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Roy M. Kern - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Psycho-educational intervention for adolescents
International Journal of Psychology : a Biopsychosocial Approach, 2014Co-Authors: Tija Kriščiūnaitė, Roy M. KernAbstract:Background. Adolescence is considered as a period of difficulties and challenges. It is the period of life of many changes. It may cause stress for adolescents, which in turn may have negative impact on adolescent’s mental health and well- being. Psycho-educational groups for adolescents are one of the common interventions to help them to cope and gain necessary life skills. Various psycho-educational group interventions and life skills programs have been developed and used to assist adolescents to cope with the challenges of life. The authors of the programs claim that they are creating new content to address the needs of youth. However, upon closer examination there are many similarities related to the constructs and interventions proposed many years ago by Alfred Adler and his followers. The aim of this article was to compare theoretical principles of Individual Psychology with the constructs proposed by various psycho-educational programs for adolescents but with a more intense focus on the now popular Lerner’s Positive Youth Development model. Method. A literature review was conducted to explore the similarities of the principles of Individual Psychology and contemporary psycho-educational interventions. Results and conclusions . the conclusions of analysis of the review of literature indicated that a number of the theoretical constructs of the Lerner’s Positive Youth Development model and other psycho-educational programs have been proposed many years ago by Adler and his followers. Examples of psycho-educational programs based on the principles of Individual Psychology were also reviewed. The authors propose that the theory of Individual Psychology may serve as a viable theory base for adolescent intervention programs that lack a theoretical base. It is also proposed that regardless of interventions studies need to be conducted to support the efficacy of the models.
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An Individual Psychology Approach to Underlying Factors of Workplace Bullying
The Journal of Individual Psychology, 2014Co-Authors: Milda Astrauskaite, Roy M. Kern, Guy NotelaersAbstract:The phenomenon of workplace bullying is complex, as the various theoretical interpretations of its underlying factors reflect. The field, however, is lacking a holistic view of the antecedents of the phenomenon. Individual Psychology is a useful theory for explaining the underlying factors of workplace bullying because it provides insights related to dysfunctional behavior, principles for successful implementation of the work task, the impact of the social context, and viewing of the Individual from a holistic perspective. This article explains the underlying factors of workplace bullying based on the Individual Psychology principles of family of origin, belonging, inferiority and superiority dynamics, social interest, lifestyle, and social context of an organization.
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Individual Psychology lifestyles and parenting style in Lithuanian parents of 6-to-12-year olds
International Journal of Psychology : a Biopsychosocial Approach, 2012Co-Authors: Jolita Jonynienė, Roy M. KernAbstract:Background. Although numerous research studies related to the connection between parents’ personality and parenting have continually supported the signi!cance of personality as an important variable in predicting parenting behaviors, the !ndings are mostly limited to the !ve-trait personality model, parental psychopathology or the samples of adolescents’ parents. Purpose. In this research study we examined the relationship of the personality construct of lifestyle proposed in the theory of Individual Psychology and parenting styles based on Baumrind’s parenting model with a Lithuanian sample. Materials and Methods. The Basic Adlerian Scales for Interpersonal Success-Adult Form (BASIS-A; Wheeler, Kern, & Curlette, 1993) and the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire – Short Version (PSDQ-Short Version; Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart, 2001) were administered to 615 parents from seven Lithuanian cities. The !nal sample consisted of 577 parents. Results and Conclusions. The !ndings of the study were that a large number of lifestyle personality attributes measured by the BASIS-A were interrelated to the authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles as described by Baumrind. The most relevant prognostic value !ndings were related to the Belonging/ Social Interest, Being Cautious and Wanting Recognition major scales and the Harshness, Striving for Perfection and Softness supporting scales related to the authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles. When the results of this study were compared to previous research in North America, there were modest similarities in !ndings.
