie
a V. M. Leibin (18). Il procedere dell’attività del gruppo, inoltre, è documentata sia dal fatto che
alla fine del marzo 1912, cioè pochi mesi dopo la rottura con Freud, ebbe inizio la pubblicazione
di una serie di monografie dal titolo Scritti della Società per la Libera Ricerca Psicoanalitica, sia
dal sostegno progressivo che la nuova Società 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 Società per la Libera Ricerca Psicoanalitica venissero pubblicati
originariamente nel 1914 su Psikhoterapia, una Rivista edita a Mosca, dimostra l’interesse 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 Società 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 attività del gruppo adleriano (18, p. 28-9). Dopo la loro
pubblicazione i dibattiti, come è 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

7
Attualmente è in corso la loro pubblicazione in lingua italiana.

74
 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 giovedì 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 (poiché 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 d’isteria, alla psicologia della paura, all’omosessualità, alla
nevrosi, alla psicologia di Pascal. Inoltre, testimoniano il fervore che animava il gruppo in quel
primo periodo d’attività e mostrano, una volta di più, come era diverso il clima che caratterizzava
la Società 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. Un’ulteriore differenza può essere colta nel fatto
che Raissa, la moglie di Alfred Adler, partecipasse a questi dibattiti redigendone anche i
resoconti. Da ciò si evince come ella si interessasse al lavoro del marito, a differenza di quanto
faceva la moglie di Freud per l’attività 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-Salomè, 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 Andreas-
Salomè 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 Furtmüller” (4, p. 52). Dal momento che Andreas-Salomè afferma
di aver partecipato alla seconda parte della conferenza di Oppenhein è ragionevole supporre che
il gruppo abbia tenuto ancora un altro incontro anteriormente al 7 novembre 1912, del quale non
abbiamo il resoconto, dove Oppenhein presentò la prima parte della sua conferenza.
Incidentalmente, considerazioni analoghe sono state fatte anche da Ansbacher (7). Inoltre,
sempre da Andreas-Salomè, apprendiamo inoltre che ella partecipò a un altro incontro del
gruppo tenutosi il 21 novembre 1912, nel quale Adler lesse un proprio scritto sull’omosessualità.
Dal resoconto che ella ne fa si apprende che era presente anche Stekel “si è fatto vedere durante
le riunioni, ed è stato citato parecchie volte nelle relazioni” (4, p. 65). La presenza di Andreas-
Salomè e di Stekel al dibattito del 21 novembre non si evince dai verbali, probabilmente, perché i
due non presero parte alla discussione. La presenza di Stekel è invece documentata al dibattito
successivo, quello del 28 novembre. Incidentalmente, è interessante rilevare come la nota
valutazione critica di Andreas-Salomè espressa su Adler e la psicologia individuale abbia incluso,
comunque, più 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 Furtümuller, due tra i massimi
collaboratori di Adler, e per il gruppo adleriano nel suo insieme “Questo gruppo di Adler avrebbe
molte qualità 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 poiché, 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 dovrò 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 è anche la relazione tra Adler e Stekel in merito alla quale, in questa sede, possiamo

8
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 für Psychoanalyse e che, poco
dopo l’uscita di Adler, anche Stekel lasciò la Società 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 perché all’epoca non sia stato
possibile per i due scienziati superare le loro divergenze o incomprensioni e procedere assieme
lungo il percorso comune. Sull’argomento si è molto discusso, e ancora sarebbe necessario
discutere, ma l’obiettivo di questo scritto, vista l’occasione che lo ha determinato, è 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 è
stato l’originario promotore di una psicologia del profondo “soggettivistica” in contrasto con quella
“oggettivistica” fondata da Freud (6, pp. XIII). Il fatto, di per sé, è così tanto rilevante che non
possiamo fare a meno di richiamare l’idea e la concezione che egli ebbe “di un essere umano
dotato di altruismo, umanitarismo, capacità cooperativa, creatività, unicità e consapevolezza.
Queste caratteristiche che Adler attribuì all’uomo, hanno anche consentito di restituire all’essere
umano la dignità e il valore che la psicoanalisi aveva largamente compromessi e altresì hanno
fornito un concetto positivo di salute psichica opposto a quello di Freud incentrato
essenzialmente sull’idea di disturbo mentale” (25, p. 31). In questo i può ravvisare la cifra più 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
Superiorità 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;

7. – (1984), Supplementing the “Minutes of Society for Free Psychoanalytic Research”, J.

