Group Theory and Process Presentation
- 2. A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY “When you really exhaust an experience you always reverence and love it.” -Albert Camus • Alfred Adler (1870-1937) Vienna, Austria. Adler was sickly and nearly died of Pneumonia at age 4. He struggled within his family for a stable place amongst his siblings, was plagued by feelings of inferiority and low expectations from his family and teachers (they advised him to become a Cobbler.) • He rose to the top of his class, Studied Medicine at The University of Vienna eventually specializing in Neurology, Psychiatry, and childhood incurable diseases. • Adler was an original member and eventual President of The Viennese Psychoanalytical Association from which he departed in 1911. Freud denounced him as a heretic.
- 3. A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY (CONT.) • After this period of approximately 10 years collaborating with Freud, he moved towards ideas centered in personality integration, away from Freudian determinism and toward purposeful individual teleology. He believed we each create for ourselves a unique style of existence that is a expression of desired goals and a movement toward these goals. • He passionately worked toward reforms in child-rearing and school practices. And wrote in jargon free prose directed toward the general public, selling hundreds of thousands of copies of his work Understanding Human Nature in the U.S. alone. Adler worked with large audiences of social workers, physicians and teachers in demonstration workshops, founded clinics, and lectured tirelessly until his death of Heart failure in 1937in The Netherlands.
- 4. RUDOLF DREIKURS • 1897-1972 • Born in Vienna, developed Adler’s into a logistical measn for understanding the misbehavior of children. • Claimed misbehavior stemmed one of four mistaken goals by the child 1)Undue attention 2)power 3)revenge 4)avoidance • He was an American Psychiatrist who is chiefly responsible for popularizing Adler’s work in The U.S. • Wrote over a dozen books on parenting and child discipline. • Died in Chicago
- 5. ADLER: ONE OF THE FIRST GROUP THERAPISTS Jacob Moreno first coined, “group Therapy,” in 1931 in reference to the Psychodrama groups he had had been employing in his practice throughout the 1920’s. Adler likewise first began utilizing a, “group therapy approach,” in his Child Guidance centers in 1921 making him, along with Moreno and a few others, one of the first to employ the technique. Adler believed our problems have strong social stems and that groups provided a microcosmic social context in which social conflict could unfold in a controlled and safe way allowing for patient development of sense of belonging, social connectedness, and community. Interpersonal Content Interpersonal Process Group Process Intrapersonal Change
- 6. SCHISM WITH FREUD: INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY F R E U D I A N P S Y C H O A N A L Y S I S • Human motivation is reducible to sex and aggression (deterministic) • People cannot change their temperaments or personalities • Behavior is a result of past experiences. • Subconscious motivations have a primary role in behavior. A D L E R I A N I N D I V I D U A L P S Y C H O L O G Y • Human motivation is toward social success and superiority (etiological) • People Determine who they are and possess the capacity for change. • Behavior is a means toward a speculative goal. • Most people are aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it. Divisions within Division, and Schisms within Schism. ALL Divide and Conquer. -anonymous
- 7. THE PRIMARY POINT OF CONTENTION Freud Current Ontology of Client Present personality and behavior is a result of formative event in the first few years of life. (deterministic motivations) Adler Present personality and behavior is orientated toward achieving a lifestyle formulated in first few years of life. (teleological motivations) Adler’s early theories seemed to almost completely deny the subconscious and attribute even erratic, neurotic behavior to a conscious stratagem toward achieving final goals. He seems to have backed off of this contention somewhat in later years conceding An increasing amount of motivations to formative events and childhood attachment, But always maintained optimism is peoples ability to understand themselves, change faulty interpretations, and lean to habituate more effect interpersonal behavior.
