The use of Birth Order Information in Psychotherapy

Alfred Adler considered the position of the individual in the childhood family to be one of the developmental conditions which afford the therapist the “most trustworthy approaches to the exploration of the personality” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). The reader of Adler’s case studies will observe that he used information about birth order effects in winning the patient’s confidence, in developing understanding of the patient, and in interpreting the patient’s dreams and early behavior (Adler, 1954, 1964).