Personal Theories

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, despite considerable efforts placed by leaders in the field of clinical psychology to keep diagnoses objective, clinicians' theoretical beliefs still exert a major influence on their diagnoses. The paper then discusses and describes the two most common and widely accepted personal theories used by clinicians, Adler's theory and the existential theory, and takes a look at the differences between these two theories.

Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Personal Theories - Adler and Existentialism
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Adler. - Adler was born in Vienna, Austria on February 7, 1870 (Boeree 1997). He could not walk until he was four years old because of rickets and also nearly died of pneumonia at five. His physical condition impelled him to acquire a medical degree from the University of Vienna in 1895. He began working as an ophthalmologist and then switched to general practice in the lower-class part of Vienna.. Most of his patients were circus performers who suffered from organ inferiorities and this led to an interest in organ deformities and compensation, clearly also because of his own experience of deformity and disability as a child. He later shifted to psychiatry and joined the discussion group led by Sigmund Freud. Adler wrote papers on organic inferiority, an aggression instinct and children's feeling of inferiority."

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