For a humbling view of the human being's place in the vast panaorama of
evolution, check the fascinating "Zoomable Tree" in "Thinking About
Phylogienies" at  http://besocratic.colorado.edu/phylogeny/Tree-index.html. 
After locating the "You are here" region, compare it to the rest of living
forms.  This graphic display adds a sobering perspective to Alfred Adler's view
of human beings as "embedded in the stream of evolution."

Although Milton Friedman has recently acknowledged the erroneous assumptons of
the free market philospohy, he was premature in his reversal, reflecting a not
uncommon mirror image of erratic market tendencies. Had he waited a little
longer, before his public confession of mistaken economic theory, he might have
discovered that he had not gone far enough in his original direction.  He came
remarkably close to a super-theory of a "fully-free market" mentality.

Rumblings in the woods suggest that a broader free market philosophy is peeking
up from the horizon.  "Cash for Clunkers" was a roaring success, tempting people
into buying new cars that may eventually be repossesed like their abandoned
sub-prime financed homes.  Recently, a California High School teacher improved
student grades for a financial contribution, pocketing about $1,400 during one
semester.  Some New York City schools are paying children to stimlulate academic
performance.  Finally, we are discovering the silver bullet of motivation:
bribery!

The unexplored possibilities for short-term solutions are remarkable.  Extending
economic theory into education was a brillinat maneuver, paving the way for
ground-breaking innovatons to address previously unsolved problems in many
arenas.  Let us start brainstorming even further than we have in the past, using
free market assumptions.

Consider the plight of many parents who cannot get their children to behave,
even though they have read dozens of books on child guidance and attended scores
of parent education workshops.   The innovation "Cash for Compliance" strategy
would establish a financial incentive scale for desired behaviors.  For example:
obeying a parental command immediately would earn a child %5.00 with a $3.00
bonus if the command is unquestioned, and a $2.00 bonus if it does not need to
be repeated.  For longer range plans, adopting parental advice about choice of
friends would be worth about $10.00/month.

California is considering releasing thousands of people from prison, because
keeping them in jail costs too much.  Why not just pay them for not committing
crimes?  It might be too expensive to motivate them into becoming model
citizens, but cost effective enough to reduce the overhead of law enforcement. 
If it cost $100,000 to investigate, arrest, convict, and encarcerate someone who
stole $10,000, why not just meet them half-way and give them $5,000 and save
$95.000 in overhead?  Surely, some people will abuse this system by simply
threatening to commit a crime in order to qualify for the benefit, but let's
face it, no sysyem is immune to exploitation.

Divorce is a often a costly, messy, adversarial experience that pours vast sums
of money into law firms and ties up the courts interminably.  The new "Dollars
for Detente"  would compensate people for staying in miserable relationships.  A
sliding scale could be devised for enduring indifference, rejection,
depreciation, deceit, and betrayal.  Even chronic anger and resentment could be
reimbursed in an "earn while you burn" program.  Women who no longer care about
their husbands, but need more spendable income, could participate in the
"Lysistrata" program.   Sex for money is not a new idea, but having it
home-based may avoid humilating prosecution and uncomfortable sexually
transmitted diseases.

Insurance companies, eager to reduce even further their paltry reimbursements to
mental health professionals, could cut them out enirely by offering new
incentives to their policy holders.   A radical "Subsidizing Symptoms"  program
would either reduce insurance premiums drastically, or pay people directly for
enduring their emotional distress, instead of seeing a therapist.  Of course,
this incentive might appeal primarily to masochists, who might even become
wealthy in the process.

Having briefly explored the individual, couple, and family implications of a
"fully-free market" approach to life, it would be neglegent to omit the wider
social appllication possible in government.  Using California as a pilot
location, the "Friedman-Madoff" plan might rescue governor Swartzenegger and his
wild-west state from insolvency.  The underappreciated and much maligned Ponzi
scheme, although it has racked up a long line of victims, has not been appliied
at a large enough scale to prove or disprove its effectiveness as a short-term
financial strategy.  Utilizing the existing Lottery structure, a state-wide
Ponzi scheme could be designed by Bernard Madoff, after pardoning him and
assigning him to 25 years of commuity service under the supervision of Milton
Friedman.