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Behavior Using Individual Psychology Concepts to Compare Family Systems Processes and Organizational
2011Co-Authors: Roy M. Kern, Paul R. PelusoAbstract:Theauthorsprovideaconceptualframeworkbasedontheprinciplesof Individual Psychology and family systems theory for understand-ing important aspects of organizational behavior. The discussion in-cludes Individual and group behavior and addresses the similaritiesbetween the organization and the family as a system, leadership andparenting, employees and siblings in the family constellation, andcorporatecultureandfamilyatmosphere.Inaddition,issueswithre-gard to rules, regulations, and methods of child training, along withthesimilaritiesbetweenproblememployeeandtheidentifiedpatientin the family, are discussed. The authors attempt to integrate practi-calapplicationsofthismodelinavarietyoforganizationalsettings.
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Measuring Lifestyle and Attachment: An Empirical Investigation Linking Individual Psychology and Attachment Theory.
Journal of Counseling & Development, 2009Co-Authors: Paul R. Peluso, Roy M. Kern, Jennifer P. Peluso, Janine P. Buckner, William L. CurletteAbstract:Psychodynamic theories of personality have endured over the decades, beginning with Sigmund Freud (Bankhart, 1997). Although many theorists subsequently refined or replaced Freud's initial theory, one element remains consistent throughout psychodynamic thought: human behavior is guided by patterns that are developed from early experiences (Bankhart, 1997). Two theories of personality that originally arose from the psychodynamic perspective are Individual Psychology, developed by Alfred Adler (1964) in the 1920s and 1930s, and attachment theory, developed initially by John Bowlby (1988) in the 1940s and 1950s. Proponents of each of these theories attempt to explain an Individual's methods of relating to others, viewing the world, and governing behavior (Adler, 1964; Bowlby, 1988). Individual Psychology clinicians refer to these governing behaviors or personality dynamics as lifestyle (or style of life; the terms are used interchangeably in the literature), whereas attachment theorists describe these dynamics as attachment styles. Yet few comparisons have been made between these two major constructs (Jones & Lyddon, 2003; Watts & Shulman, 2003). Peluso, Peluso, White, and Kern (2004) reviewed the theoretical constructs underlying the similarities of the two approaches. Specifically, they suggested that the Individual Psychology construct of lifestyle and the construct of attachment style should be empirically investigated. Through the present research, our intention is to provide an empirical analysis of the convergence between the concepts of lifestyle and attachment style and to compare the methods for assessing these concepts. Relationship of Adult Attachment Style to Lifestyle During the 1990s and 2000s, an increasing number of theorists have used attachment theory as an explanatory framework for various psychological disorders of childhood and adulthood (Bartholomew & Shaver, 1998; Peluso, Peluso, White, et al., 2004). According to Bowlby (1988), attachments are close, intensely emotional relationships that form between infants and one or two close, caretaking Individuals. These attachments can be either secure or insecure, based on the quality of the interaction between adult(s) and the child. The quality of children's attachment relationships determines the level of security with which children explore the environment and the degree of protection perceived by children when stress or danger is present (Bowlby, 1988). These perceptions form the template from which the young Individual develops future relationships in adulthood. Thus, attachment style has been theorized to remain stable throughout the life span (Bowlby, 1969). According to attachment theorists, children form internal working models of self and others early in their interactions with their caretakers (Sroufe, 1988) and carry these models with them as they get older (Benoit & Parker, 1994). These mental schemas, then, serve as a foundation for the expectations and beliefs from which Individuals operate in their close relationships in adulthood. Indeed, there are many similarities between categories o f adult attachment styles (Fraley & Shaver, 2000) and Ainsworth, Blehar, Waiters, and Wall's (1978) classifications of infant attachment (see Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994a, 1994b; Hazan & Shaver, 1987, 1990). Moreover, both infant and adult attachment may represent instantiations of the same adaptive mechanisms (behavioral and emotional) to help the Individual survive by fostering nurturance and protection, a process that ensures health and well-being (Fraley & Shaver, 2000). A secure attachment between an infant and a caregiver ensures that the survival needs of the infant will be met. In a similar vein, secure adult attachments are an integral part of romantic love that ensure caregiving and intimacy toward others. Overall, it seems that the central principles that define attachment style are similar to the core elements of the Adlerian concept of lifestyle (Peluso, Peluso, White, et al. …
