More Research/Theory Catching up with Adler

In a lecture delivered in New York on October 27, eminent infant researcher Robert Emde commented that the next wave of theoretical and research interest in personality development is in the area of future orientation. He observed that psychology has dealt extensively with issues of the past and present. But there has been almost no attention given to the concept of the future. This, however, is one of the most basic ideas in Adlerian psychology. For example, Adler wrote, "The most important question of the healthy and the diseased mental life is not whence? but, whither?" He realized that humans can't make any movements unless they have an idea of why they are moving -- what their goal is -- even though their goal may be out of their awareness. We now appear to be on the brink of revisiting these seminal ideas with the neurobiology and psychological methods not available to Adler when he initially proposed them. Let's hope that we can build on what Adler gave us rather than reinventing the wheel yet again.

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