Corel Office Document

---

ALFRED ADLER AND

VIKTOR FRANKL’S

CONTRIBUTION TO

HYPNOTHERAPY

by Chaplain Paul G. Durbin

Introduction: In 1972 and 1973, I went through four

quarters of Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.) at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in

Washington D.C. When I went there, I was a very outgoing person but inside, l felt

inferior. When someone gave me a compliment, I would smile and say "Thank you," but

inside I would discount the compliment.

During the second quarter of C.P.E., our supervisor Chaplain Ray Stephens assigned

each student, two pioneer psychologist to present a class on each. I was assigned to

report on Alfred Adler and Viktor Frankl. As I prepared those two classes, I began to

notice a change in how I felt about myself. I recognized that I could overcome my

inferiority feelings (Adler) and that I could have meaning and purpose in my life (Frankl).

As a result of those two classes, I went from low man on the totem pole to a class

leader. The transformation I experienced (physically, emotionally and spiritually) could

be compared to a conversion experience. Adler and Frankl have contributed to my

understanding of human personality and how I relate to an individual in the therapeutic

situation. Though neither were hypnotherapist, they have contributed greatly to my

counseling skills, techniques and therapy.

Alfred Adler: What is the difference between "Inferiority Feeling" and "Inferiority

Complex" and "Superiority Complex"? What is meant by "Organ Inferiority"? "Birth

Order"? "Fictional Fatalism"? "Mirror Technique?" These are concepts developed by

Alfred Adler.

In his youth, Adler was a sickly child which caused him embarrassment and pain. These

early experiences with illnesses and accidents probably account for his theory of organ

inferiority and were the foundation for his theories on inferiority feelings. According to

Adler, each individual has a weak area in his/her body (organ inferiority) which tends to

be the area where illness occurs - such as the stomach, head, heart, back, lungs, etc.

Adler said that to some degree every emotion finds expression in the body. From his

understanding of organ inferiority, Adler began to see each individual as having a

feeling of inferiority. Adler wrote, "To be a human being means to feel oneself inferior."

The child comes into the world as a helpless little creature surrounded by powerful

adults. A child is motivated by feelings of inferiority to strive for greater things. Those

feelings of inferiority activate a person to strive upward so that normal feelings of

inferiority impel the human being to solve his problems successful, whereas the

inferiority complex impedes or prevents him from doing so.

---

The healthy individual will strive to overcome her inferiority through involvement with

society. She is concerned about the welfare of others as well as herself. She develops

good feelings of self-worth and self-assurance. On the other hand, some are more

concerned with selfishness than with social interest. From this unhealthy responses, the

person develops an inferiority complex or a superiority complex. A superiority complex

is a cover up for an inferiority complex. They are different sides of the same coin.

Understanding feelings of inferiority, compensation, and striving for superiority should

be an asset in counseling your clients.

"Style of life" or "life style" are common terms for us today. It may come as surprise to

many that Alfred Adler coined those phrases. "Style of life" was the slogan of Alder's

Individual Psychological and theories of personality. It is the recurrent theme in all of

Adler's later writings and the most distinctive feature of his psychology. In his writings,

Adler used the terms "style of life," "pattern of life," "life plan," "Life scheme," and "line of

movement" interchangeably. For Adler, the individual's STYLE OF LIFE is one's

personality, the unity of the personality, the individual form of creative opinion about

oneself, the problems of life and his whole attitude to life and others.

Adler believed that an almost radical change in character and behavior will take place

when the individual adopts new goals. People can change, the past can be released so

that the individual is free to be happy in the present and future.

The Mirror Technique can be used to help the individual change his way of viewing life.

