Who was Alfred Adler and What is Adlerian Psychology?
The father of Adlerian Psychology, Alfred Adler, M.D., stressed the need to understand individuals within their social context. In the early 1900’s Adler began addressing such crucial and contemporary issues as equality, parent education, the influence of birth order, life style, and the holism of individuals. His, then, revolutionary observations triggered a life of research dedicated to understanding people that he called Individual Psychology. Adler’s comprehensive theory of human behavior has resulted in models of practice that have had broad impact on the fields of education, social sciences, family life, psychology, and psychotherapy. He pioneered ideas and techniques that have become the basis for most contemporary work including: • Cognitive Behavior Therapy • Reality Therapy • Solution-Focused Therapy • Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy • Existential Therapy • Holistic Psychology • Family Therapy Theorists as diverse as Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, Viktor Frankl, Abraham Maslow,
