"Volume 9 of "The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler - Case Histories" brings together three of Adler's books: "Problems of Neurosis," "The Case of Mrs. A.," and "The Case of Miss R." Although these books were previously published in English, the text required substantial editing for readability. Adler's diagnostic brilliance now shines through without the distractions of dated terminology and awkward phrasing.
Adler takes us on a fascinating journey of life style analysis through progressive levels of depth. In "
Problems of Neurosis," he offers us vivid thumbnail sketches of thirty-three cases, spanning the symptoms of depression, obsession, compulsion, alcoholism, schizophrenia, clairvoyance, agoraphobia, impotence, sadism, masochism, and jealousy. He also discusses the general topics of family constellation, earliest recollections, body postures, sleep postures, organ dialect, and hypnosis.
In "
The Case of Mrs. A.," Adler takes us a little deeper into a single style of life. Working from the notes presented by another physician, he spontaneously comments on each segment of information offered to him: making conjectures, then testing them as he clearly illustrates the coherence of a style of life.
"
The Case of Miss R." takes us into yet deeper waters. This autobiographical narrative of a young working-class woman was strikingly frank about her sexual awakening in early twentieth-century Vienna. Adler's artful evolution of a unified psychological portrait is compelling to follow, as he weaves all of the early family influences and social conditions into a beautiful, vivid tapestry.
Volume 9 is a "must read" for anyone interested in the art of life style analysis. His remarkable theory springs to life in this superb series of richly varied case histories.
To order your copy of Volume 9, go to
http://www.Adlerian.us/cwaa-v9.htm.