- 8. CENTRAL TENETS OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY 1. The motivational force behind all behavior is a striving for success and superiority. We are born weak and helpless which engenders feelings of inferiority. 2. Individual Subjective perceptions mold personality and behavior. People have a drive toward completeness or wholeness. This is the impetus toward the goal of superiority. 3. The dynamic interplay between our current self and our ideal goals creates a motivating cycle which moves us constantly toward superiority and away from perceived inferiority. Feelings of Inferiority Goal of Superiority
- 9. CENTRAL TENETS OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY (CONT.) 3. Personality is unified and consistent. As young children we begin to formulate our ideas for individual success (harkens to Erickson’s stages) All our behavior, even seemingly erratic, is toward a determined goal. 4. Human activity is evaluated through it’s effect on social interests. We may strive for a personal superiority detached from social good if our feelings of inferiority are exaggerated. Psychologically health people promote social interests and success for mankind. (This social interest depends on a healthy relationship with both parents) Innate Striving Force/ Physical Deficiencies/ Feeling of Inferiority Exaggerated Feelings Gemeinschaftsgefuhl- Social feeling or community feeling. Personal Gain/ Personal Superiority/ Final Goal Dimly Perceived Normal Feelings of Incompletion Social Interest/ Success/ Final Goal Clearly Perceived
- 10. CENTRAL TENETS OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY (CONT.) 5. The self-consistent personality manifests itself in a style of life. A healthy style of life (developed by age four or five) involves a persons interests, goals, self-concept feelings to others. It is a the socially benevolent way in which people solve the three problems of life. a) neighborly love b) sexual love c) occupation 6. Style of life lies in individual creative power. Using your genetics and life circumstances as the bricks and mortar to produce a unique architecture of social and personal utility.
- 11. THE CYCLE OF NEUROSIS The Cycle of Group Process New Shared Experiences Experiences Of The Past Holistic Group interpretations Subjective Interpretations More accurate Conclusions Unhealthy Conclusions Better Understanding of The Present Confirmation of Confirmation of Subjective New Interpretations Experiences Self Self-Affirming Destructive Actions understanding of Self and Present Actions Experiences within group therapy, using the group to reflect behavior, helps Individuals to discard faulty beliefs, mistaken notions, and fruitless pursuits. This cycle can thus be broken.
- 12. THE ESSENTIAL LIFE TASKS Because we are primarily social beings our well-being depends on how we accomplish three main life tasks. Neurosis can arise from desperate attempts to maintain the completion of these tasks, even when they are no longer healthy connections for us, or by purposelessness derived from not completing these tasks. • Building Friendships (social task) • Establishing Intimacy (love/marriage task) • Contributing to Society (occupational task) Dreikurs and Mosak add two additional tasks (1966,1967) • Self (getting along with ourselves task) • Existential (spiritual task) These areas and the individual values and beliefs surrounding them can be discussed in a group and destructive beliefs pertaining to self or society can be Replaced constructive beliefs.
- 13. ADLERIAN THERAPY GROUP-ALL ARE WELCOME Groups are based on accepting ourselves and others as imperfect. They avoid the alienation endemic to society by not pre-screening for group candidacy or denying admission to anyone. To do so would debase the concept of accepting the varying levels of imperfection within society at large. The taciturn, narcissistic, and disruptive, who might be screened out, are seem as the individuals with the most to gain in personality adjustment, maturity, and feelings of inadequacy.
- 14. THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION • Children learn a great deal about life from their parents (Bandura’s Modeling) • They learn even more from their interactions with their siblings. One’s perceived position within the family influences later personality development. (But does not dictate this development or preclude it’s purposeful alteration) • Evaluating Family Relationships 1. How does each pair show affection. 2. How do they handle disagreements. 3. How do they divide and share roles. • Early family life can be influential in the formation of self-perception and outlook upon society and the world, but the beliefs engendered in family of origin are not causal or subject to remediation and revision.
- 15. TRAITS BY BIRTH ORDER (ADLER’S GENERALIZATIONS) Positive Traits Oldest Nurturing and Protective Good organizer Second Child Motivated, Cooperative, Moderately Competitive Youngest Child Realistically ambitious Only Child Socially mature Negative Traits Oldest Anxious, Hostile, Exaggerated Feeling of Power, Critical, Uncooperative, always “Right” Second Child Highly Competitive Easily Discouraged Youngest Child Pampered, Dependent, Unrealistically Ambitious Only Child Exaggerated Superiority, Uncooperative, Inflated Ego, Pampered
- 16. PHENOMENOLOGICAL DYNAMICS Formed by our beliefs about ourselves and the world. Provides The universal human capacity the lens through which we see the world. To influence and create events. Lifestyle Creativity Private Logic Fictional Finalism A movement toward an Individual ideal. The imagined goal of perfection we pursue our entire lives but never attain. The patterns by which we orient ourselves in the social world. A conceptualization of our unique existence in the world.