Individual Psychology, 40, 3 : 333 – 34;

8. – (1992), Alfred Adler und drei Perioden von Freuds Entwicklung, Beyträge zur
Individualpsychologie, 15, 121-137, tr. it., Adler e lo sviluppo del pensiero di Freud9, pp.
526-52, in ANSBACHER, H.L.& ANSBACHER R. R., La psicologia individuale di Alfred
Adler, pp. 526-552, G. Martinelli & . Firenze, 1997;

9. – (1995), Comunicazione personale del 5 agosto;

10. – (1997), Comunicazione personale dell’8 ottobre;

11. ANSBACHER, H. L, ANSBACHER, R. R., Alfred Adler, un saggio biografico in ADLER,

A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Superiority and Social Interest, 3a Ristampa
rivista, Norton Company, 1979, tr. it. [a cura di Sodini e Sodini], Aspirazione alla
Superiorità e sentimento comunitario, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma, 2008, pp.
315 – 34;

12. BOTTOME, P. (1957), Alfred Adler. A Portrait from Life, Vanguard, New York;

13. FREUD, S. [Editore], (1911) Zentralblat für Psychoanalyse, Verlag, J. F. Bergmann,

Wiesbaden. I annata, fascicolo 10-11, agosto;

9
Quando, d’intesa con il prof. Ansbacher, stavamo preparando l’edizione italiana di ADLER,
A. (1964), [Ansbacher & Ansbacher, Eds.] Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Harper &
Row, New York, egli ci suggerì d’inserire nel volume anche questo suo scritto, come già 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, L’Io e l’Es, pp. 469-520; Boringhieri, Torino;

15. FREUD, S., ADLER, A. (1908), unpublished correspondence, on FIEBER, M. S. (1997),

In the Out of Freud’s Shadow: A Chronology of Adler’s Relationship with Freud,
Individual Psychology, 53, 3 : 241-69;

16. FURTMÜLLER, 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 Superiorità 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 Freud’s 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, Attualità in Psicologia, 19, 3-
4 : 205-220, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma;

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25. – (2008), Introduzione all’edizione 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 Superiorità e sentimento comunitario,
pp. 115-34, Edizioni Universitarie Romane, Roma, 2008;

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

79
The roots of Adlerian identity
Michael Titze

In 1990 I talked to Pier Luigi Pagani, then president of the Società 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
Freud’s assertions concerning the child’s 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 Manès 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 Adler’s unwillingness to take on an already
established position of power. A fine example for this inclination is mentioned by Hertha Orgler
describing Adler’s 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 Schönbrunn. 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 nurse’s 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.”
Adler’s exit from the psychoanalytical association (preceded by a bitter struggle against Sigmund
Freud’s authority) again resulted in a prohibition: namely the famous interdiction of Freud against
citing Adler’s 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 Adler’s 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 Adler’s psychology as being less
characterized by “what is contended than by what is denied”. Freud even gave a round to the
contention that Adler’s 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 Adler’s
home and they dealt with very original topics. The identity of a new movement began to
crystallize.
Adler’s 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. Clas-
sical psychoanalysis did not take these problems into account.
A cordial, even familiar atmosphere went hand in hand with this preference for inter-individual
problems. Adler’s fondness for coffee houses led to meetings in the famous Café Central. Later
the Adlerians of Vienna met in Café 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 Café 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 Adler’s 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 “Gemeinschaftsgefühl” (= 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
“Gemeinschaftagefühl” can be traced back to those specific encounters in the coffee-houses of
Vienna!
Formally Adler introduced the concept of “Gemeinschaftsgefühl” 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 Café Central what the world of
that time needed. And Adler replied: ‘I think the world of today mainly needs
Gemeinschaftsgefühl’.”
Adler’s 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 Adler’s disciples, claimed: “Gemeinschaftsgefühl! How can you
understand this word – you can’t even find it in philosophy!”
“This is, what the world needs”, Adler repeated calmly.
Phyllis Bottome writes: “Beginning at this time in Café 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 Psycho-
Analysis. London: Heinemann.
3. FRANKL, V. E. (1984): Die Begegnung der Individualpsychologie mit der Logotherapie.
Beiträge 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:
München.

