Adlerian Psychology and the Non-Existence of Trauma

In this video, we take a different perspective on the concept of 'trauma' and how it relates to the development of a person's psyche in their future life. This unconventional approach to 'trauma' was first developed by one of the greatest psychoanalysts in history, Alfred Adler, who is often overshadowed by Freud and Jung.
Enjoy, and feel free to leave your opinion in the comments!

Timestamps:
0:00 – John's story
1:37 – Susan' story
3:14 – Adlerian psychology
4:35 – John's belief
5:04 – Susan's courage
7:20 – Safegurading behaviors and "inferiority complex"

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🎵 Background music licensed through MotionArray / Youtube Audio Library

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#psychology #mind #trauma

[veronicalagor]

Does he delve into the different family environments in the two situations? In my personal experience it's the child's close relationships at home that guide which worldview is solidified.

I grew up being bullied, but my biggest bullies looking back were my own parents and siblings. My mindset remained until I moved out and discovered (luckily) not everyone is like my family.

The way it's phrased in the video seems to portray it as if children have more awareness of their core beliefs and the ability to challenge them than they actually do.

[aliseyar]

Before finishing this video, I felt compelled to say thank you. Your way of teaching concepts with metaphors and relatable examples is amazing. I am deeply grateful to you. You touched my soul with Adler's ideas. Sending love from a different part of the globe.

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[ethan_udovich]

I don’t know what’s in these other people’s heads but I will say that I suspect that the rejection of Adler’s solution to trauma may stem from one fact: it’s a hard path. Susan’s path was not the easy choice, but she made something and became active, instead of just being passive. Adler wasn’t the only one who preached this kind of advice of, “You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you react. See, for example, the neo-Stoics. I will also speak from personal experience and say that as an artist, I make something of my trauma regularly. It really can feed creativity if you *do the work* and develop an expressive craft, instead of just going on the defensive…. You’ve gotta act. No one’s going to save you. Yes, you need support, I know but frankly, people wanna support potential. So it really does start with you. Make the decision to do something about your problem. The rest will follow. It’s not easy, but not impossible either.

[stephenm]

I know the feeling of pulling away from society. I’m not traumatized as far as I know, but just predisposed to solitude. My mother is the same way. Trying to break out and be social is like trying to fall on your back while remaining stiff. Every instinct is screaming for you to catch yourself. It’s ultimately your choice though and I would encourage anyone who has trauma that makes you isolate yourself to force yourself out. It’s hard but you won’t regret it

[mikekoladam]

The response of a child to trauma is dictated by the environment and support he/she has. A 1 year old doesn't make a conscious choice to reflect on the neglect or abuse of his/her parents and "move forward". John had a less supportive environment, heck, he might've had no one to help him see the good. Susan, probably had a more supportive environment, which allowed her to view the world more positively. Neither "just made a choice" to cling to, or not cling to fear

Adler's psychology here seems very lacking, puts too much emphasis on the power of the individual, and misses a very crucial element of trauma.

[ourdivinemouseoverlord]

I wouldn't give too much credence to Alfred Adler's theories. He was absolutely wrong on a number of things. Though I disagree with Adler, this was still a good video.

[raymondmurdock]

Great so you're saying I need to change my perspective an attitude about what I've been through stop doom scrolling and start painting or go jogging and then my mental illness will be cured that sounds really fucking familiar wonder where I've heard that attitude before Oh yeah everyone's throughout most of my existence including the very people that traumatize me ugh I mean I'm not saying you're completely wrong just that we've known this for years if that was something us chronically damaged people could actually do nobody would have problems anymore that's not how it works you don't get to choose if you're one of those people to thrive despite adversity or one crushed by it so many factors contribute to your own psychological resilience maybe the first kids brain was genetically predetermined to recoil and fear and response or maybe the girl had hope because she saw evidence for the potential of good and kindness the boy never got to see

[rere]

This video annoys me so incredibly much. It's such a oversimplification of trauma. Oh just think differently, trauma is way more deep than that. Just feels like another psychological brainwasher.

[luciazazel]

John *felt* fear because many humans are cruel, whether truly inherent or product of environment. John chose to reduce his exposure to cruelty. Sure, sometimes it's learned helplessness, but other times, there really is some continued presence of a hazard in the environment. Yes, it's probably healthier to try to maintain a semblance of normal life despite continued exposure to cruelty, but to expect that of a child is ridiculous.

Yes, with a good bit of practice at the right type of meditation (or a strong dose of a dimethyltryptamine / substituted dimethyltryptamine) it's possible to dissociate from the negative effects of continued exposure in order to enjoy the positive aspects of life. Sure, less complete forms of such dissociation may be accomplished by way of simple therapy. Sure, Buddha's second arrow is of the mind's making; the first one still hurts.

But why even bother with rhetoric? Why are we debating this, when we have *empirical* evidence of the existence of trauma: ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and associated statistics, showing vastly worse lifetime outcomes on mental and physical health. Sure, the initial damage is psychological in origin (psychological processes do, in fact, have nontrivial physical downstream effects, e.g., long-term increase in serum cortisol, modulation of sex hormones [minor effect], dysregulation of sympathetic nervous system, psychogenic fever etc.), but to suggest that the primary fault is lack of good-faith effort is absurd. It amounts to victim-blaming.

[michasosnowski]

I would not say that Freud was great psychoanalyst. He can be granted the development of unconscious work and dream analysis. But overall he made more to cover up massive sexual trauma of his time than helped. He created sexual drive theory to further hide and blame victims for their suffering and trauma. For which he should not be put on pedestal, but judged appropriately.
I am not sure if women who were sexually abused in Viena in those days and developed as he called it "hysteria", which was propably combination of what we today would call depression, anxiety disorders etc - they had issues with relationships and mood - that these women chose to ascribe wrong meaning to their experiences. I think its an insult to them.
If you were sexually abused, and betreyed by your environment(caregivers), you will naturally become distrustfull and withdrawn. Some people commit suicide becouse if this disconnection and isolation, some develop addictions. But how can you say that people had some say in what they made of their experiences?

If you want to read something worthwhile on trauma you should look Alice Miller, Judith Lewis Herman or others of this type. And not look at oldschool grandpas, who contributed some, but ultimately failed at sticking with victims. Even Kohut or Lowen were better than them(Adler, Freud, Jung).
Its so much about the pain and support system that allows us to remain some trust in humanity and ourselves. Usually the ones who end up scrolling and running away from pain are the ones who did not have any of that. That does not mean that you cant develop trust and overcome trauma as an adult - becouse you surely can. Its hell of a work, but its possible, with proper support, which can help you develop trust and grieve your traumas. But denying it certainly wont help the victims. Its invalidating.

[codayzeroteen]

This is like telling a heroin addict the solution to their problems is to "just say no" to drugs. Like yeah, becoming sober is entirely dependent on not doing drugs, but it's not like one can just flip a switch and decide to stop being an addict. This school of psychology also leads to trauma victims using "positive reframing" to cover up the damage the trauma has done being in denial that what they experienced is still causing problems. The idea that people just have victimhood complexes and need to get over it is as insulting as it is inaccurate and is almost exclusively held by people who haven't done any extensive work with trauma victims. In most instances the hardest part of treatment is getting them to accept that what happened to them wasn't okay, and it's not something a child should be expected to have to deal with on their own.

[cristig]

Stupid simplification . Works as a mechanical gearbox attached to a quantum computer .