You think I'm kidding?

Medical eduation can be considerably improved by the addition of course work in
psychology that emphasizes treating the patient as a mental/emotional/physical
totality.  Alfred Adler's teaching are especially useful in the interpretation
and treatment of physical and emotional symptoms.  A valuable book on this
subject is "Lectures to Physicians and Medical Students: Volume 8 of The
Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler" available at
http://home.att.net?~Adlerian/cwaa-v8.htm or www.Amazon.com.

Although an abundance of Adlerian child guidance materials have helped
educators, therapists, and parents, many still hunger for greater depth, and
more creative, effective ways to guide children toward cooperation and
contribution

"Educating Children for Cooperation & Contribution, Volume II," available at
http://home.att.net/~Adlerian/ecc-v2.htm, contains an abundance of practical and
inspirational Adlerian child guidance resources. In "The Work of an Adlerian
Psychologist in the Schools," Anthony Bruck, who studied with Alfred Adler,
explains the value of written essays, class discussions about behavioral
problems, and individual interviews with students. Many illustrations
demonstrate the art of questioning children Socratically, leading them gradually
to useful insight. In "Enlightening Children," Bruck shows us how to use a
simple strategy of clarifying attitudinal and behavioral choices, using graphic
clarifiers. His "Ten Commandments of Creative Education," are designed to
encourage positive attitudes toward the self, others, difficulties, and the
other sex.

Also included in this volume are three articles by Alfred Adler that emphasize
the central importance of preparing children with the right attitude toward
difficulties, and an article by Theodore Grubbe providing a host of practical
suggestions for helping children adjust to the school environment. A set of
condensed charts summarize the impact of various teaching styles on students, as
well as strategies for dealing with their mistaken goals. Finally, a summary of
Adlerian child guidance principles for teachers offers a clear focus on the most
effective educational-psychological approach for eliciting cooperation in the
classroom.

Teachers, parents, and therapists will discover a treasure of creative, child
guidance strategies that bring Adler's unique, original legacy to life.  Order
your copy of "Educating Children for Cooperation & Contribution, Volume II" now,
at http://home.att.net/~Adlerian/ecc-v2.htm.

We have a new web site address for Classical Adlerian Psychology:
http://home.att.net/~Adlerian/

Kindly revise any links so that they direct to the new URL address.

Dear Members of Classical Adlerian Psychology,

I would very much appreciate getting your input on this topic.

Your responses to this survey will be completely confidential. No one other than
the researchers will have access to the data. It will be reported in the
aggregate, combined with hundreds of other responses. I will be happy to provide
you with the results of the survey.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me.

In advance, thank you very much for your cooperation.

Dr. Arnold Kaufman, Director of Research

TO RESPOND TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE:
1. hit Reply
2. Please be sure to select the message author (arnold.kaufman@ …) and NOT the
group email address

QUESTIONNAIRE

Type your area of expertise (psychologist, therapist, life coach, etc.)

1. _______________

      Place the letter X next to the best answer(s) -

2. If you believe you are more than a body and a brain – which term(s) do you
use,
a)     Self - _____
b)     Other - _____  Please name it_________
c)     I believe we are only body and brain - _____

Answer Yes or No

3. I have a clear and useful definition of self     _______

For the definition please give a brief, spontaneous answer -

4. The definition of self I use
is___________________________________________________________



For a copy of the results please give us the following information;

Name/title - ___________________________________________

E-mail - _______________________________________________

School Affiliation - _________________________________________________
________________________________________

Ps. I would very much appreciate if you forwarded this questionnaire to any
professional group/association or individual who would be interested in
participating.

