ADLERIAN

Ad·le·ri·an   (ād-lîr'ē-ən)    adj.  Of or being a psychological school based on the belief that behavior arises in subconscious efforts to compensate for inferiority and that psychological illness results from overcompensation for the perceived inferiority. [After Alfred Adler.]

Main Entry: Ad·le·ri·an
Pronunciation: ad-'lir-E-&n, äd-
Function: adjective
: of, relating to, or being a theory and techniqueof psychotherapy emphasizing the importance of feelings of inferiority, a will to power, and overcompensation in neurotic processes
Adáler /'äd-l&r/, Alfred(1870–1937), Austrian psychiatrist. Along with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Adler is considered one of the founders of modern psychiatry. At one time a close associate of Freud, Adlerbroke with Freud especially over the emphasis placed on sex as an underlying cause of neurosis. In 1907 he advanced his theory that physical defects may affect the psyche, producing feelings ofinferiority and attempts at psychological compensation which, if unsuccessful, may lead to neurosis. The concept of the inferiority complex has grown out of Adler's work.