ABSTRACT
Because Adlerians believe that all human problems are essentially social and interactive in nature, group approaches are and have been central to the development of this model. Starting as “Adlerian collective therapy” in the early 1920s, Adlerian groups can claim a long and diverse history (Corsini, 1955; Dreikurs, 1959). Hoffman (1994) describes the group methods that Adler used to work with children, teachers, and families in his child guidance clinics in Vienna, starting in 1921. Rudolf Dreikurs (1960) may also have been the first to use group psychotherapy in private practice, starting in 1928 (Terner & Pew, 1978). Both of these Adlerian pioneers developed and used group methods in an effort to reach a greater number of people in a shorter period of time. In this sense, Adlerian group therapy has always been a brief therapy approach. For the past 50 years, this brief therapy approach has been used in schools, community agencies, hospitals, family education centers, and private practice (Sonstegard, Bitter, Pelonis-Peneros, & Nicoll, 2001).
