Adler, Alfred 1870-1937
Austrian psychiatrist

He was born and trained in Vienna. He first practised as an ophthalmologist but later turned to mental disease and became a prominent member of the psychoanalytical group that formed around Sigmund Freud in 1900. His best-known work was Studie �ber Minderwertigkeit von Organen (1907, 'Study of Organ Inferiority and its Psychical Compensation'), which aroused great controversy. In 1911 he broke with Freud and developed his own 'Individual Psychology', investigating the psychology of the individual considered as different from others. His main contributions to psychology include the concept of the inferiority complex, and his special treatment of neurosis as the exploitation of shock. He opened the first child-guidance clinic in Vienna in 1921. In 1932 he moved to the USA to teach. His other published works include The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology (trans 1923) and Understanding Human Nature (trans 1927).

Bibliography: Hertha Orgler, Alfred Adler (4th edn, 1973)