- 17. GROUP LEADER: ROLE AND FUNCTION Adlerian group facilitators are actively involved in an egalitarian manner with each member of the group and model the behaviors sought as goals for the members including showing imperfection, being willing to take risks, being collaborative, and having enthusiasm for the usefulness of the endeavor. They lead each group as if it were the last. They provide the structure which allow for an environment that can facilitate interaction, involvement, acceptance, and confrontation. They 1. Help members define personal goals 2. Conduct psychological assessments of group members 3. Offer tentative interpretations 4. Guide group assessment
- 18. ADLERIAN PROCESS STAGES 1. Establishing Cohesion Between Members Mutual respect and involvement must prevail. Cooperation is fostered by the facilitator by building rapport and cohesion. Mutually agreed upon goals, that are meaningful to the group, are established as areas to investigate and change. 2. Analysis and Assessment Goals and current lifestyles are assessed. Issues of current functioning, and feelings of self-worth are explored. Use of family constellation, birth-order, early recollections, dreams, and artwork are used to assess each member’s private logic. (life convictions and core assumptions about self and the world) 3. Awareness and Insight Understanding gained in stage two is translated into awareness and insight as explanations for current behaviors. The group members mirror each other and provide collective insight and interpretations for each other. Personal goals and faulty notions are examined. Personal roles in the creation and maintenance of problems as well as means to solve problems are explored. 4. Reorientation and Reeducation Implementing new beliefs about self, life, and the world to supplant faulty one’s is imperative in this stage. This is the main working stage. Taking risks and making changes is encouraged. Group members adopt hope in their ability to change and realize new options and this hope is mirrored in each member and is synergistic. Encouragement opens up possibilities, new creative avenues for living, and positive asset recognition. Members are challenged to act , “as if,” and to, “catch themselves,” repeating old behaviors. Insight is turned into action.
- 19. EARLY RECOLLECTIONS • Typically memories before 10 years of age are most relevant. • ER’s, “tell on a client,” as to what is important to them and provide a wealth of insight to the Adlerian Therapist about the client. • ER’s leave us with misconceptions of meaning based on our youthful subjective interpretations and lead to, “basic mistakes,” that effect current lifestyle. (These are akin REBT Cognitive Distortions) 1. Overgeneralizations 2. Unrealistic goals regarding security (in the uninterrupted continuity of the three main life tasks) 3. Misperceptions of life demands 4. Minimizations of one’s value 5. Faulty Values (Lacking Social Interest) • “The Question”-akin to the miracle question used in other brief therapies such as “Solution Focused Therapy.” 1. “How would you life be different if you didn’t have these concerns?” 2. “What would change in your life if you had a magic pill to make you well?”
- 20. ADLERIAN GROUP THERAPY A D V A N T A G E S Since Adler’s Individual Psychology was intrinsically social in nature, a group setting is ideal for restructuring of social perceptions. The short–term nature of Adlerian therapy keeps therapists and clients focused on active change. Lends itself especially well to school counseling in it’s search for meaning, encouragement, social dimensions, self-esteem building, and work with emotional intelligence. Works especially well in multicultural contexts because of it’s emphasis on self-in-social relation, the role of family, it’s holistic approach, and it’s communal orientation. D I S A D V A N T A G E S Requires some introspection on the part of clients to connect earlier experiences with current lifestyles. Requires more than a superficial understanding to be effectively employed by a therapist. Is culturally limited in contexts where equality is not a given, it relies heavily on social equality. Short-term groups may not have the time or interest to explore family constellations or early recollections.
- 21. SOURCES CITED Feist & Feist. Theories of Personality. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006. Print. Corey, Gerald. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Belmont: Brooks/Cole, 2009. Print. Corey, Gerald. Theory and Practice of Group Counseling. Belmont: Brooks/Cole, 2008. Print.