Treatment by Adlerian Therapy
Adlerian therapy is a type of a Growth Model. It emphasizes on creating and bringing forth the positive view of the nature of humans, and also tends to inculcate the fact that all humans can control their fate. We begin at very tender ages to make our very own distinct lifestyles and from that point onwards, these lifestyles remain constant. All Adlerian therapists record the complete family history of their clients and then use this information to create a set of goals1 for their clients. The main aim and focus of the therapy as well as the therapists, is to inculcate healthy and positive goals for the clients, and help them with ample suggestions and encouragement so that they may achieve these goals in order to become more productive in life. These goals are mainly associated with maintaining healthy relationships, parenting skills, marriages, refraining from substance abuse and various other things that can create a positive impact upon the lives of the clients.
Individual Based Therapy:
The early stage of the therapy mainly emphasizes on the lifestyle of the client, and by inculcating a bond of trust and respect between the client and the therapist the therapy can progress. The role of the therapist in this process is to provide ample guidance and encouragement to the clients so they may easily achieve their goals. The therapist can also give different home work assignments to the clients, outline various suggestions that can help the client in achieving the set goals, set different contracts and help the client in bringing a positive change in his or her life.
Behavioral Therapy:
Behavioral therapy explores the ideal that all behaviors are learned and we are what our environment and surroundings make us. There are different reinforcements as well as imitations from which people learn behavior, and this means that defective learning results directly from abnormal behavior. The main focus of the behavior therapy is to outline a treatment plan that can set goals for the clients which can lead to the accomplishment of desired outcomes. Following this, different methods are implemented in order to modify the behavior in a positive way. These methods inculcate assertion, coaching, desensitization, behavioral rehearsals, modeling, cognitive structuring, relaxation as well as other reinforcement methods. It is important for both the therapist and the client to take active part in the learning process in order to achieve and inculcate the positive change. Behavior therapy is ideally practiced for clients suffering from signs of depression, any types of sexual disorders, phobias, behavioral disorders in children, and stuttering.
Existential Therapy:
This therapy emphasizes the client to recognize the freedom that we have to order our lives the way we want. It is meant to inculcate the positive feeling of the fact that we have complete control over our lives and can achieve what we wish for with the right amount of self awareness and self determination. This particular therapy covers aspects of both the future, as well as the present. In this therapy, the therapist aims to make the client realize and recognize his/her freedom as well as the potential they hold. During the course of the existential therapy, all clients are made to embrace the fact that they are responsible for, and can control all events that take place in their lives.
Gestalt Therapy:
This therapy deals with integrating the mind and body by inducing integration and awareness in the client. The main aim of the Gestalt therapy is the integration of thinking, behavior and feeling. During the course of this therapy, the clients are made aware of the responsibilities that they possess in their personal lives, how to dodge problems, how to accomplish goals, how to perceive things in a positive manner, and how to ideally live their lives in the present.
Psychotherapy:
Psychotherapy or psychoanalysis mainly focuses on the unconscious and the influence it has on human behavior. This therapy also maintains that each individual is driven by sexual and aggressive impulses. Psychotherapy is not recommended or useful for those clients that are impulsive, self-centered or severely psychotic.
Cognitive-behavioral Therapy or Rational-Emotive Therapy:
This therapy is highly action-oriented. The goal of the therapy is to encourage the client to think on their own and to try to change themselves. These therapists believes that many people fall victim to irrational thinking as each person is actually born with the ability to make decisions and also think rationally.
Reality Therapy:
Reality therapists teach clients methods to control the world around them in order to meet their personal requirements and needs. These therapists focus on the “what and why” of the actions of the client. The therapists points out the behavior and feelings of the client and asks them to reassess it so that they can control and manage their own needs more effectively3.
Transactional Analysis:
This therapy focuses on the behavior and cognitive functioning of the client. Past decisions of the client are evaluated and the therapist and client together look at how these decisions affect the present.
Basic Principles of Adlerian Therapy
References:
Adelrian Therapy: Theory and Practice: Author, Jon Carlson PsyD, EdD, Michael Maniacci PsyD and Richard E. Watts, PhD.
Readings in The Theory Of Individual Psychology: Author Steven Slavik
http://www.alfredadler.edu/about/theory
