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Reviewed by:
  • The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler ed. by Henry T. Stein
  • Erik Mansager (bio)
Stein, Henry T. (Ed.) (2002–2006). The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler. 12 vols. Cees Koen and Gerald Liebenau (Trans.). Bellingham, WA: Classical Adlerian Translation Project.

Pick any volume of the Journal of Individual Psychology over recent years, and you can find a profusion of articles on a range of topics and techniques written “from an Adlerian perspective.” Many authors strive to show how selected pieces of Adler can be elaborated into easy-to-use techniques or are echoed in the latest psychological and therapeutic approaches. I have wondered whether an awareness and appreciation of Adler’s theory as a unique totality is missing in such contributions.

As an alternative to reading the latest publications and connecting a few of the “new” ideas with parts of Adler, it seems to me a better investment of time for Adlerians to study Adler’s clinical writing in depth. With the 12-volume Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler (CCWAA), we English speakers now have the opportunity to read his clinical writings deeply and thoroughly, and to learn to use all of his constructs for understanding and treating clients. Such a solid foundation would also prepare us to more knowledgeably compare his thinking with that of other authors.

In this light, the following review draws no parallels from Adler to today’s clinical publications. Rather, it intends to whet an appetite for the fullness of Adler’s complete theory. This fullness is CCWAA ’s challenge and strength. I trust this appetite will draw you again and again to Adler’s conceptualization of therapy. Adler’s theory and therapy aim to heal by developing a healthy, democratic character in our clientele as the potential gift of therapy. [End Page 337]

Overview

The first volume of CCWAA, The Neurotic Character , appeared in 2002 and reintroduces the English-speaking public to Adler’s magnum opus in a scholarly and well-documented translation. The last volume, The General System of Individual Psychology , came out in 2006. It is a previously unpublished manuscript that Stein unearthed from the Library of Congress archives. Then, in 2012, the compiled abstracts were published as A Clinician’s Guide to the Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler . Edited by Stein and his wife, Laurie, this thirteenth volume is a detailed index with abstracts from each entry in the series. Volumes 1–12 have each gone through at least one reprinting which corrected errors found in the first printing. Quotations in this review are drawn from the most recent prints, typically those of 2012.

Other than volumes 1 and 12, which are individually complete books, each of the volumes has various publications by Adler that are arranged generally in chronological order. Many have editorial prefaces, and each volume has a comprehensive index and at least one appendix. The prefaces in the first two volumes are the most extensive, sharing brief historical and process details about the translation project. (A full historical accounting of the project can be found in Wolf, 2015.) The subsequent prefaces are brief introductions to the contents of each volume. Also included in each volume is a relevant and useful appendix by Stein himself. In volume 1, he reprints “Classical Adlerian Theory and Practice.” This is a chapter from Psychoanalytic Versions of the Human Condition and Clinical Practice (Marcus & Rosenberg, 1998), which he cowrote with a colleague. Volume 2 includes Stein’s essay, “A Psychology for Democracy.” In volumes 3–12 Stein includes “Basic Principles of Classical Adlerian Psychology.” Volume 12 actually has six appendices, which will be addressed later in the review of that volume.

Volume 1. The Neurotic Character: Fundamentals of Individual Psychology and Psychotherapy ISBN: 0-971-56450-7

Volume 1 is a comprehensive edition of The Neurotic Character , the first of its kind in English. Along with including the prefaces of successive printings of the book, Stein was able to secure the rights for “references and commentary for all of the names and works mentioned by Adler” (p. iv) as they appear in the German critical edition edited by Karl Witte (see Witte, 2007–2009).

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