Re: Mind Mapping Software and Case Analysis

I have explored the use of several "mind mapping," "concept mapping," and "flow-charting" software programs, to gain a graphic perspective on the inter- relationship of Adler's theoretical constructs. With these programs, I have experimented with some preliminary charts that I plan to offer to my students so that they may be used as "road maps" of the Adlerian terrain. These graphic guides will serve as general, global reminders of "the totality" of Adlerian theory, philosophy, and practice.

The discipline of case analysis requires a somewhat different set of tools. I tried using mindmaps to facilitate the process, but found their structure too confining and awkward at the early stages of organization, guessing, and analysis.

In the organization phase of case analysis, the information that I get from clients, which normally includes a comprehensive history (both oral and written), is initially transferred to a sophisticated outliner, Ecco Professional. This program permits not only a chronological order of client supplied information and therapists's notes, but a re-grouping of information into categories. I also use ABC Flowcharter to create a dynamic, multi- generational Genogram that organizes a condensation of the client's impressions of self, family members, and significant people.

In the analysis phase, using Ecco, a matrix is constructed adjacent to the outline, providing a space to record comments, guesses about dynamics, and questions to be pursued. This matrix structure challenges the student and clinician to come up with guesses about various theoretical constructs. (This approach is similar to the strategies used in qualitative analysis.)

In the synthesis phase, the matrix of categories, comments, and guesses is studied for patterns and progressively higher order principles of the individual's "law of movement." At this point, I generally print out the outline/matrix and work with colored pens marking connections and patterns, Feelings and images that arise spontaneously are also recorded since frequently offer valuable clues to finding the "totality" of a case. Eventually, the task is to boil down all of the impressions into a few core guidelines: the client's unique inferiority feeling(s), style of life, compensatory fictional goal, antithetical scheme of apperception, and private logic.

Having achieved this diagnostic result, the dynamics may be illustrated graphically for convenience and teaching. A mindmap may serve this purpose, but other, more flexible graphic forms are often better. (Axon and ABC Flowcharter offer this variety.) A fascinating program that creates circular, hierarchical, symmetric, and orthogonal layouts is the Graph Layout Toolkit-- however, it is only available to programmers.

Recently, I have been experimenting with Atlas-ti, a program that was designed for research in qualitative analysis. (It facilitates the processes of data collection, reduction, display, and conclusion drawing.) One advantage of the program is the automatic generation of a graphic network that illustrates the connections between text segments, codes, memos, and comments.

Although the process of case analysis can become very intuititve after many years of training and practice, the path to gaining that expertise can be enhanced with the use of some excellent computer programs that facilitate the organization, analysis, and synthesis of case material.

For more information about the use of computer programs in case analysis, see the AAISF distance training course, "Case Analysis and Treatment Planning," at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/dt301.htm .

I'd be interested in hearing more about your work with Visimap and Axon.

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