Hello members of Classical Adlerian Psychology group,

I am a graduate student at the University of Florida. Under the
supervision of Martin Heesacker, Ph.D., I am investigating mental health
professionals' evaluations of clients, treatment conceptualizations
and demographic information. I am seeking participation by practicing
mental health professionals.  Please consider participating or
forwarding this email to your colleagues.

You will be able to access the online survey from the following
hyperlink:


http://survey2.psych.ufl.edu/survey103/start.htm
<http://survey2.psych.ufl.edu/survey103/start.htm>
   <http://survey2.psych.ufl.edu/survey103/start.htm>

The online survey contains informed consent, questions regarding
treatment recommendations, measures pertaining to different aspects of
your personality, and questions regarding your demographic
characteristics.

You will remain anonymous in the current study. Identifiable information
will not be asked as a part of the study. The length of the survey is
approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Participation in the study is voluntary
and you are free to withdraw from the study at any time. Furthermore,
any individual's information collected through this study will be
kept confidential. Only group scores will be presented.

If you have any questions regarding this study, please do not hesitate
to contact Taylor Locker (taylor.locker@...
<mailto:taylor.locker@...> ) or Martin Heesacker, Ph.D.
(heesack@... <mailto:heesack@...> ). Furthermore, this study has
been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of
Florida. If you have questions or concerns regarding your or your
students' participation in this study, you may contact the IRB02
Office, Box 112250, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-2250,
phone (352) 392-0433. All reports or correspondence will be kept
confidential.

I thank you in advance for your time and support.

Sincerely,

Taylor Locker
Martin Heesacker, Ph.D.
Counseling Psychology Program
University of Florida



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

"Educating Children for Cooperation & Contribution," Volume II,
contains exceptional, new child guidance resources for educators,
therapists, and parents: "The Work of an Adlerian Psychologist in the
Schools," Enlightening Children," and "Influencing the Child," by
Anthony Bruck.  Bruck, who was trained by Alfred Adler, embodied
several central qualities of his mentor: warmth, gentleness, and
creativity. His work with children was reminiscent of Adler's
remarkable ability to make immediate contact and win a child with
respect, simple insight, and infectious optimism. Like a kindly uncle,
he guided children Socratically to make their own conclusions about
new ways to cross the bridge from misbehavior to cooperation.

Volume II also contains three articles by Alfred Adler: "Training for
Courage," "Children's Life Tests," and "The Lazy Child;" and "The
Challenge of Kindergarten," by Theodore Grubbe.

To order Volume II , or for additional information, go to
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/ecc-v2.htm.

If you do not yet have Alfred Adler's seminal, child guidance texts,
"Individual Psychology in the Schools," and "The Education of
Children," you can also order "Educating Children for Cooperation &
Contribution," Volume I at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/ecc-v1.htm

A new paper by Dr. Stein, "Social Inclusion and the Democratic Character"
explores Alfred Adler's ideal of the democratic character and the implications
of this for social inclusion: for child rearing, education, and the work place.
A "Levels of Functioning" chart investigates how a community of optimally
functioning individuals would represent the antithesis of social exclusion.   To
read the paper, go to
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/inclusion.htm.

--- In classicaladlerianpsychology@yahoogroups.com, "marie00353"
<marie00353@...> wrote:
>
> I am findind it very difficult to get information on Adlerian Applied Art
Therapy. I live in Ireland and I'm doing an advanced course in Adlerian
Psychology and counselling skills. Information is so hard to find and I'm
frustrated ! Can anyone enlighten me ?
>

Hi
 
I followed a 2 weeks workshop in art therapy at ICASSI 2007, in Hungary, with
Hala Buck. She's from USA. I'm still looking for something like you are looking
in Europe, but...still nothing :(
 
Mihai


--- On Tue, 7/4/09, marie00353 <marie00353@...> wrote:


From: marie00353 <marie00353@...>
Subject: [Classical Adlerian Psychology] Adlerian applied art therapy Sadie Tee
Dreikurs
To: classicaladlerianpsychology@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, 7 April, 2009, 2:09 PM






I am findind it very difficult to get information on Adlerian Applied Art
Therapy. I live in Ireland and I'm doing an advanced course in Adlerian
Psychology and counselling skills. Information is so hard to find and I'm
frustrated ! Can anyone enlighten me ?



















