Citation:

Sweeney, T.J. (2009). Adlerian counseling and psychotherapy: A practitioner’s approach. (5th ed.). New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Author:

Tom Sweeney

Category:

Book by CSI author

Genre:

Professional

CACREP Core Area:

Human growth and development
Career development
Helping relationships
Group work
Assessment

CACREP Specialty Area:

Career counseling
School counseling
Marriage, couple and family counseling
Clinical mental health counseling
Counselor education and supervision

Subject Headings:

Aging
Divorce
Elementary school
Female lifespan development
Family dynamics
High school
Male lifespan development
Middle school
Multicultural/cross-cultural issues
Relationships
Spiritual journey
Spiritual practice
Social justice
Wellness

Review:

This book was written principally with practitioners in mind. Like most practitioners, I dutifully learned about all the major theories of personality and learning. It wasn’t until I had the privilege of both hearing and watching Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs teach and demonstrate the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler that I became convinced that practitioners of all helping disciplines can benefit from their insights and methods. Practitioners in all settings who work with persons across the life span already use this approach quite successfully. It is also applied successfully, however, by parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, and laypeople in homes, businesses, and educational settings.

Critical reviews of the earlier editions reported them to be useful, concise overviews of the theory and practice of what Adler called his Individual Psychology. For this fifth edition, every effort has been made to retain these characteristics while adding to, revising, and updating the material. My goal has been to provide an overview with practical applications rather than an exhaustive review of each topic. References to more thorough treatments of each topic are found throughout the book.

As with the earlier editions, applications to children, adults, individuals, couples, and groups across the life span are presented. Career-style counseling is still a unique contribution fitting Adler’s premise that work is an essential life task. More will be found in this edition related to early recollections and life style as a means to second order change in clients. Diagnosis, which was not a part of the earlier editions, is presented by an Adlerian practitioner who demonstrates how DSM can be used for Adlerian outcomes. At the same time, a completely new chapter on our empirically based wellness models helps fortify Adler’s holism and emphasis on using social interest as a means to individual and societal well being.

Both Adler’s and Dreikurs’ works reflect the values consistent with today’s need for greater respect of differences as well as access, equity, and inclusiveness of all people to all opportunities of a free society. Since the last edition of this work is available in Korean and Chinese, some of my international contacts suggest that a world view that respects individuals while engendering cooperation among people is on the rise.

One need not be an “Adlerian” to use and benefit from the ideas and methods described in this book. I believe more than ever, however, that it is within the totality of this approach that the greatest good can be achieved. It is essential for me to stay true to the philosophy and values espoused by Dreikurs even as I offer innovations within Adler’s psychology.

Adler indicated that he was not bound by his own creation. To be an Adlerian, however, is to embrace its emphasis upon the desired outcomes of optimal social interest and well being for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole. My hope is that this book will help more practitioners achieve these lofty goals in their work. To purchase copies of this work, please do so through the CSI Shopping Mall, Amazon.com and CSI will receive a rebate! Thank you!