Adlerian work / ADL-A11-1
Acting As If Experiment — Concept brief
Understand the idea behind acting as if experiment and consider whether it fits your context.
8 minutes · Handout · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Morgan imagines that a question can show interest rather than incompetence.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. A tentative new stance can be tested in a reversible action.
The idea
A tentative new stance can be tested in a reversible action.
An ordinary example
Morgan imagines that a question can show interest rather than incompetence.
What this can look like
Choose one small action you might take if a more flexible belief were partly true; predict a realistic obstacle.
Check the fit
What small action would test this belief without pretending certainty? 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 small action would test this belief without pretending certainty?
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.