June Urschel - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Individual Psychology and Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A Cognitive Therapy Perspective
Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1997Co-Authors: Arthur Freeman, June UrschelAbstract:Adler's Individual Psychology (IP) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (BT) have many common precepts and suppositions. This paper delineates many of these commonalities and suggests areas in which the therapists may learn from each other. In the last several years CBT has attracted increasing interest from mental health professionals from around the world. The "cognitive revolution" discussed by Mahoney (1974) has matured so that the Cognitive Behavior Therapies have moved from an area of fringe interest to the forefront of professional interest. Cognitive Therapy has become a meeting ground for therapists from diverse theoretical and philosophical positions ranging from the behavioral to the psychoanalytic. Psychodynamic therapists find in CBT a dynamic core that involves working to alter basic schemes. Adlerian therapists find in CBT a short-term, active, directive, collaborative, psychoeducational model of psychotherapy. Fergus & Shulman (1979), and Shulman (1985) state that as Adler developed his theories of dysfunction and therapy, he introduced, ". . .a number of cognitive concepts" Placing Adler, ". . .securely among the cognitive personality theorists and cognitive therapists." (p. 244). It is interesting to present Adlerian concepts to Psychology students or to mental health professionals who have been trained in a cognitive behavior therapy model. The responses can be categorized into three main types. The first type of responses involves extensive note taking. To this group, the material is new, interesting, useful, and relevant. The second type of response is manifested by those who sit back and simply nod. After all, these ideas make sense and appear to be consistent with CBT. What's new? A third response involves a mild protest. After all, who is this Adler fellow to co-opt so many of the CBT ideas? Kurt Adler (1983, personal communication) called Cognitive Therapy, "a most reasonable extension of my father's work." Eva Driekurs Ferguson, a well-known, Individual psychologist, whose father Rudolf Driekurs was a coworker with Alfred Adler and one of the major theoreticians and teachers in Individual Psychology (IP), in commenting on a presentation of the basic theory and techniques of Cognitive Therapy stated,". . .nothing (was said) with which my father would disagree" (1990). From the CBT side, Beck, Rush, Shaw, and Emery (1979), Ellis (1985, 1989) and Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, & Simon (1990) all credit their CBT work to an early grounding in Individual Psychology. Dowd and Kelly (1980) in their seminal paper conclude, "Perhaps Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology's strong array of treatment and research strategies could be joined with the theoretical concepts of Adlerian Psychology to the benefit of both of these systems" (P. 134). We have three goals in this paper. First we will describe and discuss the similarities and differences in the conceptualization, theory, and practices between Cognitive Therapy and Individual Psychology. Our second goal is to describe and discuss the importance of an Individual Psychology approach to Cognitive Therapists and how Cognitive Therapists can profit from a grounding in Individual Psychology. Third, we will identify the basic CBT treatment focus and techniques that we believe to be of value to IP. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN COGNITIVE THERAPY AND Individual Psychology Although often grouped among psychoanalysts, Adler found purely motivational theories of behavior insufficient to explain human behavior. His work focused on understanding the beliefs and convictions that a person developed. These beliefs were part of what became the lifestyle. The apperceptive schema or personal rules of life direct the Individual's movement through life. In considering the structure of a personality, the chief difficulty is that its unity, its particular style of life and goal, is not built upon objective reality, but upon the subjective view the Individual takes of the facts of life (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. …
