+61 430 443 795 tomburnsideco@gmail.com

Early Childhood Recollections in the Adlerian Approach

December 4, 2024

One of the interesting things about Adlerian therapy is the idea of early-childhood recollections.

In Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy Gerald Corey states that most people have only 6-12 recollections of their life before the age of 10 – this number would be roughly accurate for me.

Adler believed that the memories we hold onto from early childhood are significant for our personal growth because they are the ones that are particularly significant in shaping the lens through which we see the world.

Even beyond that; they are the gateway to achieving the meaning of life in the Adlerian system: that is achieving the life’s task and moving from a sense of inferiority to superiority

As a personal example, most of my early childhood recollections before the age of 10 involve shame and make me cringe. Basically just for being unsocialised and “not getting it”. They are all negative.

Sure enough I have always felt that I didn’t naturally understand what it meant to be a mature, normal person that knows how to fit in. So an Adlerian therapist would understand me pretty well from inquiring about these memories.

What about you…

  • How do you interpret your early childhood memories?
  • Do you think they are significant?
  • Would they help someone understand your unique journey?