This technique can be very effectively used by the hypnotherapist. While in the hypnotic

state, have the client imagine looking at the mirror and seeing himself as he believes or

feels himself to be. Project the client into the future so he can see himself as he would

like to be. Do this several time with the present picture becoming dimmer and the way

he wants to be becoming clearer and clearer. Always end the session with the image of

the person as he desires to be. Adler writes, "If an individual, in the meaning he gives to

life, wishes to make a contribution, and if his emotions are all directed to this goal, he

will naturally be bound to bring himself into the best shape. He will begin to equipment

himself to solve the three problems of life (behavior toward others, occupation and love)

and to develop his abilities." If he works to ease and enrich others as well as himself, he

shall enrich his own life and others. If he develops his personality without regards to

others, he will make himself unpleasant and seek to solve the problems of life in

unhealthy ways.

Adler's "Fictional Finalism" is an interesting concept for hypnotherapist. Fictional

finalism simply states that people act as much from the "as if" as from reality. One of my

understandings of the subconscious mind is that whatever the subconscious mind

accepts as true, it acts "as if" it is true whether it is or not. When one imagines tasting a

lemon, his month waters and often taste the lemon "as if" there really was a lemon to

lick.

According to Adlerian counseling, the counselor explores the current life situation as it is

viewed by the client to include his complaint, problems and symptoms. The client's early

---

life and position in the family constellation are discussed. Adler believed that the order

of birth is an important determiner of personality. The first born is given a great deal of

attention until the second child is born and the first is dethroned. The dethroning

experience may affect the child in a number of ways such as hatred for the second

child, conservatism, insecurity, or may cause a striving to protect other and be a helper.

The second child is in a different situation for he shares attention from the beginning

which may cause him to be more cooperative or competitive. He may strive to surpass

the older child.

All other children may be dethroned but never the youngest who is always the baby of

the family and often spoiled in the process. As he has no followers but many

pacemakers, he may strive to overcome them all. Adler believed that the oldest child

would most likely become a problem child and a neurotic maladjusted adult with the

youngest following closely behind. The second child is by and large better adjusted than

either his older or younger siblings.

The only child has problems of his own for the mother often pampers him. She is afraid

of losing him, so spoils him as a results of her over protectiveness. As he has no

siblings, his feelings of competition is often directed against his father or a girl against

her mother. In later years when he is no longer the center of attention, he may have

difficulties.

Adler had very little to say about hypnosis, but what little he did say indicates that he did

not understand the clinical possibilities of hypnosis. He recognized that no one can be

hypnotized against his will. He did believe that the individual who allowed himself to be

hypnotized placed himself under the power of the hypnotist. In spite of his

misunderstanding of hypnosis, he offers a lot to the hypnotherapist with his Fictional

Finalism, Mirror Technique, Family Constellation, and his understanding of Inferiority

Feelings and Inferiority Complex.

The Adlerian Therapist departed from Freud's method of having the client recline on a

couch while the therapist sits behind the client. Adler preferred to face the client and

engage in free discussion, not free association. There are four phases of counseling for

the Adlerian: (1) the relationship, (2) the investigation of dynamics, (3) interpretations to

the client and (4) reorientation.

The relationship with the client that the Adlerian seeks to establish is one of friendliness

and cooperation. Adler places a high value on the social relationship between the

therapist and the client.

He believed that this relationship could serve as a reeducation bridge to other

relationships. He felt that all people who fail are deficient in concern and love for their

fellow human beings. He spent a lot of time in an attempt to help the client develop

social interest. The Adlerian's concept of cooperation follows as the therapist sets the

example of love, concern and friendship. Adler personally emanated a quiet magic and

one felt his inner warmth and interest so strong that there was immediate rapport

---

between him and the client.

The investigation phase explores the current life situation as it is viewed by the client to

include his complaints, problems, and symptoms. The functioning of the individual in the

three major areas of life (work, social, and sex) are investigated and discussed. The

patient's early life, position in the family constellation, and his relationships to siblings

and parents are discussed. The following questions and similar ones are often asked,

"And why do you feel like that about it?" "What do you think is the reason for your

reacting that way?" "What purpose does your illness serve?" Gradually the client

realizes how he got into his way of making inappropriate reactions to his problem.

Knowing why he reacts as he does, he has the opportunity to change. As he changes,

he is in a position to substitute a wise for a foolish reaction, a courageous for a cowardly

one, a normal for a hysterical one.