Arthur Freeman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Individual Psychology and Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A Cognitive Therapy Perspective
Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1997Co-Authors: Arthur Freeman, June UrschelAbstract:Adler's Individual Psychology (IP) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (BT) have many common precepts and suppositions. This paper delineates many of these commonalities and suggests areas in which the therapists may learn from each other. In the last several years CBT has attracted increasing interest from mental health professionals from around the world. The "cognitive revolution" discussed by Mahoney (1974) has matured so that the Cognitive Behavior Therapies have moved from an area of fringe interest to the forefront of professional interest. Cognitive Therapy has become a meeting ground for therapists from diverse theoretical and philosophical positions ranging from the behavioral to the psychoanalytic. Psychodynamic therapists find in CBT a dynamic core that involves working to alter basic schemes. Adlerian therapists find in CBT a short-term, active, directive, collaborative, psychoeducational model of psychotherapy. Fergus & Shulman (1979), and Shulman (1985) state that as Adler developed his theories of dysfunction and therapy, he introduced, ". . .a number of cognitive concepts" Placing Adler, ". . .securely among the cognitive personality theorists and cognitive therapists." (p. 244). It is interesting to present Adlerian concepts to Psychology students or to mental health professionals who have been trained in a cognitive behavior therapy model. The responses can be categorized into three main types. The first type of responses involves extensive note taking. To this group, the material is new, interesting, useful, and relevant. The second type of response is manifested by those who sit back and simply nod. After all, these ideas make sense and appear to be consistent with CBT. What's new? A third response involves a mild protest. After all, who is this Adler fellow to co-opt so many of the CBT ideas? Kurt Adler (1983, personal communication) called Cognitive Therapy, "a most reasonable extension of my father's work." Eva Driekurs Ferguson, a well-known, Individual psychologist, whose father Rudolf Driekurs was a coworker with Alfred Adler and one of the major theoreticians and teachers in Individual Psychology (IP), in commenting on a presentation of the basic theory and techniques of Cognitive Therapy stated,". . .nothing (was said) with which my father would disagree" (1990). From the CBT side, Beck, Rush, Shaw, and Emery (1979), Ellis (1985, 1989) and Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, & Simon (1990) all credit their CBT work to an early grounding in Individual Psychology. Dowd and Kelly (1980) in their seminal paper conclude, "Perhaps Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology's strong array of treatment and research strategies could be joined with the theoretical concepts of Adlerian Psychology to the benefit of both of these systems" (P. 134). We have three goals in this paper. First we will describe and discuss the similarities and differences in the conceptualization, theory, and practices between Cognitive Therapy and Individual Psychology. Our second goal is to describe and discuss the importance of an Individual Psychology approach to Cognitive Therapists and how Cognitive Therapists can profit from a grounding in Individual Psychology. Third, we will identify the basic CBT treatment focus and techniques that we believe to be of value to IP. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN COGNITIVE THERAPY AND Individual Psychology Although often grouped among psychoanalysts, Adler found purely motivational theories of behavior insufficient to explain human behavior. His work focused on understanding the beliefs and convictions that a person developed. These beliefs were part of what became the lifestyle. The apperceptive schema or personal rules of life direct the Individual's movement through life. In considering the structure of a personality, the chief difficulty is that its unity, its particular style of life and goal, is not built upon objective reality, but upon the subjective view the Individual takes of the facts of life (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. …
Lars Oreland - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Henrik Sjöbring and the concept of Individual Psychology in psychiatry.
