Adler is a physician, a psychiatrist, a doctor, who begins his professional life by treating mentally ill patients, addicts, and sociopaths. In the process, he differs from Freud in the way he treats his patients and finds commonalities with healthy people.
Adler’s view of mankind is free from Freud’s view that all human beings are capable of changing the way they think and move toward their goals, whereas Freud’s view is that the ability to change is a function of age, and that as people get older, this ability weakens. Adler is free from this, and establishes the view of human beings that “all human beings can change the way they think and move toward their goals.
However, it is common, not only among the elderly, for values to harden and an attitude of refusal to change to surface, which Adler referred to as lifestyle.
Adler has an interesting view on lifestyle.
Adler has an interesting observation about lifestyle: “There is no such thing as a normal lifestyle, and any lifestyle is appropriate until something unexpected happens that brings the weakness to the surface.
Adler classified this lifestyle into three behavioral aspects
Constructive behavior
Behavior in which people work together to advance their goals in a socially beneficial way.
Nonconstructive behavior
Behavior that is goal-oriented but not beneficial to others, but not harmful either.
Destructive Behavior
Behavior that is purposeful but harmful to those around us and hurts both others and ourselves.
Adler’s theory of purpose is explained in Adler’s words, “Inside every person, whether conscious or unconscious, his or her movements are directed toward a certain purpose. Adler’s primary emphasis is on a sense of community. It is the empathy-based bond that people have with each other.
Constructive action is what is required to achieve this sense of community, but Adler points out that lifestyles that do not favor change sometimes choose unconstructive or destructive actions.
The essence of coaching is “mutual understanding based on acceptance and empathy. We notice that the constructive behavior that Adler preaches represents the essence of coaching as action.
（The above English translation is for a reference purpose only and a re-translation of the Japanese into English. Accordingly, please refer to the original text as appropriate.）
コーチング情報局を運営する株式会社コーチビジネス研究所では、企業を対象としたコーチング研修、ビジネスパーソンを対象としたビジネスコーチング、個人の方を対象としたライフコーチングを提供しております。その他、コーチングを学びたい方のためのコーチングスクールの運営、経営者やビジネスリーダー向けにセミナーを開催しています。興味や関心がございましたら、お気軽にご相談・お問い合わせください。
This article was written in Japanese and converted into English using a translation tool. We hope you will forgive us for any inadequacies.
Coach Business Laboratory, Inc., which operates the Coaching Information Bureau, provides coaching training for companies, business coaching for business people, and life coaching for individuals. In addition, we operate a coaching school for those who want to learn coaching and hold seminars for executives and business leaders. If you are interested or have any questions, please feel free to contact us for further information and consultation.
