Episode Title: Alfred Adler – The Striving for Superiority

Podcast: Pioneers of Psychology and Psychiatry Season 1: The Birth of the Mind (1860–1930) Produced by Selenius Media & The Artificial Laboratory.

In this episode, we turn to Alfred Adler, the Viennese doctor who believed that what truly drives human behavior is not sex, fear, or fate — but the will to overcome. A sickly child who once overheard a doctor say he would not survive, Adler grew up determined to prove him wrong. That early struggle shaped his lifelong conviction that humans are defined by their striving — their urge to rise above weakness and find belonging.

Breaking away from Freud’s focus on the unconscious, Adler founded Individual Psychology, a vision of the person as a unified, goal-directed being. He argued that every act, every dream, every ambition hides a single question: How can I matter? Feelings of inferiority, he said, are not flaws but sparks that push us to grow — or, if left unchecked, to dominate others.

This episode traces Adler’s rebellion against Freud, his work in Vienna’s working-class clinics, and his belief that mental health depends on Gemeinschaftsgefühl — social interest, the feeling of being part of something larger than oneself.

Adler’s ideas about equality, purpose, and the human need for connection would echo through education, therapy, and modern self-help. His was a psychology of courage — one that saw every life as a story of overcoming.