Adlerian theory views human nature as being motivated through social relatedness but not sexual urges. This theory emphasizes that an individual with positive capacity should cooperate in a society in order to live. People are capable to create events, influence and express themselves to create a unique lifestyle throughout their lifetime. This theory is insisting on encouraging and helping the client to change behavior and cognitive perspective. According to existential theory, its main focus lays on the human condition including relationship with others and the responsibility of one. This theory emphasizes on one's freedom to make decisions for one's fate. Existential theory stresses on one’s capacity for self-awareness and the truth to face death.
The key concept of Adlerian theory is as follows:
- Unites personality of people.
- Requires the need for viewing the subject of people.
- Focuses on interpersonal relationship.
- Strives for the superiority and success.
- Completion and success.
Adlerian goals focus on the significance of people’s behavioral directions. People get the meaning of life through achieving set goals and social relatedness motivation. Other goals of this model are to develop the sense of belonging to the client. It also motivates individuals to develop the useful social goals. The client’s basic goal for life and premises are challenging. Some of the therapeutic processes are the comparison arrangements between the clients and professional. Self- awareness among the students is increasing and challenging and modifies their basic concepts, life goals and fundamental premises. The process promotes the social relatedness among individuals. This promotes the development and recognition of equality among the clients. Therapeutic process promotes the provision of information, guiding, encouraging the disappointed students and teaching them. It changes the lifestyle of clients by modifying their goals and views.
Existential therapy is a philosophical approach which stresses on the right to make the freedom of choice and thus each person is accountable for the outcome of his or her choice and action (Corey, 2013). Some of the key concepts of this theory are:
- The search for value, purpose, goals and meaning of life.
- Importance to establish a relationship with others and create individual identity.
- There are freedom and responsibility.
- There is anxiety for living conditions.
- Capacity for self-awareness.
Therapeutic process of existential therapy is emphasizing on the major human behaviors such as developed personality based on the individual uniqueness. The self-sensorial part of human being develops at the infancy stage of individuals. The theory emphasis lays on the current and future being of an individual meaning there is a future orientation for the approach. The therapy is commonly used in the experimental and practical activities than the theoretical approaches. It focuses on the central wellbeing of a human condition such as the self-awareness capacity, freedom of to make a decision on another fate, search for oneness, responsibility and facing the truth of death. According to this therapy approach, the human is believed to be in a constant state of transition. The therapy stresses on the striving for the identity; this means to have the courage of being. They are struggling with the identity that is the challenge to the client having lost touch of the identity of others. It promotes the increase in the self-awareness of the individual. This therapy improves on the potential choice of the client by offering a choice of freedom in decision making. This enables the customer take responsibilities on the outcomes of already made decision.
The therapeutic approach of Adlerian therapy is preferred as it promotes the client’s understanding of the private logic such as the concepts about others, self and life that makes up their lifestyles based on the philosophy. It enables the clients understand the beliefs and convictions that come in as a social relatedness and how it contributes to the usefulness and constructive wellbeing. This process encourages the students not to fear the upcoming behavior and encourage the rectification of the old ones. These allow the identification and rectification of errors by the client and also understanding the reasons for their characteristics. This therapeutic process encourages on the re-educating the client on useful part of life. The process enables the client overcome the feeling of disappointment and inferiority. The process encourages rectification on the faulty node. It develops the sense of being and helps with the adoption of behaviors and the processes accepted by the community as building social relatedness.
Existential therapy process is sometimes preferred because of expanding self-awareness; it also assists the customer to accept responsibility for their choices (Masco, & Rosen, 2008). The therapy assists the client to experience authentic presence. Existential therapy focuses on upcoming potential choices. This therapy views the human nature as the major dimension of the human conditions. It is also viewed as a way of expanding capacity to self- awareness. The merits of the Adlerian therapy are: the therapy focuses on the significance of the client’s cultural context elaborating the effects of gender difference, age, lifestyle and ethnicity. It emphasizes on health which is opposed by the pathologists. It considers the understanding of individuals in the form of core goal and its significance. The demerits are the tastiest, empirical validity and poor precision. The scientists have made few attempts to validate the concepts. The human complex problems tend to simplify further, which depends mostly on the common sense. The merits of the existential therapy are the freedom of choice which includes openness, flexibility, readiness to growth and changing on the wider proceed of the human value. The customers are seen as sick and not viewed to be sick. While the demerits are: it lacks the systematical statement of therapy principle and practices. The applicability is limited thus reducing nonverbal customers and functioning and event to customers with extreme problems requiring directives.
References
- Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks.
- Masco, N. & Rosen, D. (2008). Assessment of existential meaning and its longitudinal relations with depressive symptoms. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27(6), 576-599.
