Re: Adlerian and Gestalt

In The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, p. 11-12, Heinz Ansbacher points out the similarities between Individual Psychology and Gestalt psychology: "emphasis on the whole rather than elements, the interaction between the whole and parts, and the importance of man's social context." On page 149, he also comments about the "close theoretical relationship between the Gestalt school and Adler in the area of intelligence."

My mentor, Sophia de Vries, who studied with Adler, believes that Adlerian psychology has more in common with the early European Gestalt theorists, rather than with later American practitioners like Fritz Perls.

To my knowledge, there is not much of a dialogue today, in the United States, between the Adlerian and Gestalt advocates. Constructs like the fictional final goal and the feeling of community seem to differentiate us from many other approaches that have some limited similarity.

Several years ago, I read Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy by Paul Zinker. I found the first third of the book, about the therapist as an artist, most stimulating and consistent with the Classical Adlerian style of treatment. However, the balance of the book described Gestalt therapeutic strategies that I found less adaptable to the Adlerian model.

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