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I am findind it very difficult to get information on Adlerian Applied Art
Therapy. I live in Ireland and I'm doing an advanced course in Adlerian
Psychology and counselling skills. Information is so hard to find and I'm
frustrated ! Can anyone enlighten me ?

President Barack Obama has called for a "A New Era of Service" in a Time
Magazine article, dated March 10, 2009.  He describes how through service, he
found the direction he'd been seeking, discovering that his own story fit into a
larger American story.  This perception of contribution as a key to personal
significance and security has deep roots in the psychology of Alfred Adler, who
emphasized that a personal commitment to social contribution was a prerequisite
for optimal mental health.  It is not just the economic, educational, and
medical fate of a nation that is at stake, but the psychological well-being of
each of its' citizen.  Too many greedy, socially indifferent, political and
business leaders have set a national tone of justifying sociopathic policies and
behavior.  Perhaps President Obama will provide a new era of socially
responsible, inspirational leadership by example.

According to Yale University economist Robert Shiller, author
of "Irrational Exuberance," the housing and stock market bubbles
were "naturally occurring" Ponzi schemes.  Successive waves of
investors generate gains for the last wave until the bubble
bursts.  "The essence of a Ponzi scheme is a story that justifies
these enthusiasms," Shiller says, whether the phenomenon is Internet
stocks or housing prices or Madoff.  "The social feedback loop of
other people making money causes people to suspend disbelief."

The seductive idea that one can make money without providing a useful
product or service, by simply riding the wave of artificially
inflated value, is a reflection of a socially exploitive, pampered
style of life.  The realization of profit without creating a real
increase of value, relies on an endless river of gullible investors
who assume that other gullible investors will follow them.  In the
housing market, each investor was willing to indulge the previous
owner, believing that another naive buyer would indulge them.  Home
buyers, real estate agents, and lenders all grabbed what they could
for themselves, indifferent to the impending fate of the "suckers"
who came late to the party.

Bernard Madoff ran a Ponzi scheme on a monumental scale.  Many stock
and real estate investors ran their own small-scale versions of the
same scam.

I don't know of any practicum opportunities in Los Angeles that reflect
an Adlerian approach.  You might have to engage in a distance training
program for that professional training.  Dyanne Pienknowski in San
Francisco is the nearest training analyst.  You could call her at (415)
584-3833 (or call me in Bellingham, Washington at 360-647-5670) and
discuss distance training options.

Dr. Stein

--- In classicaladlerianpsychology@yahoogroups.com, "fperlanger"
<fperlanger@...> wrote:
>
> I am starting my practicum in September in Los Angeles and would like
> to  work where Adler's philosophies and methods are embraced and used
> with clients. I am an MFT student graduating in about 18 months or
> less from Pepperdine. I am very interested in his work and learning
more.
>

I am starting my practicum in September in Los Angeles and would like
to  work where Adler's philosophies and methods are embraced and used
with clients. I am an MFT student graduating in about 18 months or
less from Pepperdine. I am very interested in his work and learning more.

Hi,

I am an MFT Student in Los Angeles. I am interested in Adlerian
theory, and I am about ready to start the required personal therapy as
part of my training. I would like to do that therapy with a therapist
that either exclusively or primarily uses Adlerian theory as their
approach. I am male and would prefer to work with a male therapist
although I do not believe that is an absolute requirement. I just
think I may be a little more comfortable. If any of you know of an
Adlerian based therapist in the Los Angeles area please send me an
email at art_wharton@....

