![]() In 1902 he was one of the few to read Sigmund Freud’s book on dream interpretation and respond with positive interest. In the course of his work as a physician he made study of the interplay between what he termed "organ deficiency" (illness, physical handicaps, etc.) and an individual's personality and self-image. In 1895 Adler successfully earned his medical degree, graduating from the University of Vienna. Such experiences help shape Adler's theories of personality development, especially his belief that the most basic human drive is the striving from an initial state of inadequacy, or what he termed "inferiority", toward "superiority", or self-actualization. He was soon at the top of his class in mathematics. Adler then became determined to excel and to show the teacher just how wrong he was. But his father only scoffed at the teacher, letting the boy know how little he thought of the teacher's judgment. The teacher suggested that young Adler be removed from school and apprenticed to a cobbler. This accomplishment began to look out of reach later when he was struggling in school and failing at math. He did recover, but was so profoundly shaken by the experience that he resolved to become a doctor himself someday in order to help the suffering caused by such illness and disease. Sickly as a child, he did not walk until age four because of rickets at age five Adler developed pneumonia and was diagnosed as unlikely to survive. ![]() Much of his theory can also be found in the more recently published The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler, a ten-volume edition containing works from 1898-1937.Īlfred Adler was born the second of six children in Penzing, Austria on February 7, 1870, the son of a Jewish grain merchant. Adler's best known works include The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology (1927) and Understanding Human Nature (1927). Adler was a firm proponent of egalitarian relations between patients and analysts. Among Adler’s chief contributions are the importance of birth order in the formation of personality, the impact of neglect or pampering on child development, the notion of a "self perfecting" drive within human beings, and the idea that one must study and treat the patient as a "whole person." Other important tenets of Adler's theory are the idea that individuals create a "fiction" or story about themselves in childhood that guides their perceptions and choices throughout life, and that the ability to work with others for a common good was the hallmark of sound mental health. ![]() In addition he is credited, along with Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, as one of the greatest founding influences of modern psychology. Executive summary: Founder of Individual PsychologyĪustrian medical doctor and psychologist Alfred Adler is best known as the founder of Individual Psychology. ![]()
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