The interpretation phase put an emphasis on the goals and style of life of the client. The

therapist has the client look at his feelings and the purpose for his feelings. The client

will not be told what to do but is shown how he is living out his style of life and what it

cost the client to do so. The mirror technique is used by which the individual looks at

himself.

In the reorientation stage, the client is encouraged to drop the old style of life and take

up another that will help him to deal with the realities of life and receives satisfaction

from living. The Adlerian uses encouragement extensively in their therapy. The purpose

of this encouragement is to help the patient make the transfer from a style of life that is

faulty to one that is healthy. Encouragement is given with the understanding that the

client must gain for himself an attitude toward life that will allow him to approach and

overcome his problems in a realistic manner. To be healthy, the client must learn to

handle his problems with common sense and social interest instead of fantasy. The

therapist should be optimistic, cheerful, tolerant, active and have empathy. Clients

should find the therapist a dependable and benevolent human being.

Adler compares the individual who has a faulty style of life with a person who is caught

in a dark room and cannot find an exit. The therapist helps the client illuminate the room

so that he can find a way out to a new way of dealing with his problems. Adler wrote,

"Every individual represents both a unity of personality and the individual fashions that

unity. The individual is thus both the picture and the artist. Therefore if one can change

his concept of himself, he can change the picture that he is painting."

Viktor Frankl: Though Viktor Frankl was not known as a hypnotherapist, his theories and

counseling techniques can be used by hypnotherapist. In an address on Hypnosis and

Religion, Augustin Figueroa said, "Though he may or may not be a hypnotist, Victor

Frankl's Logotherapy coincides with hypnosis in the search for information of self in

order to find means to cope with disastrous situations. His ability to "talk himself" into a

condition which enabled him to cope with his terrible situation at the Nazi concentration

camp can most certainly be equated to hypnotic trance, His search for meaning is

certainly a process similar to the utilization techniques of Ericksonian therapy."

---

Viktor Frankl was born in Vienna on March 26, 1905 and died in the same city on

September 2, 1997. He was a professor University of Vienna and guest professor at

several universities in the United States to include Harvard and Southern Methodist

University. Frankl was on the staff of Rothschild Hospital in Vienna when he was taken

prisoner by the Nazi. Following his arrest, he was in German concentration camps till

the end of World War II.

In an interview with Dr. Robert Schuler, Dr. Frankl told this story about his decision to

stay in Europe when he had an opportunity to come to America in the early 40's. The

situation in his homeland was becoming more and more difficult for those of the Jewish

race. The local Jewish Synagogue had been bombed and left in ruins by the Nazis. Dr.

Frankl was offered an opportunity to go to America. As the synagogue was destroyed,

he went to a nearby Christian Church. He prayed that God would give him some

direction as to what he should do. He wanted to know if he should go to America or stay

with his family. Though he earnestly prayed, no answer came. He left the Church feeling

that God had ignored him.

On the way home, he came to the destroyed Synagogue. He stopped for a few moment

and picked up a piece of wood to take home as a keepsake for his father. When he

arrived home, he examined the piece of wood more closely. As he read the inscription

on the piece of wood, he realized that indeed God had heard his prayer and had

answered him. The inscription on the piece wood read, "Honor your father and mother."

He stayed in Europe and eventually ended up a prisoner of the Nazis.

If Frankl had not gone to that Church, stopped at that destroyed Synagogue, picked up

that piece of wood and carried it home and read what was inscribed on it; would we

have ever heard of Viktor Frankl? Maybe! Would he have had the impact on the second

half of the Twenty Century that he had. I doubt it! He did go by that Church, stopped at

the destroyed Synagogue, picked up that piece of wood, carried it home, read it and

become one of the great contributor psychology, life and meaning in the Twenty

Century.

Frankl survived the Holocaust and the Nazi death camps. During his time in the

concentration camps, Frankl developed his approach to psychotherapy known as

logotherapy. At the core of his theory is the belief that humanity's primary motivational

force is the search for meaning.

