Adler cited in Utne Magazine

In the May/June issue of Utne Jon Spayde has an artcle on the "7 Paths to your secret self." In his discussion on Jung's influence of the Meyer Briggs scale he cites Adler's views as being concerned with "the individual's relationship with society and power" and "the psyche's basic move as an attempt to protect itself from the outer world, even at the risk of isolation and suffocation."

As a FOA (friend of Adler) I wrote the following to the editor: "One small picky comment to an otherwise excellent article by Jon Spayde. On pages 49 and 50, the author mentions Jung, Freud and Adler. The characterization of Adler may not be quite accurate. Many Adlerians would dispute the idea that Adler was a student of Freud. They started as collaborators and colleagues. The relationship ended when Adler's views of the self in relation to the community left out Freud's more biological (sexual) views. Adler came to be more concerned about the person's evolving desire to connect and contribute to the well-being of others as the hallmark of mental health. He did not view self-protection from the world as the basic motivation. He did view the individual as having responsibility to overcome difficulties in order to connect and contribute to social evolution. Utne may wish to contact the well-regarded Classical Adlerian Dr. Henry Stein of the Alfred Adler Insititute of San Francisco for further clarification."

Perhaps other FOA's would consider writing to the editors of Utne. Who knows, some FOA may get an article out of it.

Regards.
Peter

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