23. Orientation
Adler frequently spoke of lines of orientation or fixed points when discussing the individual’s movements through life. They are points at which the person feels some security, as in "At least this is true." Typical are adult memories of childhood, in which certain events (which Adler called "early recollections") resulted in some lesson for life which, true then, remains true forever. Included here also are certain decisions made in childhood (such as "I am such-and-such kind of person, and always will be") which the person believes to be true for a lifetime. Such fixed points serve as standards by which to judge progress in moving from the "minus" to the "plus" side of life" and toward the solution of some problem one had as a child and must spend a lifetime to solve (the fictional final goal).

24. Overburdening Situations
Adler believed certain childhood circumstances carry such weight that they lead to discouragement and inadequate preparation for the normal tasks life. They include physical or mental inferiority or handicap; neglect; abuse; being pampered, unwanted or abandoned. When the child cannot find socially useful responses, development is restricted and the likelihood of anti-social behavior is increased.

Today such children may be diagnosed as Attachment Disordered and be described as being "without a conscience" with no concern for the feelings of others. A disproportionate number of such children appear to be found among abused and neglected children who, placed in a series of foster homes, are not able to form the necessary bonds which result in normal social development.

25. Personal Frameworks; Perceptual Schema
We control our perception by placing experiences of events within frames of previous reference, comparing the new or unknown with the familiar or known, and fitting them into our previous knowledge and beliefs. Such frames can lead to the mistaken thoughts and to beliefs on which mistaken actions are based, as in the case of Private Logic. Reframing as a therapeutic tool helps clients to revise their perceptual schemes by using new or different words to describe their experience, and to act as if these other descriptions are true.

This apperception schema, as Adler called it, is the individual’s way of organizing perceptions by viewing objective reality through the subjective filters, in order to "see what we want to see" (or "not see what we don’t want to see"). A result is the "personal truth" we believe to be true, whether it is or not, and on which we base our actions.Personal Truth; Belief

Adler held that, as we experience events, we create mental descriptions of them and what they mean to us. They become the basis for what we decide to do as a result: a feeling, thought, action, or combination. Similar perceptions cohere around common themes, becoming patterns of Personal Truth.

It does not matter that such Truth may not be factual. Personal Truth needs to have little connection with objective reality for us to act "as if it is so." While this is well-understood today, it took Adler to place it at the center of understand and treating emotional disorders. As individual Beliefs become basic to personality, they become "who one is." Without them the person would be someone else. Personal Truth is to personality what skeleton and flesh are to the organic body. Again, we liken such personal belief systems to the mythology of religions or nations, stressing that it is often necessary to believe something that may not be "factual" but because it contains a truth needed for daily living.

26. Personal Truth; Belief
Adler held that, as we experience events we create mental descriptions of them and what they mean to us. They become the basis for what we decide to do as a result: a feeling, thought, action, or combination. Similar perceptions cohere around common themes, becoming patterns of Personal Truth.

It does not matter that such Truth may not be factual. Personal Truth needs to have little connection with objective reality for us to act "as if it is so." While this is well-understood today, it took Adler to place it at the center of understand and treating emotional disorders. As individual Beliefs become basic to personality, they become "who one is." Without them the person would be someone else. Personal Truth is to personality what skeleton and flesh are to the organic body. Again, we liken such personal belief systems to the mythology of religions or nations, stressing that it is often necessary to believe something that may not be "factual" but because it contains a truth needed for daily living.

27. Personality; Character
Adler distinguished between the two. Personality is seen as who a person is, whereas character is personality revealed to others through social interaction. Character is a reflection and social expression of personality. When we say someone "has character" or "has integrity," we mean that what he or she is showing socially is consistent with that person’s inner personality.

Adler viewed of personality as ideographic in that the individual is not a collection of traits or types, but is unique, self-creative, and the result of personal choices and subjective interpretations the individual gives to events. As Adlerian Henry Stein puts it,

The person is a system in which the whole is greater than and different from the sum of its parts. In this whole, Adler saw the unity of the person. In the symphony of a person's behavior, he discerned the consistent melodic theme running throughout. This theme may have many variations in tempo, pitch, or intricacy, but it is nevertheless recognizable. Thus, to understand a person, we must look at the whole person, not at parts isolated from one another. After we grasp the guiding theme, however, it is easy to see how each individual part is consistent with the theme. (Stein, 1999.) [Note that, in the first sentence, Dr. Stein is referring to the concept of "synergy," a concept introduced by Buckminster Fuller.]