Even in the degradation and misery of the concentration camps, Frankl was able to

exercise the most important freedom of all: the freedom to determine one's own attitude

and spiritual well-being. No sadistic Nazi SS guard was able to take that away from him

or control the inner-life of Frankl's soul. One of the ways he found the strength to fight to

stay alive and not lose hope was to think of his wife. Frankl clearly saw that it was those

who were without hope who died quickest in the concentration camp. "He who has a

why for life can put with any how." (Nietzsche) Frankl's first book in English Man's

Search For Meaning was written while in a Nazi prison camp during World War II.

(According to United States Library of Congress poll, that book is one of the ten most

---

influential books in America.) During those years, he experienced incredible suffering

and degradation but further developed his theory of Logotherapy which focuses on the

meaning of human existence and man's search for meaning.

During his years in the concentration camp, he experienced incredible suffering and

degradation but further developed his theory of Logotherapy. "Logos" is the Greek work

for "Meaning." Logotherapy focuses on the meaning of human existence and man's

search for meaning. According to Frankl, the striving to find meaning in one's life is the

primary motivational force in man. In using the term, "man," Frankl is referring to the

"Human Race": male and female. Logotherapy forms a chain of interconnected links; (1)

freedom of will, (2) will to meaning, and (3) meaning of life.

1. FREEDOM OF WILL: Man has freedom of will which remains even when all other

freedoms are gone because he can choose what attitude he will take to his limitations.

Determinism is an infectious disease for many psychiatrists, educators and adherents of

determinist religion who are seemingly not aware that they are thereby under-minding

the very basis of their own convictions. For either man’s freedom must be recognized or

else psychiatry is a waste of time, religion is a delusion and education is an illusion.

Freedom means freedom in the face of three things: (1) the instincts, (2) inherited

disposition, 3 environment

2. WILL TO MEANING: The basic striving of human beings is to find and fulfill meaning

and purpose. People reach out to encounter meanings to fulfill. Such a view is

profoundly opposed to those motivational theories which are based on the homeostasis

principle. Those theories depict man as if he were a closed system. According to them,

man is basically concerned with maintaining or restoring an inner equilibrium and to this

end with the reduction of tensions. In the final analysis, this is also assumed to be the

goal of gratification of drives and the satisfaction of needs.

Thus the homeostasis principle does not does not yield a sufficient ground on which to

explain human behavior. Particularly such human phenomena as the creativity of man

which is oriented toward values and meaning. It is Frankl’s contention that the pleasure

principle is self-defeating. The more one aims at pleasure, the more his aim is missed.

(The hypnotherapist should understand this principle because we know that the harder

you try, the more difficult it become to achieve. "Your eyes a stuck shut. Your eye are

sticking tighter and thither. You cannot open your eyes. You can try, but the harder you

try, the tighter they stick.") Pleasure is missed when it is the goal and obtained when it is

the side effect of attaining a goal.

3. MEANING OF LIFE; Logotherapy leaves to the client the decision as to how to

understand his own meaning whether along the lines of religious beliefs or agnostic

convection. Logotheapy must remain available to everyone and so must hypnotherapy.

The therapist can help an individual to discover his/her meaning, but it is the individual’s

responsibility to come to understand the meaning of his or her life.

Humans are ultimately self-determining. What one becomes within limits of endowment

---

and environment, he has made for himself. Frankl wrote, "In the concentration camp, we

witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints.

Man has both potentialities within himself: which one is actualized depends on decisions

but not on conditions. Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he

really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers and he is also that

being who entered the gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema

Yisrael on his lips."

It was Frankl's contention that the pleasure principle of Freud is self-defeating. The

more one aims for pleasure, the more his aim is missed. The very "pursuit of happiness"

is what thwarts it. Pleasure is missed when it is the goal and attained when it is the side

effect of attaining a goal. Hypnotherapist calls this the Law of Reversed Effect: "The

harder you try...the more difficult it becomes."

