Attribution: The Courage to Be Disliked

Adlerian psychology is in line with Greek philosophy. Alfred Adler proposed an individual psychology based on his theories after splitting from Freud.

Focusing on past causes, and explaining things with cause and effect, leads to determinism: the present and future are already decided by the past and are unalterable. The past does not matter is the standpoint of Adlerian psychology. Adlerian psychology instead thinks about present goals. This is called teleology. Etiology is the study of causation and teleology is the study of the purpose of a phenomenon rather than its cause.

The existence of traumas is denied adamantly in Adlerian psychology. While the Freudian view of trauma is fascinating, treating the life as a vast narrative and an easily understandable causality and dramatic development that is very attractive. Adler denies this. No experience is in itself a cause of our success or failure. We are not determined by our experiences but the meaning we give them is self-determining. We make of them what suits our purposes. The self is determined by the meaning we give to the experiences.

Anger is a tool that can be taken out (or fabricated) as needed to achieve a goal such as asserting an opinion or making a person submit.

Regardless of what happened in the past, it is only the meaning that it is ascribed to it that affects the present. We cannot go back to the past or change it.

People are not driven by past causes. Instead, they move toward goals that they themselves set.

Everyone can change. The first step to change is knowing. You should arrive to answers on your own.

It is okay for you to be you. If you are unable to feel happy, you must move forward. Focus on what you can make of what you have.

If you are unhappy, it is because you judged being unhappy to be good for you.

Lifestyle is a term for the tendencies of thought and action of a person in life as defined in Adlerian psychology. It is the way that one's life should be and something that you choose for yourself.

People are constantly selecting their lifestyles. Adlerian psychology is a psychology of courage. You might be lacking in the courage to be happy.

If you are unhappy, what you should do is make a decision to stop your current lifestyle.

You should not choose to not try something because you are afraid your dreams will be shattered. Even if you fail, you will grow, and then you can move on. It is strong medicine.

One will have to change. You must choose your lifestyle. It may seem hard, but it is simple.

The past does not exist, there is no such thing as trauma, and the environment does not matter. You, living in the here and now, are the one who determines your own life.