The Father of Self-Help

If America's favorite pastimes are sex and baseball, self-help groups mightrun a close third. So it's a bit of a surprise to learn that such an American institution owes its existence to a Viennese psychoanalyst who be came an arch-enemy of Freud and whose theory of human happiness was behind it all.

According to a new biography, The Drive for Self (Addison-Wesley), Alfred Adler was a feminist thinker who believed psychology should be of, by, and for the people. "Adler was the first of the great European psychologists to come to America and lecture," notes psychologist-author Edward Hoffman, Ph.D.

"He thought people could benefit from the insights of psychology without a therapist. He felt that psychology was the most important force available to help the world."

Adler, who was born in 1870 and died in 1937, dwelt on the significance of life plans, birth order, social feeling, and the dynamics of parent-child interactions. He invented the notions of "inferiority complex" and "overcompensation."

Where Freud saw sexuality as humanity's driving force, Adler saw a sense of competence as the key to happiness. "He was the first to say we ought to look at relationships in terms of power issues, whether in romance, the workplace, or between parents and children," says Hoffman.

Freud's view of human nature was dark and sensual; Adler's bubblingly optimistic-one reason he set sail for America, says Hoffman, who sees them representing two distinct strains of American culture.

Adler's motto was "Any child can learn anything." He felt every person can overcome the effects of a bad childhood and gain mastery over life.

Now that Freud's in disfavor, Adler's star may be rising.

PHOTO: Alfred Adler