My portion of the PSY/405 team Psychodynamic Personality Theories paper (Week 2)

Who Is Adler?

            Alfred Alder was born on February 17, 1870 in the village of Rudolfsheim. Between nearly dying of pneumonia at the age of five and death of his younger brother, Alder became inspired to become a physician. During his childhood years, Alder took a large interest in his social relationships, his peers and siblings were essential in his development during childhood. In 1895, Alder obtained his medical degree and after serving in the Hungarian army he returned to Vienna for his postgraduate studies. After starting his own eye specialist practice, he decided it was not for him and starting focusing on psychiatry and general medicine. In 1902, Alder became a part of a group known as the Wednesday Psychological Society, which in 1908 became known as the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. The group was led by Sigmund Freud and the discussions were related to psychology and neuropathology. Alder published Study of Organ Inferiority and Its Psychical Compensation in 1907, which discussed the foundations for human motivation being linked to physical deficiencies. In 1911, Alder was the president of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society and expressed his views regarding psychoanalysis. Alder believed psychoanalysis is more broad then Freud’s view of infantile sexuality, contending that the drive for superiority was a more uncomplicated motive. This caused a collision between Freud and Alder which ultimately caused the resignation of his presidency and the creation of his own group known as the Society of Individual Psychology. During World War I Alder made significant changes to his theory, suggesting the foundations for human motivation are social interest and compassion. Alder advanced his theories through lecture, instituting child guidance clinics, and training teachers. In 1932, he became a resident of the United States and taught Medical Psychology at Long Island College of Medicine. In Scotland on May 28, 1937, while on a speaking tour, Alfred Alder died of a Heart Attack (Feist & Feist, 2009).

Adler’s Strengths and Weaknesses

            Various concepts illustrated in Alder’s theory do not allow for easy verification or falsification. His theory is very broad, making it difficult for research to support or fail to support its major principles. Early memories are determined by ones present style of life, is a tenet found difficult to verify or falsify. His theory is also not considered internally consistent because many of the terms used in his theory are not accurately operationally defined; creative power is one example of this. However, the strength of the theory is its ability to guide action. The theory provides solutions to practical problems for teachers, parents, and psychotherapists. By collecting information on birth order, dreams, early memories, childhood troubles, and physical deficits, psychotherapists can use the information to understand a person’s life style and increase their freedom of choice (Feist & Feist, 2009).