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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 dell’identità adleriana
Michael Titze

Nel 1990 ho parlato con Pier Luigi Pagani, allora presidente della Società Italiana di Psicologia
Individuale, in occasione di una riunione della Commissione Scientifica della Società
Internazionale di Psicologia Individuale. Egli riferì 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 identità 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 l’Associazione Psicoanalitica proprio nel momento in cui si stava
consolidando ed affermando? Non è senza significato per la storia del nostro movimento che
Adler abbia incominciato con un atto di solidarietà nei confronti di un outsider con una cattiva
reputazione: quando Freud si mise in luce all’inizio del secolo con le sue tesi innovative e
provocatorie, fu fieramente attaccato da molti suoi collegi. Un noto psichiatra dell’epoca, come fu
poi riferito, avrebbe dichiarato che la posizione di Freud sulla sessualità 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 più interessato ai problemi della medicina sociale
che alle ricerche sulla nevrosi, si coinvolse e appoggiò Freud. Il passo seguente è stato scritto da
Manès 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 recensì la relazione su un giornale medico di Vienna, si batté per la
comprensione di Freud e chiese che le persone si accostassero agli insegnamenti di Freud in
modo obiettivo» (7, p. 16). Oggi si può solo ipotizzare se una tale critica positiva abbia incentivato
o meno Freud a contattare Adler, ma non c’è dubbio che Adler fu uno dei pochi medici pronti a
unirsi a Freud in quei tempi eroici. Come partecipante alla “Società psicoanalitica del mercoledì”
Adler fu un leale seguace del fondatore della psicoanalisi, anche se dimostrò di essere lui stesso
un pensatore originale. I problemi sorsero dopo che la psicoanalisi ebbe preso forma come
movimento. Ora la psicologia freudiana era più conosciuta e i suoi aderenti non avevano più
bisogno di temere per la loro reputazione personale. Proprio in quel periodo Adler iniziò una
strada meno facile. Con modi sempre più manifesti e pesanti cominciò a criticare quelle posizioni
freudiane che negli anni precedenti, all’inizio, aveva accettato in toto: non era quel tipo d'uomo
che si poteva dissuadere con l'offerta di importanti posizioni nella Società Psicoanalitica di
Vienna. Una spiegazione di questo potrebbe essere la riluttanza di Adler ad accettare una
posizione di potere già consolidata. Herta Orgler, quando descrive la vita di Adler a tre anni, ri-
corda 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 più permessa l'entrata ai Giardini
Imperiali di Schönbrunn. La proibizione non era del tutto ingiustificata perché fu sorpreso più 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 continuò 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).
L’uscita di Adler dalla Associazione Psicoanalitica, preceduta da un'amara lotta contro l’autorità di
Freud, fu ancora il risultato di una proibizione, cioè la famosa interdizione di Freud di citare i
lavori di Adler. Molti adleriani hanno sofferto per questa proibizione, che era stata intesa da Freud
all’inizio collie una direttiva per ignorare teorie e metodi inadeguati. Il mio assunto può essere

