Adler, Alfred (äd`lər), 1870–1937, Austrian psychologist, founder of the school of individual psychology. Although one of Sigmund Freud's earlier associates, he rejected the Freudian emphasis upon sex as the root of neurosis. Adler broke with Freud in 1911, maintaining that feelings of helplessness during childhood can lead to an inferiority complex. Adler's theory focused on social forces, and his therapy, while still concerned with the analysis of early childhood, was also interested in overcoming the inferiority complex through positive social interaction. After 1932, he lectured and practiced in the United States. His books include The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology (1927, repr. 1973) and Understanding Human Nature (1927, repr. 1978).

Bibliography

See studies by J. Rattner (tr. 1983) and P. Stephansky (1983).

Adler, Alfred

(born Feb. 7, 1870, Penzing, Austria—died May 28, 1937, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scot.) Austrian psychiatrist. He earned his medical degree in Vienna, and from his earliest years as a physician he stressed consideration of the individual in relation to his total environment. A student and associate of Sigmund Freud (1902–11), he eventually broke with Freud over the importance of early-childhood sexual conflicts in the development of psychopathology. With his followers he developed the school of individual psychology—the humanistic study of drives, feelings, emotions, and memory in the context of the individual's overall life plan. Adler advanced the theory of the inferiority complex to explain cases of psychopathology; Adlerian psychotherapy sought to direct patients emotionally disabled by inferiority feelings toward maturity, common sense, and social usefulness. He established the first child guidance clinic in 1921 in Vienna. He taught in the U.S. (at Columbia University and the Long Island College of Medicine) from 1927 until his death. His works include Understanding Human Nature (1927) and What Life Should Mean to You (1931).