Case Study Of Adlerian Play Therapy

Adler theorized that neurosis and all other psychological problems occur when people strive for superiority instead of healthy and constructive achievement (Adler as cited in Frager & Fadiman, 2005, p. 102).When people fixate into overcompensating perceived notions of inferiority, pathological problems appear. According to Adler, all behavior is goal directed and moves from a “felt minus” to a “perceived plus” (Adler as cited in Frager & Fadiman, 2005, p. 102). Felt minus is a sense of inferiority while perceived plus is a sense of accomplishment (p. 102). Healthy human development is prevented when humans fixate in a feeling of inferiority. The following section would introduce the conceptualization of neurosis and the obstacles to personal growth according to

1). Thus, Adlerian play therapy becomes most appropriate to use with children, when choosing an approach of Adlerian theory to apply with children. Adlerian play therapy is the third most widely used counseling approach for play therapy (Lambert et al. as cited by Schaefer, 2011, p. 99). Adlerian play therapy is a widely used approach to treat children. In the following section of the paper, it would be introduced the four phases of Adlerian play therapy.

The main focus of Adlerian play therapy in the first sessions is to build an egalitarian relationship with the child (Taylor & Bratton, 2014, p. 210). During the first sessions, the main goal of the therapist is to build a relationship based in safety, trust and understanding with the child. Building this relationship with the child helps the child to feel safe and encouraged to explore new tasks to seek mastery and purposefulness (p. 210). Therefore, in order to allow the child to be self-sufficient, the therapist builds an egalitarian relationship with the child in the first phase of Adlerian play