Adlerian And Existential Therapies
Psychoanalysis, Adlerian and Existential Therapies
Liam Farrell
Cpm 501, Union Institute and University
Dr. Scott Rice
3/22/14
Psychoanalytic, Adlerian and Existential approaches are three modalities of therapy worthy of discussion in terms of their similarities and differences. While the latter two owe much to the work of Dr. Freud in terms of germination, their development stands in large part as a reaction to the beliefs and practices that had come to dominate the world of therapy as an outgrowth of the writing and work of Freud. Briefly, psychoanalysis is based on the notion that we are determined by certain factors that lead to our happiness or unhappiness. Freud stands as one …show more content…
The awareness of death and non-being.
These concepts are covered well and in detail by Corey in his text, but the takeaway here in terms of a compare and contrast between three different modalities is that the overarching idea in existential therapy is for clients to take ultimate responsibility for themselves and to realize the ways in which they are not living “fully authentic lives (Corey, 2013, p. 142).” And the role of the therapist in this relationship is one of often times holding up a mirror to the client and encouraging the awareness of behaviors in either a positive or negative light.
I chose the Adlerian modality as my treatment method in this paper for the simple reason that this is the therapy that focuses most on the individual striving toward excellence while trying to achieve social connectedness and a sense of well being.
I would like to use, for the sake of this argument, a client named David who, at 38 years old, is a father of three and working in what he describes as a dead end job (customer service at a local building supply warehouse), is recently divorced and feeling like he drinks too much and too often. He has come into therapy as a court mandated sanction following his second …show more content…
The fact that he has been mandated to therapy by the courts might act as a wake up call and this is another area for growth, I think from an Adlerian standpoint of seeking to belong; he would most likely benefit from participating in the AA community. This would serve to help him deal with his compulsions to drink and would also place him in another micro-system. He could develop ties to a community that knows exactly what he is going through and which would most likely allow him to develop further, even beyond the scope of his drinking (professionally, socially).
Finally, I feel like it would be quite beneficial to make David aware of the very basic tenets of Adler’s philosophy and to share with him one of the quotes which define the therapeutic philosophy and its underlying theme of the problem of achieving our goals: “in general he behaves like a nervous patient who refuses to make any change in his life plan until he has become aware of his unconscious idea of greatness and has given it up as unattainable (Adler, 1923, p. 227).” David would do well, I believe to recognize that he a has a possibility for
Liam Farrell
Cpm 501, Union Institute and University
Dr. Scott Rice
3/22/14
Psychoanalytic, Adlerian and Existential approaches are three modalities of therapy worthy of discussion in terms of their similarities and differences. While the latter two owe much to the work of Dr. Freud in terms of germination, their development stands in large part as a reaction to the beliefs and practices that had come to dominate the world of therapy as an outgrowth of the writing and work of Freud. Briefly, psychoanalysis is based on the notion that we are determined by certain factors that lead to our happiness or unhappiness. Freud stands as one …show more content…
The awareness of death and non-being.
These concepts are covered well and in detail by Corey in his text, but the takeaway here in terms of a compare and contrast between three different modalities is that the overarching idea in existential therapy is for clients to take ultimate responsibility for themselves and to realize the ways in which they are not living “fully authentic lives (Corey, 2013, p. 142).” And the role of the therapist in this relationship is one of often times holding up a mirror to the client and encouraging the awareness of behaviors in either a positive or negative light.
I chose the Adlerian modality as my treatment method in this paper for the simple reason that this is the therapy that focuses most on the individual striving toward excellence while trying to achieve social connectedness and a sense of well being.
I would like to use, for the sake of this argument, a client named David who, at 38 years old, is a father of three and working in what he describes as a dead end job (customer service at a local building supply warehouse), is recently divorced and feeling like he drinks too much and too often. He has come into therapy as a court mandated sanction following his second …show more content…
The fact that he has been mandated to therapy by the courts might act as a wake up call and this is another area for growth, I think from an Adlerian standpoint of seeking to belong; he would most likely benefit from participating in the AA community. This would serve to help him deal with his compulsions to drink and would also place him in another micro-system. He could develop ties to a community that knows exactly what he is going through and which would most likely allow him to develop further, even beyond the scope of his drinking (professionally, socially).
Finally, I feel like it would be quite beneficial to make David aware of the very basic tenets of Adler’s philosophy and to share with him one of the quotes which define the therapeutic philosophy and its underlying theme of the problem of achieving our goals: “in general he behaves like a nervous patient who refuses to make any change in his life plan until he has become aware of his unconscious idea of greatness and has given it up as unattainable (Adler, 1923, p. 227).” David would do well, I believe to recognize that he a has a possibility for