Common Sense • Cooperation • Courage
These three terms represent central features of the theory and practice of Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology (individual = not divisible, i.e., holistic).
Common Sense. Adler was once reproached for presenting a theory that was "just common sense." He replied that if he had, he couldn't think how this could be objectionable, since so many theories are so lacking in common sense, the sovereign corrective to the errors inevitable in each private sense of our common life.
Cooperation. Human being is social being. Human problems are social problems. Social problems – how to live and love and work with others – require cooperation for their solution. Children learn to play a part by obeying the rules of the game. Adults continue learning in give and take among others. But if learning is faulty, with power and connivance trumping the rules, solutions to life's problems are faulty as well.
Courage. We begin and continue lifelong in an awareness of our incompleteness, and are therefore always moving toward ideals we take – or mistake – for images of completedness and success: "Some day when I grow up." Guided as we are by biased memories of the past, and only partial understanding of the present, our movement (thought, feeling, action) is directed uncertainly toward an imagined future. Since we can't know the outcome of our choices until we choose, choosing requires courage. When we cultivate feelings of solidarity and belonging among others, we are better able to accept an imperfect choice as a good start, and a mistaken choice as correctable.
As Adlerian Psychology Associates, Bob Powers and Jane Griffith are part of a worldwide community of individuals and groups practicing and supporting the use and development of Adlerian Psychology.
We are recognized leaders in this growing community. We represent the Adlerian model of psychological science, directed to understanding human being not as static (as in the notion of human nature), but as in a course of movement toward the goal of completed development. By optimistic, humane, and democratic methods we uncover errors, encourage common sense, and invite participation in shaping the emerging story of humankind.