Geriatrics: Path to Adler

• Henry & All: Who? Where? The Adlerians by Gil Levin, 12/12/96
  
  

I was a Jungian back at University of Chicago, then I moved into the field of geriatrics. This seemed like a good fit between theory and patient population because Jung said so much about the second half of life, preparing for death, etc. However, the more elder patients I had, the more I was convinced that the Jungian approach was just not that practical. "Tell me your dream" was usually met with "I never dream anymore." What convinced me that Adler (whose theory I had prior to that time dismissed as "simplistic") might be relevant here was the pervasiveness of geriatric depression and the central dynamic of inferiority as opposed to guilt. I found that Adler's major avenues of social interest (family, friends, and career) were being closed to elders through widowhood, relocation, and retirement. Furthermore, the main causes of childhood inferiority (actual physical disability, neglecting a child, or pampering a child) were re-occurring in later life. The chronic physical disabilities were real. The neglect was coming from family and the rest of society. The pampering I saw in some nursing homes that babied elder patients. I found Adler's more directive style to be highly effective with elders, and much easier to work with than non-directive Rogerian or psychoanalytic approaches.

I am now the editor of a journal in the field, CLINICAL GERONTOLOGIST, and would welcome articles and case studies which demonstrate useful therapeutic and assessment techniques with elder patients. You can email me at tlbrink@juno.com or write me

T.L. Brink, Ph.D. 1103 Church St. Redlands, CA 92374

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