Alfred Adler

Life and work

The story behind the role.

Austrian psychotherapist (1870–1937).

Alfred Adler ( AD-lər; Austrian German: [ˈalfreːd ˈaːdlɐ]; February 7, 1870 – May 28, 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, and birth order set him apart from Freud and others in their common circle. He proposed that contributing to others ("social interest" or Gemeinschaftsgefühl) was how the individual feels a sense of worth and belonging in the family and society. His earlier work focused on inferiority, coining the term "inferiority complex", an isolating element which he argued plays a key role in personality development. Adler considered a human being as an individual whole, and therefore he called his school of psychology Individual Psychology. Adler was the first to emphasize the importance of the social element in the re-adjustment process of the individual and to carry psychiatry into the community. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Adler as the 67th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.

Encyclopaedic excerpts from Alfred Adler; shortened for length and available under CC BY-SA 4.0.