Part II    Psychodynamic Theories82
perspective of a final goal, they appear as clever but probably unconscious attempts 
to confuse and subordinate other people. This confusing and seemingly inconsistent 
behavior gives the erratic person the upper hand in an interpersonal relationship. 
Although erratic people are often successful in their attempt to gain superiority over 
others, they usually remain unaware of their underlying motive and may stubbornly 
reject any suggestion that they desire superiority over other people.
Adler (1956) recognized several ways in which the entire person operates with 
unity and self-consistency. The first of these he called organ jargon, or organ dialect.
Organ Dialect
According to Adler (1956), the whole person strives in a self-consistent fashion 
toward a single goal, and all separate actions and functions can be understood only 
as parts of this goal. The disturbance of one part of the body cannot be viewed in iso -
lation; it affects the entire person. In fact, the deficient organ expresses the direction 
of the individual’s goal, a condition known as organ dialect.  Through organ dialect, 
the body’s organs “speak a language which is usually more expressive and discloses 
the individual’s opinion more clearly than words are able to do” (Adler, 1956, p. 223).
One example of organ dialect might be a man suffering from rheumatoid arthritis 
in his hands. His stiff and deformed joints voice his whole style of life. It is as if they cry 
out, “See my deformity. See my handicap. You can’t expect me to do manual work.” 
Without an audible sound, his hands speak of his desire for sympathy from others.
Adler (1956) presented another example of organ dialect—the case of a very 
obedient boy who wet the bed at night to send a message that he does not wish to 
obey parental wishes. His behavior is “really a creative expression, for the child is 
speaking with his bladder instead of his mouth” (p. 223).
Conscious and Unconscious
A second example of a unified personality is the harmony between conscious and 
unconscious actions. Adler (1956) defined the unconscious as that part of the goal 
that is neither clearly formulated nor completely understood by an individual. With 
this definition, Adler avoided a dichotomy between the unconscious and the con -
scious, which he saw as two cooperating parts of the same unified system. Conscious 
thoughts are those that are understood and regarded by the individual as helpful in 
striving for success, whereas unconscious thoughts are those that are not helpful.
We cannot oppose “consciousness” to “unconsciousness” as if they were 
antagonistic halves of an individual’s existence. The conscious life becomes 
unconscious as soon as we fail to understand it—and as soon as we understand an 
unconscious tendency it has already become conscious. (Adler, 1929/1964, p. 163)
Whether people’s behaviors lead to a healthy or an unhealthy style of life depends 
on the degree of social interest that they developed during their childhood years.
Social Interest
The fourth of Adler’s tenets is: The value of all human activity must be seen from the 
viewpoint of social interest.
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