Upsala journal of medical sciences, 2015Co-Authors: Lars OrelandAbstract:In 1913 Henrik Sjobring presented his thesis, ‘Den Individualpsykologiska fragestallningen inom psykiatrien’ [‘The question of Individual Psychology in psychiatry’] in Upsala Lakareforenings Forhandlingar (1), the principal aim of which was to construct a system for characterizing the various dimensions of personality. The system presupposed that it is possible to distinguish different fundamental characteristics, or factors, in our innate psychic constitution and that combinations in different degrees of these fundamental characteristics could produce an infinite number of personality variations. Extreme positions, above and below the median, could result in mental illness. At that time this stance was new, but it corresponds well with contemporary beliefs. A person’s personality and its importance for illness, particularly mental illness, has always been interesting, both generally and in medicine. For a long time, a barrier to meaningful typology was the inadequate knowledge about the ‘site of the soul’ and later, when the brain’s role in this connection was established, the functioning of the brain. At the start of the last century this issue was beginning to be dealt with in a more modern way, and Kraepelin’s classification in 1899 of two categories of ‘madness’, dementia praecox (schizophrenia) and manic-depressive psychosis, was crucial (2-4). The importance of the personality in relation to mental illness is, however, probably most apparent in the case of less severe forms of illness, where a psychotic condition has not been able to eradicate to any great extent the personality’s fundamental characteristics. The development of Psychology in the twentieth century has led to many different typologies, of which Henrik Sjobring’s ‘Individual Psychology’ was the first with its systematic and modern approach that foresaw later developments. Sjobring is generally acknowledged as Sweden’s most influential twentieth-century psychiatrist and a leading professor in psychiatry. Torsten Frey wrote in 1964: If asked today to nominate a group of medical scientists, who more than others have made important contributions to man’s global reactions in health and illness, I would propose from Britain John Hughlings Jackson, from France Pierre Janet, from Germany Emil Kraepelin, from Austria Sigmund Freud, and from Russia Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov. For a Swedish name in this company I would not hesitate to propose Henrik Sjobring (5). However, Sjobring is not particularly well-known internationally, which is probably due to several factors. He usually wrote in Swedish and published his important, early articles in less widely spread fora (his thesis, in 1913, was published in Upsala Lakareforenings Forhandlingar (1). In the same journal in 1920 he published ‘Forstamningar and forstamningspsykoser’ [‘Melancholy and melancholic psychoses’] (6), in 1922 ‘Psykologi och biologi’ [‘Psychology and biology’] (7), and in 1922 ‘Psychic energy and mental insufficiency’ (8); in 1919 ‘Psykisk konstitution och psykos’ [‘Psychic constitution and psychosis’] was published in Svenska Lakarsallskapets Handlingar (9). In addition, as has been pointed out in several of his biographies, his texts are somewhat difficult and written in a very abstract way, often without the facilitation of explanatory examples and concretization. It is also said that he was not prepared to compromise and had difficulty in accepting opinions that did not coincide with his own (10-13). This could create problems not least during the time when Freud’s ideas from around 1910 had begun to attract many adherents. Sjobring’s brief dismissal of the psychodynamic school is dealt with later in this article in connection with the review of his thesis. A citation from one of his opponents, Carl-Henry Alstrom in his book from 1945, Ytpsykologi Kontra Djuppsykologi [Superficial Psychology versus profound Psychology] (14) reflects their differences on this issue: The thoroughly dynamic perception of the development of the psychic phenomenon and the whole approach of his [Freud’s] comprehensive empirical investigations exposes a neurologist who, given the nature of his work, is forced to think in a distinctly dynamic and logical way. This is undoubtedly also the reason why Freud does not use a statistical approach which involves classifying people into predefined constitutional types, and which is always doomed to end in so called ‘buttonology’. Hence it is immaterial whether we choose to classify buttons according to qualitative factors, for instance shape (Kretschmer), or quantifiable factors such as size (Adler) or several quantitative factors, for instance not only size but also the number of holes (Sjobring) (14).
Paul R. Peluso - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Behavior Using Individual Psychology Concepts to Compare Family Systems Processes and Organizational
2011Co-Authors: Roy M. Kern, Paul R. PelusoAbstract:Theauthorsprovideaconceptualframeworkbasedontheprinciplesof Individual Psychology and family systems theory for understand-ing important aspects of organizational behavior. The discussion in-cludes Individual and group behavior and addresses the similaritiesbetween the organization and the family as a system, leadership andparenting, employees and siblings in the family constellation, andcorporatecultureandfamilyatmosphere.Inaddition,issueswithre-gard to rules, regulations, and methods of child training, along withthesimilaritiesbetweenproblememployeeandtheidentifiedpatientin the family, are discussed. The authors attempt to integrate practi-calapplicationsofthismodelinavarietyoforganizationalsettings.
