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Reply to each post!
– must be at least 150 words
-Include at least one peer-reviewed article into each reply post and provide APA in-text citations and references for all of your sources
POST 1:
3.2 Discussion: Case Conceptualization
Ta’Liyah Johnson
Florida Institute of Technology
PSY 3442, Psychology of Personality
Professor Troy Webber
January 24, 2024
After reviewing the case concerning Ms. Hordler, I have decided to use Alfred Adler’s theory regarding the psychology of personality to help explain and assess the client’s behaviors. Upon reviewing the client’s personality traits, I noticed that the client had many contributing personality characteristics that aligned with psychologist Adler’s theory. Ms. Hordler stated that she would like to be in a romantic relationship. When she attempts to interact with the opposite sex to establish this romantic relationship, she has expressed that men have stopped calling her after only going on a couple of dates. Based solely on this information, I began to dive deeper into what could cause this, mainly with a woman described as intelligent, successful, and poised.
First, since I am using Adler’s theory, I began to look at the client’s early childhood and birth order. As stated by Schultz & Schultz (2017), Adler believed a person’s personality is shaped by the social environment and interactions that a person has with others (pg.108). I know that this theory looks at the environment that the client experienced while growing up and that these interactions helped to contribute to Ms. Hordler’s personality. I began by looking at the birth order of Ms. Hordler’s family. She stated that she was the oldest of four children and had a large family size. Because the client is the first child of four children, we know that this means she experienced devoted love from her parents, as she did state that she received a lot of attention from her parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles (Schultz & Schultz, 2017). This devoted form of love meant the client did receive her parent’s undivided attention and praise. Although we know that Adler believed our experiences with our parents, especially our mothers, help to play a role in our adult empathy and sharing characteristics which contribute to our social interest (Schultz & Schultz, 2017). This devotion that Ms. Horlder received is one of the sole reasons why she is currently experiencing depression and loneliness. The passion she received didn’t last because she had three siblings. This meant that she then became a teacher, leader, and caregiver to her younger siblings, which are the characteristics that Adler stated most older siblings demonstrated (pg. 118). Additionally, I looked at how Ms. Hordler said that all men in her family were considered the head of the household and women depended on the males. This style of life, which we know, helped guide the client to become, as she stated, independent and a leader.
Adler’s style of life helps to demonstrate why Ms. Hordler became such a hard-working woman who was at the top of her career as she took the emotions that she felt at such a young age of the women in her life and decided she didn’t want to be dependent of a man (Overholser, 2022). The client used these emotions to guide her to become an independent woman, which we know is an example of a superiority complex. Since the client has a superiority complex, the client has adopted the idea that she must work hard to succeed (Schultz & Schultz, 2017). Based on the client’s success, it appears that since she demonstrates the characteristics of independence, men feel as if Ms. Hordler doesn’t need a male companion. I would suggest since the client has grown up in a more prominent family and also demonstrates an inferiority complex because of the attention that she received, usage of birth order and early recollections of her life would help to relieve the client of her depression and loneliness.
Additionally, I suggest the client have therapeutic sessions in which she feels supported, which will help to build the client’s empathy and also help teach the client that her feelings of inferiority are, in fact, a normal part of life. It was stated in an outside source that people who were Adler’s clients learned about accepting their feelings and felt a sense of relief using theoretical sessions in which they could tell their therapist their story of life (Overholser, 2022). Ms. Hordler will be able to address the reoccurring patterns of life that she finds to be unfitting and have a better understanding of how to face things such as depression, which will later help her to improve her romantic relationships as she will be more open to the idea of loving someone.
References:
Overholser, J. C. (2022). Respecting the ideas and ideals proposed by Alfred Adler: A personal and professional journey.
The Journal of Individual Psychology,
78(1), 70–79.
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2017).
Theories of personality. Cengage.
POST 2:
Caitlyn Farmer
Alfred Adler developed the theory of individual psychology. This theory does not take broad strokes to assess how an individual developed throughout their life, but looks at the individual themselves to determine how they became who they are (McCluskey, 2021). In the case study of Ms. Hordler, Adler would classify her as a classic case of being a “pampered child”. Ms. Hordler was the oldest sibling in an extended family, and as a child she received a lot of attention from her family. Adler felt this would discourage the child and give them feelings of being inferior, especially when the child first goes to school and is not always the center of attention from their teachers and peers (McCluskey, 2021). It is this attention as a child that would create a drive in Ms. Hordler to become a successful person in her future. It created a natural leader in her, and made her want to become independent which can be seen in her choice of career as a lawyer, and a successful one at that. In terms of treatment of Ms. Hordler, Adler would most likely want to observe Ms. Hordler so he could gain a better understanding of what makes her tick. He would use observation to be able to show Ms. Hordler things that she does that are so natural to her she does not realize she is doing them (McCluskey, 2021). Adler would also try to show Ms. Hordler that there is nothing wrong with relying on other individuals, and how her striving to be independent might be hurting her in terms of getting into a relationship with someone else. Adler would describe to her that people rely on each other, and there is nothing wrong with asking for help, or needing another individual in everyday life (McCluskey, 2021). This ability to rely on others could help Ms. Hordler get rid of some of the negative feelings she has toward herself, and hopefully aid her in being able to get in a relationship with someone who respects her.
Reference
McCluskey, M. C. (2021). Revitalizing Alfred Adler: An echo for equality.
Clinical Social Work Journal,
50(4), 387–399.
