ABSTRACT
This chapter compares Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology (IP) with Albert Ellis Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) as they are applied to family therapy. Both Adler and Ellis see counselling and therapy as a process of re-education. Adler believes that it is the job of the therapist to do the correct teaching, which should have been done by the mother, since she is usually the one who has primary responsibility for raising the children. In Europe psychology and philosophy are accepted as intertwined disciplines; North America has made a practice of separating the two. Adlerian theory holds that people are inherently good and have a natural concern for the welfare of others. This characteristic, although present at birth, must be developed for it to be made manifest; hence the importance of early training within the family. Ellis advocates a democratic model for the family which is very similar to the Adlerian position.
