What is Individual Psychology?
“Individual Psychology” is the approach to understanding human thinking and behaviour that was developed by Alfred Adler, and which is used as the basis for Adlerian counselling and psychotherapy.
The name refers to Alfred Adler’s belief that each of us is unique and individual, and that we develop our own ways of coping with the challenges of life. Individual Psychology is a “holistic” approach, meaning that we cannot look at particular aspects of our life and being in isolation, but must take everything into account when examining the difficulties we may be dealing with.
Individual Psychology is based on the assumptions that every action we take is taken for a reason, which is based in our personal understanding of our place in the world, and that we are, essentially, goal-driven, working towards achieving some purpose that we have defined for ourselves, typically in early life. There is also a great emphasis on the role of the individual within their social context, and the importance of pro-social activity, both as a means of determining someone’s level of psychological functioning, and as a way to improve that functioning.
Who was Alfred Adler?
Alfred Adler was born in Vienna in 1870, and was a contemporary of Freud during the early years of the development of psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic methods. Freud and Adler had a profound difference of opinion, mainly around fundamental principles of therapeutic ideas, resulting in Adler forming his own school of thought, which is more focused on the individual’s role in their community as opposed to Freud’s more individualistic approach.
Adler’s teaching became well-known through regular lecture tours and demonstrations, throughout the United States and United Kingdom, and many Adlerian books are transcriptions or adaptations from these lectures.
Alfred Adler died in 1937, while on a walking tour in Scotland.
Who are IPT?
Individual Psychology Training (IPT) is a community interest company, based in West Wales and formed in 2022 to take over the delivery of Adlerian counsellor training, which was formerly conducted by the Adlerian Society of Wales since the early 2000s. Collectively, its tutors have many years’ experience teaching and practicing Individual Psychology, and have trained many Adlerian practitioners over that time.
IPT strives to embody the core values of Individual Psychology – equality, integrity, and compassion – in the way it operates and runs courses, with a strong emphasis on personal development and self-knowledge alongside close adherence to the theoretical principles of the approach.
IPT is a member of the UK Adlerian Society (ASIIP) who validate its training, and is an organisational member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), which accredits its core counsellor training courses. We subscribe and operate according to the principles of the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Profession.