Individual psychology

Individual psychology (German: Individualpsychologie) is a psychological method or science founded by the Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler.[1][2] The English edition of Adler's work on the subject (1925) is a collection of papers and lectures given mainly between 1912 and 1914. The papers cover the whole range of human psychology in a single survey, and were intended to mirror the indivisible unity of the personality.[further explanation needed]

In developing the concept of individual psychology, Adler broke away from the psychoanalytic school of Sigmund Freud.[3][4] While Adler initially called his work "free psychoanalysis", he later rejected the label of "psychoanalyst".[5] His method, involving a holistic approach to the study of character,[6] has been extremely influential in later 20th century counselling and psychiatric strategies.[7]

The term "individual psychology" does not focus only on the individual, and is used to refer to the patient as an indivisible entity. Adler said one must take into account the patient's whole environment, including the people the patient associates with.

  1. ^ Adler, Alfred (1924). The Practice And Theory Of Individual Psychology (1 ed.). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. ISBN 9781136330094. OCLC 862745962.
  2. ^ (Fall, Holden, & Marquis, 2002)
  3. ^ (Dinkmeyer, Pew, & Dinkmeyer, 1979)
  4. ^ Eric Berne, A Layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (1976) p. 277-8
  5. ^ (Hoffman, 1994)
  6. ^ (Mosak & DiPietro, 2006)
  7. ^ (Oberst & Stewart, 2003)