Thanks

An innovative example of cost-effective, super-brief therapy, thanks to
Bob Newhart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpHeSKu0_LU

The December 1, 2008 issue of Newsweek includes a review, by Jeneen
Interlandi, of a new book "Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game theory in
Everyday Life," by physicist Len Fisher.  He assumes that all
individuals are fundamentally selfish, but that we can invent
strategies for minimizing interpersonal havoc by negotiating
cooperative resolutions that maximize each person's self-interest.  The
author seems not to be aware of the potential for a genuine and
profound interest, as well as feeling, for the well-being of others.
Mathematical and economic theories of human behavior may mistakenly
attempt to support pessimistic and short-sighted views of human
nature.  "Research" often merely justifies the bias of the researcher.

The Alfred Adler Institute of Northwestern Washington is proud to
announce the addition of two new training analysts to its distance
training program in Classical Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy.

Dyanne Pienkowski, M.A., a Marriage & Family Therapist in private
practice in Millbrae, California,  combines over twenty years of
training with Dr. Stein & Dr. de Vries, with exceptional knowledge
and skill in substance abuse treatment.  She has  specialized in
substance abuse treatment for over 35 years and is certified as a
Master's Addiction Counselor (MAC).  Co-director of the Alfred Adler
Insititute of San Francisco, she offers on-site mentoring to anyone
living in the Bay Area, or telephone mentoring to students located
anywhere in the world.  For more information about her background, go
to http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/paths-dp.htm.

Martha Edwards, Ph.D. is the Founder and Director of the Center for
the Developing Child and Family at the Ackerman Institute for the
Family in New York City.  Dr. Edwards brings over 20 years of
Classical Adlerian study, first with Dr. Adele Davidson and then with
Dr. Stein, to her therapy practice with individuals, couples and
families, and to her students.  She offers on-site mentoring in the
New York City area as well as telephone mentoring to students located
anywhere in the world.  For more information about her background, go
to http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/paths-me.htm.

Our unique mentor-oriented program provides the most comprehensive
training in Alfred Adler's original theory and style of treatment.
A personal mentor guides students through weekly study and telephone
discussions.   For additonal information about our Distance Training
Program in Classical Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy, go to
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/dist-tra.htm.  You
may also contact Dr. Stein at (360) 647-5670 or via e-mail at
htstein@....

If you'd like to consider studying with us, please e-mail your
Curriculum Vitae to Dr. Stein at htstein@....  We will then
schedule a preliminary telephone interview to explore how our
training might fit your professinal development.  Your next step
would be to take our short introductory course, DT101 - Basic Theory,
to evaluate the mentoring experience before you engage in the
complete Certification Program.

Fixing our growing world-wide economic crisis will probably require
tighter government oversight and regulation of financial practices.
This "blowing away the smoke" approach is necessary, but perhaps not
deep enough to "put out the fire."   Economic theories and financial
systems have certainly contributed to the widespread economic
disasters, but the character and motives of the people managing large
sums of money needs to be explored and understood if we wish to
address the deeper roots of the problems.   The popular buzz word
explaining the psychology of Wall Street running wild and reckless is
greed.  Although this term seems accurate, it does not come close to
describing the underlying psychopathology of many of the individuals
or the devastating impact on large segments of society.

On December 12, 2004, the New York Times published an article by
Michael Steinberger titled "Psychopathic CEO's,"  wherein he
speculates on the motives of "lavishly compensated CEO's who cheat
and lie,"  Relying on the research of Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, he
suggests that many captains of industry are "sub-criminal
psychopaths," not serial rapists or murderers, but smooth-talking,
energetic, charming, manipulative, narcissistic, and ruthless.   He
emphasizes that the frenzied nature of modern business, constant down
sizing, relentless merging and acquiring, provides a very fertile
environment for havoc-wreaking psychopaths who thrive on chaos and
risk-taking.  As Hare put it in one interview, "If I couldn't study
psychopaths in prison, I would go down to the Stock Exchange."