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Measuring Lifestyle and Attachment: An Empirical Investigation Linking Individual Psychology and Attachment Theory.
Journal of Counseling & Development, 2009Co-Authors: Paul R. Peluso, Roy M. Kern, Jennifer P. Peluso, Janine P. Buckner, William L. CurletteAbstract:Psychodynamic theories of personality have endured over the decades, beginning with Sigmund Freud (Bankhart, 1997). Although many theorists subsequently refined or replaced Freud's initial theory, one element remains consistent throughout psychodynamic thought: human behavior is guided by patterns that are developed from early experiences (Bankhart, 1997). Two theories of personality that originally arose from the psychodynamic perspective are Individual Psychology, developed by Alfred Adler (1964) in the 1920s and 1930s, and attachment theory, developed initially by John Bowlby (1988) in the 1940s and 1950s. Proponents of each of these theories attempt to explain an Individual's methods of relating to others, viewing the world, and governing behavior (Adler, 1964; Bowlby, 1988). Individual Psychology clinicians refer to these governing behaviors or personality dynamics as lifestyle (or style of life; the terms are used interchangeably in the literature), whereas attachment theorists describe these dynamics as attachment styles. Yet few comparisons have been made between these two major constructs (Jones & Lyddon, 2003; Watts & Shulman, 2003). Peluso, Peluso, White, and Kern (2004) reviewed the theoretical constructs underlying the similarities of the two approaches. Specifically, they suggested that the Individual Psychology construct of lifestyle and the construct of attachment style should be empirically investigated. Through the present research, our intention is to provide an empirical analysis of the convergence between the concepts of lifestyle and attachment style and to compare the methods for assessing these concepts. Relationship of Adult Attachment Style to Lifestyle During the 1990s and 2000s, an increasing number of theorists have used attachment theory as an explanatory framework for various psychological disorders of childhood and adulthood (Bartholomew & Shaver, 1998; Peluso, Peluso, White, et al., 2004). According to Bowlby (1988), attachments are close, intensely emotional relationships that form between infants and one or two close, caretaking Individuals. These attachments can be either secure or insecure, based on the quality of the interaction between adult(s) and the child. The quality of children's attachment relationships determines the level of security with which children explore the environment and the degree of protection perceived by children when stress or danger is present (Bowlby, 1988). These perceptions form the template from which the young Individual develops future relationships in adulthood. Thus, attachment style has been theorized to remain stable throughout the life span (Bowlby, 1969). According to attachment theorists, children form internal working models of self and others early in their interactions with their caretakers (Sroufe, 1988) and carry these models with them as they get older (Benoit & Parker, 1994). These mental schemas, then, serve as a foundation for the expectations and beliefs from which Individuals operate in their close relationships in adulthood. Indeed, there are many similarities between categories o f adult attachment styles (Fraley & Shaver, 2000) and Ainsworth, Blehar, Waiters, and Wall's (1978) classifications of infant attachment (see Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994a, 1994b; Hazan & Shaver, 1987, 1990). Moreover, both infant and adult attachment may represent instantiations of the same adaptive mechanisms (behavioral and emotional) to help the Individual survive by fostering nurturance and protection, a process that ensures health and well-being (Fraley & Shaver, 2000). A secure attachment between an infant and a caregiver ensures that the survival needs of the infant will be met. In a similar vein, secure adult attachments are an integral part of romantic love that ensure caregiving and intimacy toward others. Overall, it seems that the central principles that define attachment style are similar to the core elements of the Adlerian concept of lifestyle (Peluso, Peluso, White, et al. …
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A Comparison of Attachment Theory and Individual Psychology: A Review of the Literature
