Understanding Life: An Introduction to the Psychology of Alfred Adler Paperback – October 1, 2009

The first book one should read if trying to understand Individual Psychology of Dr. Alfred Adler. A common complaint cited by IP psychologists and counselors is that Adler "did it first" before other theories and that proponents of other orientations pilfered from Adler's teachings. Reading this book will A.) show how true this indictment is against other theories and B.) provide a better understanding of the lifespan than even the other theories can give. Most of the neurological research coming out at this time seems to continue to emphasize his original teachings as valid compared to other theories. The best aspect of this book is Adler's constant care to explain all concepts on a practical level instead of the use of scientific jargon. If any clinician wants to understand how a person develops a health or maladaptive personality, this may be one of the best books for you. A minor critique of Adlerian theory is while is concept of social interest is now being empirically validated in well-being and wellness literature of several disciplines, there could be an implicit socialist-political lens that can be confused with Adler's actual teachings. Adlerian therapy should be best understood as a relationship between an individual and society instead of the possible assumption one can make that a productive society is all that matters. A deeper understanding of the different life tasks would show how the personality of a person seeks to move towards overcoming perceived or real inferiority instead of the common day narrative that assumes inferiority is from the systematic oppression of differing power dynamics. Adler was way more complex than that assumption and his work would show how context ultimately matters in conceptualizing clients and social equality.

Alfred Adler is one of the few early psychology thinkers that really seemed to make good use of the assorted notions of what it means to be human. He has a "knack" for focusing on revealing the truth about human nature and the principles underlying this nature. Dr. Adler starts to answer how and what motivates human conduct and why and how people 'dysfunction' and what are the ways and means of recovery. Unfortunately, some people were so impressed with his revelations that they have turned his well thought out ideas and discoveries into a fanatic zeal for change. In doing so, they have attempted to turn Dr. Adler's solid foundations for human understanding into a glorified zeal for a particular kind of life. They even 'renamed' his ideas as "adlerian", which is a term that Adler never wanted since he prefered to call his collected principles: Individual Psychology

Good book

I love Adler's books more than Adlerian psychology. These get at the heart of his theories. Whereas Freud wrote and spoke much about the defects in people, Adler looked at motivations and how people move in relationship with others. This work inspired my writing of the Psychology of Jesus. Adler helped me understand Jesus' way of relating to people and how different it is from our typical diagnosis upon diagnosis. David W. Jones

i gave this reading a 3 star because i have not finish reading it.

LEARNING TO UNDERSTANDING MORE ABOUT HOW AND WHY SOME PEOPLE BEHAVE IN CERTAIN WAYS IN THEIR EVERYDAY LIFE. EXCELLENT BOOK AS A GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR.

Every page in this book was marked and/or scribbled on. The book itself was stained. I returned it!

Good read