28. Prescribing the Symptom
Today we speak of "reverse psychology" (and probably attribute the phrase to Freud!). By it, we mean that we make a suggestion which is the opposite of what we expect or want from another person. For example, "Since you seem to like to watch TV so much, why don't you just watch more of it?" The intent is to get the person to watch less TV just because we give permission to watch more.

Adler used this approach with his patients, following his theory of psychology of use, to give them permission to continue the behaviors (symptoms) that brought them into therapy, perhaps even doing them more, or more often. If the patient's goal by the symptomatic behavior was to gain attention, control, or something else from other people, it would become less useful   to them to continue their behaviors if they had permission to do so.As Adler used this approach, he made it clear that he was aware what the patient was doing by "using" his/her symptoms to gain something from others.

29. Private Frame of Reference
Related to Personal Truth, Private Logic, and Apperceptive Schema, this is an internal or mental picture of the world which is at variance with a normal view. Here the individual’s mistaken or exaggerated thinking, personal reasoning, etc., hold sway as is evidenced by behaviors which do not seem to fit a normal (or "community") thought process, and therefore must be associated with internal, private reasoning.

We maintain that the ideal, typical, ultimate purpose of a human being, irrespective of health or sickness, is to solve his life’s problems. The neurotic, however, has set himself entirely different tasks. (He) has, of course, a notion of the frame of reference of normal life, for every one knows what the demands of life require of one. Yet despite this knowledge, his behavior takes place according to another frame. Here then we have two frames of reference. The one is normal, the socially average, which includes logic and reason, and within which we would expect those movements of an individual which we call normal. The other is the neurotic, a private frame of reference. (Ansbachers, 1964, p. 251)

It is this view of the world, and one’s self and others in that world, seen through the "filters" of one’s private logic and self-oriented perceptions, which leads the neurotic individual to behave in ways that, to others, appear somehow different from what they would expect from a "normal" person. For example, consider Adler’s idea of the childhood "Problem" and its need to be solved in adulthood. That adult may engage in various activities which (based on the Psychology of Use) are aimed at the solution. Such activities, viewed by others, may seem peculiar; however, to the individual they are not. They are in keeping with the internal, private frame of reference.

In an article for the Journal of Individual Psychology (1936), Adler expanded on this concept, contrasting the neurotic’s "private picture of the world" with "the common view," that is, the way "normal" people view the world. Private Meaning

Understanding who one is, how to behave, how to fit in, etc., derives from living in community. One cannot create oneself as a social creature without others. Yet we also develop our personal ways of thinking, reasoning, and viewing the world. Adler said that some of these "private meanings" serve only personal goals rather than the community. When oriented only around the self, they are "socially useless" and do not contribute to the larger community. "The meaning they give to life is a private meaning; no one else is benefited by the achievement of their aims and their interest stops short at their own persons." (Adler, 1931, p. 8) He goes on to say that

The mark of all true "meanings of life" is that they are common meanings — they are meanings in which others can share, and meanings which others can accept as valid. A good solution of the problems of life will always clear the way for others also; for in it we shall see common problems met in a successful way. Understanding is a common matter, not a private function. (Ibid., p. 11)

Here again, however, we meet the "as if" function in life, in which we treat our own private, inner meaning of life’s events and our world view as if it were the true and only meaning. It is this inner meaning on which we base our behaviors, our feelings and emotions, and our further thinking. When we hear about something, or see something happen, inwardly we ask ourselves first, "What does this mean to me?" The more our inner meanings correspond with the meanings others have arrived at for the same event, the more our private meaning matches public meaning. The difference is clearest in the case of the schizophrenic individual, whose world view is entirely a private one, and whose behaviors are therefore bizarre to those who observe from a community standpoint. Similar discrepancies between private and public meaning are the basis for everything from lack of etiquette to criminal behavior.