Journal of Counseling and Development, 2004Co-Authors: Paul R. Peluso, Joanna White, Jennifer P. Peluso, Roy M. KernAbstract:In a special issue of the Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy (Watts, 1997), several modern cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, and constructionist theorists addressed the similarities between their respective theories and the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler (Dowd, 1997; Freeman & Urschel, 1997; Jones & Lyddon, 1997; B. H. Shulman W Sperry, 1997;Watkins, 1997;Watts & Critelli, 1997). It has been widely acknowledged that many of the underlying postulates that make up present-day cognitive therapies have their origin in Individual Psychology (Dowd, 1997; Freeman & Urschel, 1997; Watkins, 1997; Watts & Critelli, 1997). Although Individual Psychology is credited for its contribution to neo-analytical, humanistic, existential, transactional analysis, and cognitive-behavioral theories by their founders, many other cognitive theorists are unaware of their Adlerian heritage or are unwilling to acknowledge it (Carlson, 1991; Eckstein & Baruth, 1996; May, 1989; Watts & Critelli, 1997). Often, practitioners of these cognitive-based therapeutic approaches borrow from the work of attachment theorists as a theoretical base on which to ground their ideas (Dowd, 1997). However, several authors have begun to develop attachment theory more fully as a system for wider use in therapeutic interventions rather than for use simply as a theoretical anchor point for cognitive psychotherapies (Dowd, 1997; Hughes, 1997; Jones & Lyddon, 1997; B. H. Shulman W Watkins, 1997). Although theorists have begun to examine the similarities between attachment theory and Individual Psychology, there has been no previous systematic blending of the two theories on a large scale (Jones & Lyddon, 1997; Smith, Mullis, Brack, & Kern, 1999; Watts & Critelli, 1997). The major areas of convergence between the two theories are that both include a coherent and stable view of the self and the world and that both acknowledge the importance of social interaction for the expression of these patterns. In this article, the major theoretical tenets of attachment theory and Individual Psychology are outlined. We assert that elements of these two theories are similar to each other. To bolster this argument, we discuss issues related to measuring the core constructs of these theories. Finally, we conclude with additional suggestions for areas in which clinicians and researchers of either theory may collaborate. ATTACHMENT THEORY AND ITS CONCEPTS Attachment theory was developed by John Bowlby in the 1950s and 1960s as an extension of psychoanalytic theory. Attachment behavior, according to Bowlby (1969), has both a protective and instructive function. The protective function serves to keep the child close enough to the mother in times of potential danger so that the infant can be protected. When there is no danger, the instructive function of attachment is indicated, as the mother becomes a secure base from which the child can explore the environment (Bowlby, 1988; Crittenden, 1988; Krause & Haverkamp, 1996). Bowlby proposed that the maintenance of affectional bonds, especially between a mother and her young child, is essential to the survival of the human species (Bowlby, 1988; Crittenden, 1988). Infant attachment relationships can be broadly classified as secure or insecure (Belsky & Nezworski, 1988), and the quality of care an infant experiences can determine the quality of the attachment relationship and mitigate potential developmental difficulties (Sroufe, 1988). Ainsworth and her associates (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) experimentally defined three subgroupings of attachment relationships--secure, anxious-avoidant, and anxious-resistant (or ambivalent) attachment styles (Belsky & Nezworski, 1988; Benoit & Parker, 1994). According to Bowlby (1969, 1973) and others (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Sroufe, 1988), a secure attachment is characterized by intense feelings of intimacy, emotional security, and physical safety when the infant is in the presence of an attachment figure. …
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Using Individual Psychology Concepts to Compare Family Systems Processes and Organizational Behavior
The Family Journal, 1999Co-Authors: Roy M. Kern, Paul R. PelusoAbstract:The authors provide a conceptual framework based on the principles of Individual Psychology and family systems theory for understanding important aspects of organizational behavior. The discussion includes Individual and group behavior and addresses the similarities between the organization and the family as a system, leadership and parenting, employees and siblings in the family constellation, and corporate culture and family atmosphere. In addition, issues with regard to rules, regulations, and methods of child training, along with the similarities between problem employee and the identified patient in the family, are discussed. The authors attempt to integrate practical applications of this model in a variety of organizational settings.