Self Esteem - the theories of Alfred Adler and how it could help you?
A brief history of Alfred Adler:
Alfred Adler was the one-time colleague of Freud and Jung and as such one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis as well as well as his own Individual Psychology.
Recently his ashes were discovered in a crematorium in Edinburgh; these had been lost because he died while on a lecture tour at Aberdeen University in 1937. John Clifford, the Austrian Honorary Consul for Scotland with three Austrian students found the whereabouts of Adler’s remains. These were returned to his family at a ceremony at the Lord Provost’s in Scotland and will then be returned to the city of his birth, Vienna, of which he was a freeman. There will be a ceremony given by the Austrian government on the 12th July 2011 to receive his remains.
Adler is known for three concepts:
1) His theory of the Inferiority Complex,
2) His theory of Compensation for a perceived deficiency, real or imagined, and finally
3) His concept of Belongingness (Gemeinschaftsgefuhl) which he contended was a curative process when people began to feel part of the wider community, helping to reduce neurotic or other feelings of disassociation, such as reclusiveness and isolation.
Adler’s theories: The relevance to today’s world
We live in a challenging world today, and it is in this context that we must see Adler’s work. Self esteem is a key idea for the contempory world and Adler’s three concepts (inferiority, compensation and belongingness) are very relevant to what is almost a universal search for self esteem.
He was concerned with a person’s feelings of inferiority and self esteem. Adler is recognised as one of the great motivational theorists: he considered it quite normal to have feelings of inferiority.
Inferiority complex: A positive or negative influence
The experience of a child who sees a world around him or her which is greater than them, naturally can feel inferior, and feelings of inferiority can become a positive spur to the achievement of one’s goals. However these feelings could become a great burden to the discouraged individual and create neurotic or psychotic difficulties and could lead to the complex which Adler so graphically described and which could become disabling, producing low self esteem. So a person’s self esteem would then be gauged in their perceptions or world view according to how they used feelings of inferiority to a positive or negative end. For the neurotic individual these disabling feelings could move from a felt minus to a felt plus through psychotherapy, counselling and coaching. One of the central features of Adlerian therapy is the encouragement of the individual to overcome feelings of inferiority and thus to achieve improved self esteem.
Seen in this light it is interesting for us as individuals to examine which way we decided to go – was it a discouragement or a spur. It is also empowering to know that we have choices and can change these perceptions through psychotherapy, counselling or coaching! Self esteem does not have to stay permanently damaged or low. It is possible to repair and recover this concept.
Compensation brings self esteem with itself
We can see that the striving to overcome feelings of inferiority can act as a spur to the achievement of the individual’s goals. Here the creativity of the individual leads to compensatory activity (Adler’s idea of compensation) which has positive results and can lead to improved self esteem. The example of the businessman who could neither read nor write but became one of the 200 richest people in the country springs to mind. Compensation brings self esteem with itself. Adler called this the moving from below to above. He recognised that the individual is in a constant state of flux. We can see that in the case of the American cyclist who suffers from cancer and won the Tour de France several times, how the person can achieve great results, by striving to overcome a disability or inferiority. People from the same family background can react in different ways to the discouragement of their circumstances, one achieving and developing self esteem and the other becoming neurotic and trapped in feelings of inferiority.
An explanation of the idea of Belongingness
Finally Adler’s idea of Belongingness. For Adler psychological health and self esteem were intimately bound up with feelings of belonging to the wider whole of community or society.
The origins of these feelings will begin in the family where there will be a positive sense of belonging or, sadly, the reverse. However, through compensatory activity or therapy, the healthful feeling of belongingness and related feelings of self esteem can be established in later life. This leads to the individual seeking to contribute to the wider whole of the community, playing his or her part in the life of society as a whole, and through doing so acquiring improved self esteem.
If you have ever felt a sense of isolation or detachment from belonging to a group or community Adler’s explanation provides you with a plausible explanation and a route to healing and belonging again. Adler’s theories can bring a positive hope and route back into the nurturing of the family and belonging to many.
Conclusion
Adler’s concepts of inferiority, compensation and belongingness speak to our modern search for self esteem, with a directness and simplicity which make them accessible and relevant. He was supremely optimistic, and his therapy of encouragement was always intended to help the neurotic individual move from a felt minus to a felt plus. His insights have been absorbed into the mainstream of therapeutic practice, and while often unacknowledged, his contribution to therapeutic theory and practice, has been immense. His ashes can be returned to his native city with great honour.
About the author
Tony Williams.UKCP Registered Psychotherapist, MBACP Accredited Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Tony is an MBACP Accredited Counsellor and a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist. He has been in practice for 20 years and has worked in many different settings i.e.Harley Street, andSt Martin’s in the field Social Care Unit. He now practices from his home in Bassett Rd with his wife Geraldine, who is also a psychotherapist.
He was lecture chairman of the Adlerian Society for 11 years, and is a professional member of The Society for Existential Analysis and an Associate of The Royal Society of Medicine.
He can be contacted at:
51 Bassett Road. W10 6JR
Tel: 020 89693057
Mobile: 07888897357
Email: tonywilliams3uk@yahoo.co.uk
Web: www.counselling-psychotherapy-westlondon.com
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