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verificato da vari commenti forniti dallo stesso Freud. Nella stia esposizione della “Storia del
Movimento Psicoanalitico”, Freud scarta l’insegnamento di Adler e tratteggia un quadro negativo
della personalità di Adler. Per esempio, in questo contesto, Freud segnala che Adler ha abilità
minori per valutare il materiale inconscio. Definisce la psicologia di Adler come una teoria
caratterizzata maggiormente da ciò che si rifiuta che da ciò che si afferma, contribuendo a diffon-
dere l’idea 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, cioè razionalizza col proposito di coprire la motivazione
inconscia” (3, p. 188).
Adler osò, in ogni modo, nonostante una chiara persecuzione – Freud insistette nell'usare questo
termine – ed andò avanti per la sua strada. Con altri sette seguaci lasciò nel 1911 l’Associazione
Psicoanalitica con l’intenzione di formare una sua Società. Il gruppetto si incontrava
nell’appartamento di Adler ed era interessato a temi, che non erano stati considerati dagli
psicoanalisti dell’epoca, orientati in modo positivistico. L'identità di questo gruppo cominciò a
cristallizzarsi.
Il gruppo ormai non era più dominato dagli studiosi di scienze naturali, ma da persone che erano
interessate a scienze umane ed a problemi sociali. La ragione era che Adler è stato un umanista
dichiarato che ha sempre visto i problemi del singolo all'interno del più ampio contesto sociale.
Questo è un fatto di cruciale importanza, per comprendere l’identità 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 instaurò nel gruppo un’atmosfera
cordiale, quasi familiare. Questo era in contrasto con la fredda e riservata oggettività
dell'Associazione Psicoanalitica. La preferenza di Adler per le Kaffehäuser portò agli incontri nel
famoso Café Central e più tardi nel Café Siller, noto luogo d’incontro 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 Café Siller,
dove Adler era come un re. D’estate, di solito, mangiava una porzione del famoso gelato di
cioccolata che mescolava a lungo, finché 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 influenzò 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 là, 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 è di cruciale interesse per la moderna psicoterapia, si può arrivare a
comprendere meglio la nozione adleriana che fa della Psicologia Individuale una scienza piena di
ottimismo e di allegria. Forse è proprio questo atteggiamento di intimità e cordialità tra gli esseri
umani che ha contraddistinto i primi adleriani. Di fronte a questo background, una determinazione
dell’identità adleriana diverrà possibile per la prima volta: In ogni caso questo ha a che fare con
quel genuino sentimento di coerenza sociale che Adler chiamò gemeinschaftsgefühl. A dispetto
di tutte le definizioni scientifiche di questo termine, su cui si è lavorato negli ultimi settant'anni,
sono convinto che la vera radice del gemeinschaftsgefühl, come dell'identità adleriana possa
essere rintracciata in quegli incontri nelle kaffeehäuser 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 più la stessa persona, come
disse uno dei suoi vecchi amici. Sembrava essere più forte e tranquillo. Qualcuno gli disse,
durante gli incontri al Café Central di che cosa avesse bisogno il mondo in quel tempo. Adler
replicò: ‘Penso che il mondo di oggi abbia semplicemente bisogno di gemeinschaftsgefühl!’” (2, p.
210). I biografi di Adler hanno ricordato espressamente che le persone sedute intorno, al Café
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:
“Gemeinschaftsgefühl! Come puoi capire questa parola: non la trovi neanche nei testi filosofici”.
“È di questo che il mondo ha bisogno!”, replicò con calma Adler. Phyllis Bottome scrive: “Nel
periodo del Café Central, Adler, con coloro che sedevano al tavolino con lui, voleva influenzare la
storia dell’umanità. Questo è 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, München.
3. FRANKL, V. E. (1984): Die Begegnung der Individualpsychologie mit der Logotherapie.
Beiträge 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 über den Minderwertigkeitskomplex.
Kindler, München.
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, München.
8. SPIEL, W. (1990), Historische Reminiszenzen zur Entwicklung der Tiefenpsychologie,
besonders der Individualpsychologie in Wien. Documento presentato alla riunione annuale della
Società 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 one’s self and one’s 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 life’s 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 partner’s 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 partner’s 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 I’m 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, that’s 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 Zurrón

