ABSTRACT
The group approach proposed here is part of a theoretical orientation that has been called Adlerian counseling, Adlerian psychology, Individual Psychology, and the teleoanalytic approach (Manaster & Corsini, 1982; Sweeney, 1998). Regardless of name, the approach extends from the original work of Alfred Adler (1931, 1927/1957) and Rudolf Dreikurs (1950/1953, 1960). As we noted earlier, Adler originated large-group process and reorientation work in his child guidance clinics in Vienna (Terner & Pew, 1978). This large, open-forum, group model became the basis for family education centers developed by Dreikurs and his associates in the United States and Canada (Christensen, 1993; Dreikurs, Corsini, Lowe, & Sonstegard, 1959). Adler’s psychology was holistic; his model required counselors and therapists to understand the human organism as a whole: a complete person living in a given context, at a specific time in history, within a distinct culture, and perceiving the world from the vantage points provided by heredity, birth order, and gender. In this sense, he was the first systemic therapist. To understand any individual necessitates knowing the person within the entire field in which he or she operates.
