He formed the school of thought known as individual psychology.
Adler’s work and theories helped lay the foundation for modern psychotherapy and positive psychology.
Keep reading to learn more about Adler’s life, career, and contributions to psychology.
Public Domain Library of Famous Psychologists, Sonoma University
Adler also had a significant influence on many other great thinkers, including Abraham Maslow and Albert Ellis.
Early Life
Alfred Adler was born in Vienna, Austria, on February 7, 1870.
He suffered rickets as a young child, which prevented him from walking until after the age of 2.
Then he got pneumonia at the age of four.
Due to his health problems as a child, Adler decided he would become a physician.
Mid-Life
It wasn’t until mid-life that Alder turned his interests toward the field of psychiatry.
In 1902, Sigmund Freud invited him to join a psychoanalytic discussion group.
This group met each Wednesday in Freud’s home and would eventually grow to become the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.
In 2011, 74 years after his death, Adler’s ashes were returned to Vienna, Austria.
Understanding Adler’s Theory of Personality
Adler’s theory of personality contended that individuals are whole beings.
From childhood, people work toward overcoming this inferiority by “striving for superiority.”
Adler believed that this drive was the motivating force behind human behaviors, emotions, and thoughts.
Selected Publications
Adler, A.
(1925).The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology.
(1956).The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler.
H. L. Ansbacher and R. R. Ansbacher (Eds.).
New York: Harper Torchbooks.
Takeaways
Adler’s contributions to psychology go far beyond his role in the development of psychoanalysis.
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The Guardian.Ashes of psychoanalysis co-founder Alfred Adler traced.
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