On &lllaos;The Neurotic Constitution&lllaos;

• Welcome to the BOL Forum on Classical Adlerian Psychotherapy by John Grohol, 2/10/96
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    • Classcial Adlerian Authors by Henry Stein, 11/22/97
      
      

Although I have not had an extensive background in Alfred Adler's work, or any other Psychoanalyst's for that matter, I did recently delve into a copy of Adler's "The Neurotic Constitution" for a research project requiring the comparison of the developmental theories of three "foundational" Psychologists. I found that Adler suffers from the usual defects that are associated with his mentor, Sigmund Freud, i.e. he presents no data or measurable information whatsoever. He is also just as guilty as Freud of proposing non-refutable concepts as the causative agents for the disorders he claims to be dissecting. The "Masculine Protest", in whatever form it had then or has since assumed, is an unquantifiable, untestable construct. More recent work I read for the same project argued that the Masculine Protest was also responsible for male spousal abuse and homophobia. For currently practicing, scientifically literate therapists to be relying on principles supported by this type of postulating reminds me why professional psychology is still considered by many on the same level as witchcraft.

• Re: The Neurotic Constitution by Henry Stein, 1/31/99