Freud's Disavowment of Adler’s Subsequent Influence on Psychoanalytic Thought

Abstract

There are many different versions, two most notable, of the relationship between Alfred Adler and Sigmund Freud. Adler asserted he had never been a disciple of Freud, and Freud maintained that Adler was his follower and had broken away from him. However, the truth, much like in all things, is much more complicated. Because of political strategies and other factors, the narrative has changed over time, morphing from the original true story, that Freud and Adler disagreed about many aspects of the two theories — Psychoanalysis and Adler’s own Individual Psychology — eventually leading to Freud’s calculated disavowal of Adler in 1911. Through the careful exploration of available contemporary texts and the use of archival data, mainly from The Minutes of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society and other correspondence, Adler and Freud’s complex personal relationship and theoretical disagreements can be traced throughout the years.