The Courage to Be Disliked

Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1870, Aldred Adler first became a medical doctor, specializing in ophthalmology and general medicine. Upon meeting Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s and exchanging ideas about the nascent topic of psychoanalysis, he began developing his own philosophical approach and soon parted ways with Freud to pioneer “Adlerian therapy,” which is also known as individual psychology. This approach can be used to address a broad range of mental illnesses and is designed to work with individuals from all walks of life.

In essence, practical applications of Adlerian psychology proceed in four stages: engagement, which involves “developing the relationship between patient and therapist”; assessment, which requires “learning about the patient’s past to understand their present challenges”; insight, which requires “helping the patient to see themselves […] differently”; and finally reorientation, which focuses on helping “the patient [to] develop […] active strategies that […] reinforce the new insights gained in session” (“Adlerian Therapy.” Psychology Today). In The Courage to Be Disliked, the authors apply a Japanese worldview to Adler’s original ideas.

Ichiro Kishimi is a Japanese philosopher, psychologist, and thinker. He works as a professor, a writer, and a counselor in Kyoto. Ever since first encountering Adler’s ideas in his thirties, Kishimi has been studying the psychologist’s work, and his background in philosophy has allowed him to connect Adler’s beliefs with those of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and his student Plato.