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Read and respond to the questions: (2 to 3 pages)
The following critical statements about individual psychology are designed to be provocative, Please write your responses to the following critical statements. (agree or disagree, why or why not)
1) Much of individual psychology is based on concepts such as lifestyle and the individual’s subjective function goals. These concepts are at best elusive, and at worst fictional. Comment on how a mondern psychological theory could base itself on such unscientific concepts.
2) The Adlerian family constellation and, in particular, birth order, is too flexible for practical evaluation. For example, birth order research has been flatly negative in that birth order, in and of itself, does not adequately predict individual personality or behavior. However, Adler’s belief in the individual’s unique interpretation of birth order and family position makes it impossible to systematically evaluate these theoretical influences on human behavior.
3) As a theory, individual psychology is somewhat loose and poorly organized. Adler spent more time lecturing and talking about therapy cases than writing out his ideas in a coherent and integrated theory. Although no one claims his ideas are poor, it’s obvious from reading Adler that his theory is underdeveloped. In fact, individual psychology is more like the pasting together of a number of common-sense ideas about humans in a formal theory of personality or psychotherapy.
4) One of the cornerstones of Adlerian therapy is that insight produces motivation for change. Do you think that’s true? Is there any empirical evidence to support the contention that insight produces motivation?
5) Individual psychology is an overly optimistic and naive approach to therapy. For example, Adlerians advocate the use of a variety of superficial techniques to produce lasting human change. Do you really think that individuals experience lasting change when told to act “as if” they are confident?
6) In this chapter, Adler has been characterized as a strong feminist. However, he also wrote that the woman’s proper place is in the home, raising children, and that’s where his wife spent most of her time. Consequently, from a feminist perspective, although Alder may have been a feminist in his time, he can hardly be viewed as a man who was completely liberated from the trappings of masculine domination.
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