Adlerian Theory
Alfred Adler was born in Penzig Austria in 1870, to a middle class Jewish family. Alfred Adler’s birth order was number two of six children. By the age of three Adler had witness the death of his younger brother. By the age if five he almost died of pneumonia. Adler was s sickly child he was run over in the street and he suffered from rickets. To make up for his physical limitations Adler spent a lot of time outside playing and while playing he went out of his way to make friends. He was not a good student initially he did poorly in math. But after over hearing a conversation with his father and his teacher who suggested he be put in an apprentice program for shoe making Adler studied to overcome his deficiency and eventually became skilled in math.
In 1895 Adler received a degree in medicine from the University of Vienna. He first practiced ophthalmology, his interest turned to neurology and finally to psychiatry. In 1902 Adler was invited to join Freud’s Vienna Psychoanalytic Society where he gained prominence. Adler disagreed early on with Freud’s theoretical approach, especially his emphasis on biology and sexuality. Adler developed a theoretical orientation that was less deterministic and more practical and hopeful. Adler stressed the importance of subjective feelings rather than biological drives as the primary motivating force of life (Datler and Gstach 2001).
In 1910 Adler resigned has the president of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society and gave up his co-editorship of The Journal of Psychoanalysis. He then established a rival Society if Individual Psychology. Alder served in World War I as a physician. After the war in 1922 Adler was instrumental in setting up child guidance clinics in the Vienna Schools and eventually in other parts of Europe. He continuously worked to refine his theory and spoke in Europe and the United States. Adler fled Hitler’s rise to power in 1932. He was appointed to the position in medical psychology at the...