Three years layer, on December 19, 2007, FastCompany,com
published "Is You Boss a Psychopath?" by Alan Deutschman.  He
describes a lecture that Hare gave in 2002 to 150 police and law
enforcement officials, including a proposal that "recent corporate
scandals (Enron and WorldCom) could have been prevented if CEO's were
screened for psychopathic behavior."  Hare claims that "We are
worshipful of top executives who seem charismatic, visionary, and
tough.  So long as they are lifting profits and stock prices, we are
willing to overlook that they can also be callous, conning,
manipulative, deceitful,verbally and psychologically abusive,
remorseless, exploitative, self-delusional, irresponsible, and
megalomaniacal.  So we collude in the elevation of leaders who are
sadly insensitive to hurting others and society at large."  Babiak
elaborates by comparing the narcissist, who simply thinks only of
himself, to a psychopath who enjoys hurting others.

Transposing Hare's and Babiak's assumptions from business and finance
to government, it is appalling to contemplate the implications of
people in positions of economic and political power who are possibly
borderline psychopaths.  When you add up the massive physical,
mental, and economic suffering caused by war, torture, layoffs,
depleted retirement investments, foreclosures, poverty, and
insufficient medical care, a disturbing questions arises.  Are these
conditions intended by psychopaths in positions of economic and
political power?

I'm  a  careseeker and I have found the ideal match on
http://carecity.bravehost.com/, It is a really trustworthy site.they
identify your family's needs and match the skills needed that will best
suit your situation and offer you precisely the right combination of
services,above all, it is totally free.

The extremely popular program, "Birth Order: Sense and Nonsense,"
originally released in DVD video format, is now available in a CD audio
(MP3) format, and can be played on any computer or transferred to an
iPod for convenient listening. For details and online ordering, go to
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/birth-vcd.htm .

In this 60-minute interview, conducted by Mick Conefrey of the British
Broadcasting Company, Dr. Stein offers a candid perspective on the
value, application, and limits of birth order theory, including the
contributions of Alfred Adler, Frank Sulloway, Judith Harris, Margarite
Goertzel, Hugh Missildine, and Thomas Verney.

--- In classicaladlerianpsychology@yahoogroups.com, drstein_aaisf
<no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> Read http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/theoprac.htm
and
> http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/demo1.htm.
>
>
> --- In classicaladlerianpsychology@yahoogroups.com, "Kurda"
> <dkurdulija@> wrote:
> >
> > Hello,I have one question for you.I am from Serbia,and there is
no
> > chanse for me to find all Adlers books here.I am looking for his
> > clinical practice,other words i would like to see how individual
> > psychology works in practice.How does look relationship between
> > client and therapist.I would be very grateful to you if you can
> > provide me some examples and review of some particular cases.
> > Best regards.
> >
>
Thanks for your effort.I must say that I had read that before I
decided to ask for help.But if there is no chanse to find more issues
on this subject then i'll try something else.Thanks anyway.

Read http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/theoprac.htm and
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/demo1.htm.


--- In classicaladlerianpsychology@yahoogroups.com, "Kurda"
<dkurdulija@...> wrote:
>
> Hello,I have one question for you.I am from Serbia,and there is no
> chanse for me to find all Adlers books here.I am looking for his
> clinical practice,other words i would like to see how individual
> psychology works in practice.How does look relationship between
> client and therapist.I would be very grateful to you if you can
> provide me some examples and review of some particular cases.
> Best regards.
>

Hello,I have one question for you.I am from Serbia,and there is no
chanse for me to find all Adlers books here.I am looking for his
clinical practice,other words i would like to see how individual
psychology works in practice.How does look relationship between
client and therapist.I would be very grateful to you if you can
provide me some examples and review of some particular cases.
Best regards.

If you have the new Amazon Kindle E-Book reader, several volumes of The
Collected Clinlcal Works of Alfred Adler, as well as other books and
articles are now available at the Amazon Kindle Store <www.amazon.com>.
At the Amazon site search box, select "Kindle Store," then
enter "Classical Adlerian" and press "go." You can then select from the
displayed list and then have the publication delivered to your Kindle
within minutes.

