Two Approaches To Adlerian Brief Therapy - Buncombe County ...

Adlerian Brief Therapy 4
symptoms as solutions, and (e) the assignment of behavioral tasks. These five
aspects have been described as a foundation for Adlerian Brief Therapy (Nicoll,
Bitter, Christensen, & Hawes, 2000). The two of us differ to some extent upon the
relative emphases that should be given to a definitive time limitation, counselor
directiveness, and the assignment of behavioral tasks. We both agree, however,
that focused work will tend to keep therapy brief, that non-organic symptoms are
the client’s solution to a personal problem, and that motivation modification is the
goal when both directive interventions and behavioral tasks are used. Of the five
dimensions, therapeutic focus is the most critical to successful therapy.
In Adlerian Brief Therapy, two foci anchor therapeutic interventions: (a) a
focus on who the person is and (b) a focus on what the person wants from therapy.
This dual focus can be viewed as two points on a line, leading to a directional
question: How does the person move from their current life position toward the
preferred or desired position?
If we start with who the person is, there are specific Adlerian assessments
that tend to yield an immediately useful and holistic understanding of the
individual. Among these assessments are the presentation of self and concerns;
the individual’s interpretation of place within her or his original family
constellation (family system); developmental processes and the tasks of life; and
early recollections (see Adler, 1958; Bitter, Christensen, Hawes, & Nicoll, 1998;
Bitter & Nicoll, 2000; Dreikurs, 1997). Taken together, the data collected from
these assessments constitute what Adlerians call a lifestyle assessment (Eckstein &