Adlerian (Individual) Psychology: private logic and common sense
The individual's private logic is premised upon
the person's unique evaluation of self, others, and the world, and what is
required of him or her. Private
logic
is based upon convictions which are not usually in awareness. An individual's behavior (thought, feeling,
and action) is always consistent with the private logic. In Adlerian therapy, client and therapist
work together to uncover and explore the private logic by which the client has
been answering such questions as (1) What kind of a person am I? (2) What kind
of a world is this? (3) What must a
person such as I am do in a world such as this is, in order to make a place for
myself? In sum, the effort to clarify
the private logic asks, "What would have to be true for a particular,
socially unintelligible, behavior to make sense?" The Individual Psychologist assumes that the
person is acting "as if" the behavior were an intelligent response in
the situation, given the requirements of the private logic. Common sense is that understanding and
evaluation of life which is held in common by the broader community. An index to the usefulness or successful
adaptation of the private logic is the extent of its congruence with the common
sense. Adlerian therapists endeavor to
bring the private logic forward and into ever-increasing consonance with
the common sense.*
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*Excerpted with permission from Griffith, Jane & Powers, Robert L. An Adlerian Lexicon - Fifty-Nine Terms Associated With the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler Paperback, 1984