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 cúmulo de
experiencias van nutriendo una razonable necesidad de seguridad, de manera que el silogismo
cognitivo por excelencia es “a mayor conocimiento del medio mejor comprensión 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 más allá de los impulsos irracionales
ligados a lo biológico, a lo fisiológico, a lo sensitivo. En ese magma de sombras el hombre se
siente perdido, desorientado. La disociación entre ser y hombre es consecuencia de la
distracción entre medios y fines: es posible tender voluntariamente a unos fines, pero es
imposible hacerlo con éxito si se carece de una estructura inteligente de medios. La voluntad del
fin puede resultar perjudicada por la errática configuración del medio, de manera que este
desajuste de estructuras constituye una vía hacia el fracaso. La novedad en el hombre fracasado
es un instinto de revancha hacia el medio, la percepción de la superación como un derecho de
represalia hacia el otro en forma de satisfacción gratuita, la noción de prójimo como enemigo
fiable.

Pero la inferioridad es la rama ontológica de la debilidad. Nietzsche fue muy criticado (y mal
entendido) cuando dijo que Jesucristo era una mezcla de enfermedad, sublimidad y debilidad. El
genio alemán sabía perfectamente a lo que se refería. El pronóstico del hombre que se siente
inferior no es un pronóstico de fracaso, sino de sublimidad larvada. Convierte su singularidad en
una oportunidad para demostrarse algo a sí mismo: que sólo es posible abandonar esa
inferioridad a costa de proyectar sus conocimientos desde la intuición a la voluntad. Por eso el
hombre que se siente inferior es la viva imagen de un hombre llamado a soportar la pérdida de
protección para volcarse en la protección de su ideal, y ello sin otra arma más que la voluntad,
una voluntad correosa. La inferioridad de los órganos viene al mundo con una superestructura
codificada para hacer posible la subsistencia en un medio hostil donde la evolución no significará
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 sí lo hace; tal es el premio
aparejado a la vida como una sucesión 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 demás, 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 traslación de la debilidad improductiva a una fortaleza sólo
existente en una representación arriesgada de uno mismo, porque dar un solo paso en falso es
desandar todo el camino y volver a ese estado híbrido 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 favorecerá la claudicación en sucesivos intentos. Eso es lo que hace al genio especial y
diferente del resto de los fracasados: él ha sido capaz de sobreponerse una y otra vez a la
asunción 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 psicología
individual es que todos los fenómenos de la vida del alma deben entenderse como una
preparación para una finalidad del objetivo. Sin embargo la carestía de fuerzas puede

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presentarse como un enemigo a batir en la persecución de ese otro enemigo vital que es el
propio objetivo. Es ahí 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 reflexión y de la imaginación. Podríamos hacer arraigar aquí el concepto de
neurosis tal como Adler lo contextualiza, pero sería atraer en el momento la en un inicio tan
querida para él doctrina del Als Ob, del como si vaihingeriano, del ficcionalismo como apoyatura
del ser que se siente débil, pero no del ser que se siente inferior. La inferioridad protege al
hombre de su debilidad y lo distancia de la tentación ficcionalista. La neurosis es un protagonista
secundartio que sobreactúa allí donde la voluntad ha olvidado su rol sobrecompensador: socava
la confianza en las posibilidades reales y vertebra las ideales, contamina la magnificación del
ideal y evita el displacer del sacrificio a cambio del placer y la seguridad de la ficción. En la
polaridad hombre-mujer el axioma se traduce en “actúa como si fueras un hombre porque está
impregnado de femineidad como una falla en la superestructura psíquica”; pero en el espectro de
la realización personal la fórmula es “siendo débil actuaré como si el objetivo exigiera de mí lo
que no soy, la fortaleza que no tengo”. Entonces la percepción ya no es de una fuerza (ficción),
sino de una exigencia (realidad), lo que colinda con una voluntad libre de amenazas por estar tan
sólo enfrentada al objetivo (segunda realidad o realidad finalística). Tejer el objetivo con el hilo de
la voluntad en el telar de un sentimiento felizmente sobrevenido: el de personalidad.

