Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and compares two of the most common counseling therapies available to psychologists and counselors - Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis and Adlerian therapy. The paper describes the history and background of each of the therapies and discusses how they apply to counseling sessions. The paper also looks at the types of patients that will benefit most from each form of therapy.

From the Paper:

"Adler's view of counseling was for the therapist to discover the error in the patient's lifestyle and, through it, lead him to greater maturity (UXL Newsmakers 2005). For this purpose, he devised diagnostic approaches. Among these were the theory of dreams, the meaning of early childhood recollections, and the role of birth order in the family. The counselor or therapist gains an understanding and experience of the patient, not characterized by depth, but from the context of the larger whole of his collective transactions. In Adler's view, this was how to effect a change in the person's self-view and his view of the world. He would then be reorganized. In addition, the patient could be drawn to appreciate his own power of self-determination and to develop the courage to use it. In order to motivate or incline the person or patient towards or against a goal, the counselor or therapist expresses disinterest or unconcern and thus develops feelings of trust and true fellowship. This openness to each other would make up where one's mother could have failed (UXL Newsmakers)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Encyclopedia of childhood and Adolescence (1998). 3 pages. Psychoanalysis. Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence: Gale Research
• Fine, S. (2003). Psychoanalysis. 3 pages. Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders: Gale Research
• Frey, R. J. (1999). Psychoanalysis. 3 pages. Encyclopedia of Medicine: Gale Research
• Toney, E. F. (1992). Oedipal Wrecks. 11 pages. Washington Monthly: Washington Monthly Company
• UXL Newsmakers (2005).. Alfred Adler. 3 pages. Gale Research: Thomson Gale

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