Adlerian work / ADL-A02-1
Encouragement from Effort — Concept brief
Understand the idea behind encouragement from effort and consider whether it fits your context.
8 minutes · Handout · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Morgan attends an interview despite uncertainty and does not receive the job.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Encouragement can recognize effort and contribution without ranking people.
The idea
Encouragement can recognize effort and contribution without ranking people.
An ordinary example
Morgan attends an interview despite uncertainty and does not receive the job.
What this can look like
Rewrite a performance judgment into an accurate observation of effort, courage, or cooperation.
Check the fit
What can be acknowledged without inventing success? You may disagree with the framing, use fiction, or decide that this approach is not useful today.
A useful distinction
Encouragement is not reassurance that everything will work out, and contribution does not determine human worth.
Prompts for this resource
- What part of this idea makes sense to me?
- What can be acknowledged without inventing success?
Conceptual background
Alfred Adler: Theory and Application — Adler Graduate School
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.