Pero ¿qué pasa con el sentimiento de autoestima mientras el fenómeno de la personalidad va

arraigando en el hombre que se siente inferior? ¿Cómo canalizar mientras tanto el juego de
debilidades cuando ya se ha perdido ab initio el juego de fuerzas? Adler alumbró y alimentó su
doctrina individual en una sociedad germinal de la actual en la que el sentimiento de comunidad
tan sólo era una agregación de individualidades que no entraban en competencia, o mejor, en
competitividad. En ese sentido el radio de acción de la voluntad suministraba mucha más
información de uno mismo que de los otros, por cuanto la prioridad para Adler era buscar el lugar
ideal dentro de uno mismo más que la inserción en el engranaje de la sociedad (comunidad)
movido por un fin de utilidad. Si bien en aquel tiempo y lugar (Viena, años 20) la inferioridad
podía hilvanarse o coserse a un concepto de personalidad susceptible de evolución triunfal, en
nuestra época la inferioridad se encorseta en el hombre como un traje estrecho que le impide la
amplitud de movimientos en la escena social, imponiéndole un rol condicionado siempre por la
acción del más fuerte, del rival que menosprecia la utilidad del débil y le condena a un
crecimiento neurótico, a una rebeldía insana, trastornada. Por eso Adler utilizaba el constructo de
la represión para separarse de Freud, sin conducirla al terreno del inconsciente como “instinto
perverso”, sino al terreno de la voluntad por la presión del sentimiento de comunidad. Algo así
sólo puede conducir a la asociabilidad, pero como un mecanismo de seguridad transitorio, en
tanto la superestructura psíquica se refuerza y cristaliza en la personalidad como sentimiento y
no como un mero factum, de manera que la plena y verdadera satisfacción del sujeto se
consuma con una pérdida de equilibrio a favor de una voluntad rebelde, extirpado de la misma el
temor por sucumbir a la voluntad del más fuerte. El temor ya no será reverencial, sino
introspectivo. En definitiva, esa voluntad cincelada en la adversidad conforma “todas las fuerzas
psíquicas susceptibles de brindar seguridad” (El carácter neurótico). 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 súbditos con
una parafernalia de actos reprobables. La experiencia individual del dictador es una experiencia
baldía porque no es una voluntad de enseñanza, sino mando, un afán recolector más que
catalizador de voluntades para así 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 súbditos con el

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instrumento del miedo, de ahí que la ética de obediencia sea un concepto manipulado, una
conducta impuesta para obtener la adhesión de yoes arrancados de la voluntad individual.

Teniendo en cuenta que la voluntad de poder implica una obstrucción del fin al que naturalmente
tiende un colectivo de voluntades la teoría de Adler no se podía explicar adecuadamente en un
régimen de tiranía vertical, sólo en un régimen de tiranía horizontal o pacífico: la del ser inferior
llamado a compensarse sin más recompensa que la de su transformación, algo que no será
posible sin la configuración por el individuo de su prototipo, lo que Adler llamaba “el estilo de
vida”, o mejor, “el objetivo completo del estilo de vida”, una visión del yo como un sí mismo
creador, basado en la autorreferencia y en un reduccionismo complejo.