I am reminded that in the Museum of the State House of Mississippi there are an old

rusty breastplate and sword. They are relics of the first expedition of Spanish of Florida

and the lands to the west. The Spanish came in search of gold, but found only lonely

stretches of sand, dense forest, poisonous snakes and insects, wild beast and hostile

people. They were at times discouraged, disheartened and ready to quit. On other

occasions, they were feverish with hope from the report that gold was just around the

bend, just over the hill, or just across the river. It seemed the further they went in search

of gold, the further form gold they got. Is not this a parable of life?

The therapist's role consists of widening and broadening the visual field of the client so

that the spectrums of meaning and values become conscious and visible to her.

Meaning to life may change, but it never ceases to be. We can discover meaning

through creative values, experience values and attitudinal. Meaning can come through

what we give to life (creative values), by what we take from the world: Listening to

music, reading, enjoying sports, etc. (experience values), and through the stand we take

toward a situation we can no longer change such as the death of a loved one (attitudinal

values). As long as one is conscious, he is under obligation to realize values, even if

only attitudinal values. Frankl does not claim to have an answer for the client's meaning

to life. Meaning must be found but it cannot be given. Logotherapy is an optimistic

approach to life for it teaches that there are no tragic or negative aspects which cannot

be the stand one takes to them be translated into a positive accomplishment.

It is commonly observed that anxiety produces precisely what the client fears. Frankl

called this "anticipatory anxiety." For instance, in the cases of insomnia, the client

reports that she has been having trouble going to sleep at night. The fear of not going to

sleep only adds to difficulty of trying to go to sleep. Fear of test taking, sexual problems

(impotence, failure to experience orgasm)

are intensified by anticipatory anxiety.

Frankl developed the technique of "paradoxical intention." For instance, when a phobia

client is afraid that something will happen to him, the Logotherapist encourages him to

---

intent or wish for, even if only for a short time, precisely what he fears. Hypnotherapist

calls this method or a slight variation of it, "desensitization." There can also be a bit of

humor involved with paradoxical intention. I used this method with a lady who ate two

bags of popcorn each night and wanted to stop or cut down. During the counseling

session, I said to her, "Now, tonight just say to yourself, 'Well, I have been eating two

bags of popcorn each night. Tonight, I am going to eat four bags. I am sure that if I can

eat two, I can eat four." She began to laugh and said, "That is ridiculous. I don't want

four bags. Two bags are too much also. I can be satisfied with one or less."

You may notice there can be a touch of the ridiculous and humor in the approach.

Paradoxical Intention allows the client to develop a sense of detachment toward her

problem by laughing at it. This procedure is based upon the fact that problems are

caused as much by compulsion to avoid or fight them as by the problem itself. The

avoiding and fighting the problem focuses on the problem and strengthens the

symptoms. Another part of paradox intention is to exaggerate the problem. By

exaggerating the problem and then letting it go, one may observe that the symptom

diminishes and the client is no longer haunted by them (circle therapy).

ALFRED ADLER'S BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Adler, A. Social Interest

Adler, A. Superiority And Social Interest

Adler, A. Understanding Human Nature

Ansbacher, H. and R. The Individual Psychology Of Alfred Adler

Dreikus R. Fundamentals Of Adlerian Psychology

Mosak, H. Alfred Adler: His Influence On Psychology Today

Orgler, H. Alfred Adler: The Man And His Work

VIKTOR FRANKL'S BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Crumbaugh, J. Everything To Gain: A Guide To Logotherapy

Frankl, V. Doctor And The Soul

Frankl, V. Man's Search For Meaning

Frankl, V. Psychotherapy And Existentialism

Frankl, V. The Will To Meaning

Biography of Paul G. Durbin  

CHAPLAIN PAUL G. DURBIN, Ph.D.

DIRECTOR OF CLINICAL HYPNOTHERAPY

PENDLETON MEMORIAL METHODIST HOSPITAL

NEW ORLEANS, LA.

You can visit his website for more articles on Hypnosis at www.durbinhypnosis.com