For additional information about the publications currently being
offered in the Kindle format, go to the AAISF Kindle Page
<http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/kindle.htm>. This is a
wonderfully convenient way to carry and study Adler's writings. The
Kindle E-Book reader permits highlighting, bookmarking, and recording
notes.

On page 203 of "The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler,Volume
1 - The Neurotic Character," Adler refers to Henri Bergson's concept
of "identicality of every movement in life."  I suspect the idea
appears in Bergson's 1907 work "Creative Evolution."  Does anyone
have access to Bergson's comments on this topic?  Adler's remarks are
below.

"In our type of the psychology of neuroses one always gets the
impression that the neurotic gesture that one observes is pointing
straight to the final purpose, to the fictional final goal, as if one
were examining one of the middle pictures in some cinematographic
film. The problem consists in recognizing these gestures, that is,
the symptoms, predispositions and characteristics, and to come to
understand what is their objective. In every neurotic attitude the
beginning and the final goal are suggestively concealed

Bergson correctly emphasizes the identicality of every movement in
life. With sufficient knowledge and enough experience one may discern
the past, the present and the future, but the final goal as well, of
any psychic phenomenon. And thus every psychic phenomenon, and indeed
every characteristic, in a similar way as an inferior physical organ,
can be viewed as a symbol of an individual life, as an individual
attempt to climb up."

Workshop August 22-24, 2008 in Bellingham, WA
Experiencing Classical Adlerian Psychotherapy
==============================================

This three-day workshop provides an opportunity to observe,
experience, practice, and receive feedback from peers and seasoned
professionals on Classical Adlerian therapeutic techniques.
Participants are encouraged to bring a personal issue to work on.
(The workshop is for individuals who are currently enrolled in, or
have completed our full distance-training program.) For complete
information visit
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/sum08.htm.

It is always tempting, but usually misleading, for researchers as
well as the media, to simplify the influences on human development.
Short, tall, average, fat, or thin people can chose to become
aggressive.  Also, an underdeveloped social interest may be expressed
in dependency, passivity, as well as aggression.  Genetic, social,
cultural, religious, gender, and family influences may be used as
provocations for aggression.  Adler was very clear about the absence
of cause and effect, as well as the primacy of creative power in the
development of the unique individual.  If we know enough about a
specific person's early life, we may be able to guess at the
probability of one or more influences, as well as the private logic
of his/her chosen direction.  Attempting to make broad, simplistic
generalizations may make for breezy reading, but does not contribute
to a meaningful understanding of human behavior.

--- In classicaladlerianpsychology@yahoogroups.com, "Steven"
<steversmatrix@...> wrote:
>
>   Despite recent evidence to the contrary:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6501633.stm
> many laypeople still say that short men compensate for their
> inferiority of being short with being aggressive.
>
>   People appear to borrow the thought of inferiority complex and
apply
> it to short men from the works of Adler.  I've read some, though not
> all, of Adler's books yet I have not found anything specifically
> saying the reason Napoleon, or any short man for that matter, was
> aggressive is that they feel too inferior for being short.
>
>   I have read that some individuals will interpret their inferior
> organs, illness, or ugliness as significant enough to create an
> abnormal inferiority complex should they not develop social
interest.
>  I have also read a reason Adler brings up Napoleon is to
demonstrate
> how an individual may stray from social interest and go on to commit
> crimes against humanity.
>
>   I wanted to hear from the experts here, once and for all, if Adler
> did indeed say Napoleon's lack of social interest was due to his
being
> short.  If not, is it plausible to say that certain individual short
> men see their height as a physical deficit and will, indeed,
> compensate for the resultant feeling of inferiority with
aggression?
> Does there have to be other environmental factors or even biological
> ones present for this to take place?
>