Pero si la curiosidad fue la primera piedra del edificio filosófico, la inferioridad es la primera
piedra de una curiosidad implacable por conocerse a sí misma en la faceta de la superioridad, en
un nivel cuyo límite ya no es la falsa suma de capacidades, sino la suma inteligente de artificios.
La voluntad del ser real por hacer el difícil recorrido de su conversión sólo puede cristalizar en la
voluntad del ideal por modelar la aspiración con las mismas formas que el objetivo. Sólo
entonces está ese objetivo asegurado. La experiencia acumulada poco importa en la aventura de
la inferioridad, pues recordemos que buena parte de su estrategia es la confiscación de ficciones
y su transformación en estratos verticales para edificar el ideal, el estar arriba como decantación
de una tregua rota por el miedo a sucumbir abajo. Es ahí donde el hombre inferior actúa con
agilidad ontológica (Salvador Pániker) y rompe el molde de su inmanencia. La ecuación es
“quiero, ergo puedo”, y aun cuando aquel edificio quede incompleto lo cierto es que el número de
pisos y dependencias será mayor que cuando el hombre era un proyecto desangelado, el
incómodo cociente de un dividendo llamado malestar y un divisor llamado impotencia: el binomio
del perdedor.

En el caso del genio asistimos a una superproducción de ideas como émbolo de una inferioridad
que funciona a un voltaje mayor que en el resto de los hombres. El objetivo de aquél es buscar
una sobrecompensación desmesurada a la anomalía de la inferioridad con la que ha venido al
mundo y en la que se siente encorsetado, de ahí que su dispersión 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 mutación de su condición inferior a través del afán de superioridad pasa por una
demostración de sus facultades por las que puede llegar a hacerse perdonar el enorme hecho
diferencial que supone la consumación de su objetivo. La inferioridad del genio supone el
ejemplo más elevado de una voluntad carente de otras limitaciones que no sean aquellas con las
que nace. Su concepto de virtud es una enucleación de la ética como órgano y una entronización
de la voluntad como forma de hacerse el bien, de forma que el concepto de mal sólo sería la
pérdida de oportunidad en el camino de la superación, de la sobrecompensación. Es incapaz de
afrontar o entender la ética si no es como ejercicio de autorresponsabilidad. En el genio la
dicotomía bien-mal es ficticia, un residuo de sus fases primitivas de su evolución anormal. La
conformidad del genio con la comunidad deviene en la última etapa de su recorrido, cuando su sí
mismo creador ha cristalizado en una superutilidad que esgrimir como carta de presentación; su
sentimiento de inferioridad no le proporciona estrategias terapéuticas 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
sobrecompensación. Cuadra bien aquí el verso gnómico de Rilke al final de su Réquiem por el
Conde Wolf: “Wer spricht von Siegen? Überstehen ist alles”. ¿Quién habla de victorias?
Sobreponerse es todo.

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La conclusión 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 sensación de igualdad. Su
racionalización de medios para lograr el fin es un feroz anticipo del fin, de manera que el genio
no ansía la meta para consolidar su singularidad, sino para probar la utilidad del medio como
herramienta de su hazaña: la inferioridad, a la que el genio da voz a través 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 recombinación de los pares
antagónicos en un libre juego de fuerzas donde el estar abajo supone paradójicamente la
concentración de mayor energía, el lugar de trabajo para la psique en su tarea de proyectar y
ejecutar lo proyectado con el mínimo 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 eternización. No en
vano Adler definía 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 exacerbación de la
teleología orgánica que incluso podría derivar en una resistencia intelectual para la comprensión
del mundo con el objetivo de ceder el protagonismo evolutivo a la voluntad. A fin de cuentas
ningún aliado mejor ha tenido la cultura que una voluntad de belleza, si bien al genio no le
importa tanto la fenomenología estética cuanto la educación estética tal como Schiller la
entendía, como un canal de comunicación fiable entre el hombre como tarea y la sociedad como
censor último de cada individuo.

En definitiva, la tarea que Adler impone a la voluntad del ser inferior es, primero, una
introspección, y después 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 combinación paritaria de sujeto y objeto, obligándoles a
caminar en la misma dirección según el plan de vida propuesto, ofreciendo un impulso ontológico
como compensación a una inferioridad orgánica desgraciadamente irreversible.

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