Alfred Adler with two of his children, Sophie Lazarsfeld and friends

1. About Alfred Adler: History: About: Adler School of Professional Psychology 10/25/14 3:18 AM
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Alfred Adler
1870 - 1937
About Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler was a physician, psychotherapist, and the founder of Adlerian psychology,
sometimes called individual psychology. He is considered the first community psychologist,
because his work pioneered attention to community life, prevention, and population
health. Adlerian psychology emphasizes the human need and ability to create positive social
change and impact.
Adler’s work stressed the importance of nurturing feelings of belonging and striving for
superiority. He held equality, civil rights, mutual respect, and the advancement of democracy as
core values. He was one of the first practitioners to provide family and group counseling and to
use public education as a way to address community health. He was among the first to write
about the social determinants of health and of mental health. His values and concepts drive our
mission, work, and values at the Adler School today.
His Life
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2. About Alfred Adler: History: About: Adler School of Professional Psychology 10/25/14 3:18 AM
Adler was born just outside of Vienna on February 7, 1870. After graduating with a medical
degree in 1895 from the University of Vienna, he began his career as an ophthalmologist, but
soon switched to general practice in a less affluent area of Vienna near an amusement park and
circus. Working with people from the circus, Adler was inspired by the performers’ unusual
strengths and weaknesses. It has been suggested that Adler began to develop his insights on
compensation and inferiority during this time.
In 1907 Adler was invited to meet with Sigmund Freud. Adler and Freud, along with Rudolf
Reitler and Wilhelm Stekel, began meeting weekly during “Wednesday Night Meetings” that
eventually grew to begin the psychoanalytic movement. Together, they formed the Vienna
Psychoanalytic Society, of which Adler was the first president.
Although Freud looked upon Adler as one of his first disciples, Adler never viewed himself that
way, and broke with Freud and Freudian psychoanalysis in 1911. Many of Adler’s concepts and
ideas were separate from Freud’s, particularly regarding the importance of the social realm. Adler
used these ideas to form individual psychology, and founded the Society of Individual Psychology
in 1912.
After serving as a doctor in the Austrian Army in World War I, Adler established a series of child
guidance clinics in Austria and embarked on extensive lecture tours in the United States and
Europe. To significant acclaim, he successfully promoted his psychological concepts
emphasizing social interest, or gemeinschaftsgefühl.
After his Austrian clinics were closed due to his Jewish heritage, Adler emigrated to the United
States where he began a professorship at the Long Island College of Medicine. In 1937, while on
a lecture tour in Aberdeen, Scotland, with his student and Adler School founder Rudolph
Dreikers, Alfred Adler died of a heart attack. His body was cremated in Edinburgh, but the ashes
were never reclaimed. They were rediscovered in a casket at Warriston Crematorium and
returned to Vienna for burial in 2011.
His Concepts and Impact
Adler’s goal was to create a psychological movement that argued for the holistic view of an
individual as well as social equality. In this way, Adler’s theory of personality and humanity
significantly differed from Freud’s – as well as significantly differing from much of today’s
mainstream psychology. Adler believed that the social and community realm is equally as
important to psychology as the internal realm of the individual.
Adler was one of the first psychotherapists to disregard the symbolic couch in favor of two chairs,
to create a sense of equality between patient and clinician. Adler also focused greatly on family
dynamics, specifically parenting and family constellation, as a preventative means of addressing
possible future psychological problems. With a practical and goal-oriented approach, Alfred held
a theory of three life tasks – occupation, society, and love – that intermingle with one
another. Success and health in each and all life tasks is dependent on cooperation.
Perhaps Adler’s most influential concept – and the one that drives the Adler School today – is
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3. About Alfred Adler: History: About: Adler School of Professional Psychology 10/25/14 3:18 AM
that of social interest. Not to be confused as another form of extraversion, social interest should
be viewed as an individual’s personal interest in furthering the welfare of others. Collaborating
and cooperating with one another as individuals and communities can progress to benefit society
as a whole.
Although Adler’s psychological theory was developed nearly a century ago, many of his concepts
are still brought to fruition through the Adler School of Professional Psychology. His concepts
based in social interest, social justice, equality, and the importance of education guide the Adler
School’s commitment to social change – from our curriculum, practica, internships, programming
and experiential offerings for students, faculty and alumni – to our hundreds of partnerships at
work with local communities to improve community mental health.
Through this, the Adler School fulfills its mission to continue the pioneering work of Alfred Adler
by graduating socially responsible practitioners, engaging communities, and advancing social
justice. Learn more about our history by exploring our timeline.
Learn about the Adler
School's history by
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