Paths to Adler

I am on the faculty and Director of the Early Prevention Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City. I began serious study of Adlerian psychology with Dr. Adele Davidson, professor at New York University's graduate program of Applied Social Psychology, where I got my Ph.D. The program was an integration of neurophysiology, ego psychology, and social psychology (primarily Kurt Lewin), with a number of supplementary theoretical systems, e.g., role theory, the small group theories of Homans and Bales, the work on personality by Henry Murray, the social interactionists (Mead, Cooley). While these theories described how people behaved, they did not convey a vision for what people could become and do. I found Adler's theory to provide an explicit philosophical framework that was both enlightening and inspiring. Furthermore, Adler took into consideration factors on different levels of analysis -- physiological, psychological, social psychological, and cultural --and stressed both prevention as well as psychotherapy.

Adele had studied in Los Angeles with Lydia Sicher (see Sicher bio) and was also profoundly personally influenced by her. I learned the fundamentals of Adlerian theory and was fortunate to be able to help Adele with the massive task she had undertaken to edit Sicher's lectures and writings into a book. After Adele left NYU, she moved to North Carolina to work with IBM, and has since retired and is living in California.

In 1989, I attended the annual five-day intensive seminar in Adlerian theory and practice at the Adler Institute of San Francisco, conducted by Dr. Henry Stein. Almost from beginning, I knew I had found my Adlerian "home." Henry is a brilliant therapist who not only mastered Adlerian theory and practice, but has also integrated this work with that of other Adlerians, his own creative innovations, and the work of relevant non-Adlerians. He and other Adlerians associated with the Institute in San Francisco have created a supportive and stimulating group that I work with and visit as often as possible.

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