Understanding Counselor Values Conflict Through the Lens of Adlerian Social Interest

The authors lend historical context to common values conflicts in modern counseling and describe the legal and ethical context for such conflicts. We seek to explore the intrapsychic and interprofessional dilemmas of values conflict in clinical practice and offer a framework for addressing such issues through the lens of Adler's theory of Individual Psychology. Understanding the role of social interest, striving for superiority, spiritual development, and life tasks, in addition to ethical bracketing and experiential learning, provides concrete steps for beginning and practicing clinicians struggling with values conflicts when providing help to others.