Integrative Theory

12 Pages 2911 Words

rough experiential experimentation, clarification of irrational beliefs and self-defeating thought processes. When people have a sense of connectedness and concern for others, they can reconnect to their community, achieve intimacy in relationships, have an understanding of their eventual non-being and mortality, appreciate the paradox of connectedness vs. aloneness, and develop self-reliance. Clients clarify faulty assumptions that lead to lost energy, depression, and isolation. (Corey p.151.) People are encouraged to find meaning, even in suffering. Dealing with negative and painful events can help people gain strength and confidence, allowing them to triumph over despair.
Feelings of anxiety and inferiority are a normal element of the human condition and due to them; Adler asserts there is a “wellspring for creativity.” People are challenged to overcome feelings of inferiority and strive for superiority, mastery, and completion. Adler asserted that by the age of six, people have a life goal formulated in their psyche, he stresses, “every striving and every effort to overcome inferiority is now in line with this goal.” (Corey p.109.) When people fail to achieve life goals, they become discouraged as this completion of the life goal depends on a person’s ability to overcome feelings of inferiority.
Adler asserted, “Fear and courage go hand in hand; without fear, there would be no need for courage. The loss of courage, or discouragement, results in mistaken and dysfunctional behavior. Discouraged people do not act in line with social interest or on the useful side of life.” (Corey p.114.) Almost all human behavior is goal oriented and people strive for superiority through achievement. The therapist assists his or her clients to define their own meaning for existence, their personal responsibility of freedom and accepting its consequences, as well as gaining an understanding that we are responsible for creatin...