Following Adler's break from Freud, he enjoyed considerable success and celebrit

y in building an independent school of psychotherapy and a unique personality th

eory. He traveled and lectured for a period of 25 years promoting his socially o
riented approach. His intent was to build a movement that would rival, even supp
lant, others in psychology by arguing for the holistic integrity of psychologica
l well-being with that of social equality. Adler's efforts were halted by World
War I, during which he served as a doctor with the Austrian Army. After the conc
lusion of the war, his influence increased greatly. In the 1930s, he established
a number of child guidance clinics. From 1921 onwards, he was a frequent lectur
er in Europe and the United States, becoming a visiting professor at Columbia Un
iversity in 1927. His clinical treatment methods for adults were aimed at uncove
ring the hidden purpose of symptoms using the therapeutic functions of insight a
nd meaning.
Adler was concerned with the overcoming of the superiority/inferiority dynamic a
nd was one of the first psychotherapists to discard the analytic couch in favor
of two chairs. This allows the clinician and patient to sit together more or les
s as equals. Clinically, Adler's methods are not limited to treatment after-the-
fact but extend to the realm of prevention by preempting future problems in the
child. Prevention strategies include encouraging and promoting social interest,
belonging, and a cultural shift within families and communities that leads to th
e eradication of pampering and neglect (especially corporal punishment). Adler's
popularity was related to the comparative optimism and comprehensibility of his
ideas. He often wrote for the lay public. Adler always retained a pragmatic app
roach that was task-oriented. These "Life tasks" are occupation/work, society/fr
iendship, and love/sexuality. Their success depends on cooperation. The tasks of
life are not to be considered in isolation since, as Adler famously commented,
"they all throw cross-lights on one another".[16]
In his bestselling book, Man's Search for Meaning, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl compared
his own "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy" (after Freud's and Adler's sch
ools) to Adler's analysis:
According to logotherapy, the striving to find a meaning in one's life is the pr
imary motivational force in man. That is why I speak of a will to meaning in con
trast to the "pleasure principle" (or, as we could also term it, the will to ple
asure) on which Freudian psychoanalysis is centered, as well as in contrast to t
he will to power stressed by Adlerian psychology.[17]