Part II    Psychodynamic Theories76
Adler, however, soon changed the name of his organization to the Society for Indi -
vidual Psychology—a name that clearly indicated he had abandoned psychoanalysis.
Like Freud, Adler was affected by events surrounding World War I. Both men 
had financial difficulties, and both reluctantly borrowed money from relatives—Freud 
from his brother-in-law Edward Bernays and Adler from his brother Sigmund. Each 
man also made important changes in his theory. Freud elevated aggression to the 
level of sex after viewing the horrors of war, and Adler suggested that social interest 
and compassion could be the cornerstones of human motivation. The war years also 
brought a major disappointment to Adler when his application for an unpaid lecture 
position at the University of Vienna was turned down. Adler wanted this position to 
gain another forum for spreading his views, but he also desperately desired to attain 
the same prestigious position that Freud had held for more than a dozen years. Adler 
never attained this position, but after the war he was able to advance his theories 
through lecturing, establishing child guidance clinics, and training teachers.
During the last several years of his life, Adler frequently visited the United 
States, where he taught individual psychology at Columbia University and the New 
School for Social Research. By 1932, he was a permanent resident of the United 
States and held the position of Visiting Professor for Medical Psychology at Long 
Island College of Medicine, now Downstate Medical School, State University of  
New York. Unlike Freud, who disliked Americans and their superficial understanding 
of psychoanalysis, Adler was impressed by Americans and admired their optimism 
and open-mindedness. His popularity as a speaker in the United States during the 
mid-1930s had few rivals, and he aimed his last several books toward a receptive 
American market (Hoffman, 1994).
Adler married a fiercely independent Russian woman, Raissa Epstein, in 
December 1897. Raissa was an early feminist and much more political than her hus -
band. In later years, while Adler lived in New York, she remained mostly in Vienna 
and worked to promote Marxist-Leninist views that were quite different from Adler’s 
notion of individual freedom and responsibility. After several years of requests by her 
husband to move to New York, Raissa finally came to stay in New York only a few 
months before Adler’s death. Ironically, Raissa, who did not share her husband’s love 
for America, continued to live in New York until her own death, nearly a quarter of a 
century after Adler had died (Hoffman, 1994).
Raissa and Alfred had four children: Alexandra and Kurt, who became  psychiatrists 
and continued their father’s work; Valentine (Vali), who died as a political prisoner of 
the Soviet Union in about 1942; and Cornelia (Nelly), who aspired to be an actress.
Adler’s favorite relaxation was music, but he also maintained an active interest 
in art and literature. In his work he often borrowed examples from fairy tales, the 
Bible, Shakespeare, Goethe, and numerous other literary works. He identified himself 
closely with the common person, and his manner and appearance were consistent 
with that identification. His patients included a high percentage of people from the 
lower and middle classes, a rarity among psychiatrists of his time. His personal quali -
ties included an optimistic attitude toward the human condition, an intense competi -
tiveness coupled with friendly congeniality, and a strong belief in the basic gender 
equality, which combined with a willingness to forcefully advocate women’s rights.
From middle childhood until after his 67th birthday, Adler enjoyed robust 
health. Then, in the early months of 1937, while concerned with the fate of his 
fei75766_ch03_072-106.indd 76  02/06/20  11:03 AMFinal PDF to printer