Please click the course title for the course description and the learning objectives
This course explores the Adlerian view that feelings are not random experiences but purposeful signals guiding human behavior. While the course will include basic education on emotions, it will also involve opportunities for experiential learning. Case studies, demonstrations, and practical learning will enhance students’ understanding of emotions, enhancing empathy, insight, and interpersonal effectiveness. Open to all Learning objectives:
2. Analyze emotional expressions as purposeful strategies within interpersonal and social contexts.
3. Apply Adlerian techniques to help clients recognize and redirect emotions toward constructive goals.
4. Differentiate between socially useful and socially useless emotional responses.
1. Explain Adler’s concept of the purposive nature of emotions and their role in lifestyle.
As Caregivers, we must be alert to signs of distress and ‘compassion fatigue’ as we juggle time, priorities, personal and professional expectations. This course will present the latest brain research on self-nurturing and self-soothing, the warning signs of symptoms which require our active intervention for self-care, as well as strategies to ensure we live more balanced and boundaried daily lives. Open to all – Introductory level Learning objectives: 2. Participants will be offered an overview of brain research related to the impact of secondary trauma and distress on personal wellbeing 3. Participants will practice strategies designed to increase caregivers’ sense of balance, humour and sensitivity to their own self care and self management.
1. Participants will examine the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout and to assess their present level of stress/distress.
Dreams come to show us the unsolved problems we have, help us to rehearse the problem solving, and points to the strengths we have to solve life problems in waking life. The course focuses on dreams as a preparation to the waking life, the upcoming life challenges we may dream of solving, and the strengths hidden in the dreams. Learning Objectives:
The course is useful for clinicians, educators, and all interested in the nature and the purpose of dreams.
1. Participants will identify a central metaphor in an individual’s dreams
2. Participants will explain the dream emotions in terms of an individual movement from inferiority toward life mastery
3. Participants will reword the key dream symbols into lifestyle strategy
4. Participants will describe at least one dreamed up strength useful in solving the upcoming life challenges.
Amid the many challenges of our times, self-care is a key resource for resilience. We will explore various forms of self-care, including techniques of emotion regulation and balancing the tasks of life, We will explore obstacles to effective self-care in the private logic of our psychological life-style and distinguish self-care from acting self-centered.
Open to all. Angesichts der vielen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit ist Selbstfürsorge eine zentrale Ressource für Resilienz. Wir werden verschiedene Formen der Selbstfürsorge erforschen, einschließlich Techniken der Emotionsregulierung und der Balance in den Lebensaufgabben. Wir werden Hindernisse für eine wirksame Selbstfürsorge in der privaten Logik unseres psychologischen Lebensstils untersuchen und Selbstfürsorge von selbstsüchtigem Verhalten unterscheiden. Offen für alle.
Learning Objectives:
1. Participants are able to differentiate between self-care and self-centered behaviors.
2. Participants have developed a personalized self-care plan.
3. Participants are able to apply emotion regulation techniques
4. Participants are able to identify obstacles to effective self care in a psychological life-style.
This is an introductory course for lay participants who look for an exciting and relaxing course to learn about lifestyle. It is based on Sadie Tee Dreikurs teaching and her book “Cows can be purple”. No experience in painting is necessary. It is also for counselors who want to broaden their skills by using art exercises. Open to all – lay and experienced participants Learning Objectives:
1. be able to see how lifestyle expresses in art work
2. be able to discover own creativity
3. be able to give feedback in anencouraging way
4. be able to encourage group members to see new venues
Life often invites us to let go, of roles we’ve held, people we’ve lost, identities we’ve outgrown, relationships that shift, or dreams that change. Letting go does not mean forgetting; love, memories, and meaning remain part of us. Guided by Adlerian ideas, we’ll reflect on how our lifestyle convictions shape the way we navigate change, while finding courage to let go, hold on, and grow. Open to all. Learning objectives: 1. Identify the role of lifestyle convictions in responding to change, loss, and transition
2. Explore how early recollections and metaphors reveal patterns of both holding on and letting go
3. Practice Adlerian strategies that promote courage, resilience, and social interest during transitions.
4. Apply reflective methods to honor ongoing bonds while opening space for growth and new possibilities.
This didactic and experiential course will take the “magic” out of interpreting ERs. Participants will learn a step by step process that helps clients understand why they are having difficulty dealing with current issues. We will use the construct of the Crucial Cs to uncover mistaken childhood beliefs that led to the development of coping strategies that interfere with current problem solving. This encouraging and collaborative approach helps take the therapist bias out of early recollection interpretation and provides insight into the purpose of the client’s choices and behaviors. There will be a demonstration and the opportunity to practice interpreting a case study. Open to all. Learning Objectives: 2. describe how misbehavior arises when psychological needs are unmet
3. use the CFT, a step-by-step process for understanding and interpreting ERs
4. help clients see how their early misunderstandings resulted in problematic coping strategies
1. explain the Crucial Cs as a framework to understand basic psychological needs throughout life
Receiving regular and restorative supervision is crucial to being an effective professional. This experiential class, for both new and experienced supervisors, will explore the multiple dynamics of supervision, underpinned by an Adlerian perspective. It will identify how to build a supervisory relationship that combines equality, authority and encouragement, and will offer practice in giving supportive supervisory feedback in complex situations. Open to all Professional Health workers interested in developing supervision skills. Learning Objectives: 2. Describe and use encouragement principles in supervisory feedback practice 3. Apply the skills of combining support and challenge in a supervisory relationship 4. Identify the impact of power, authority, difference and equality in supervision
1. Identify and apply the 7 ‘eyes’ (Hawkins and Shohet) and 3 tasks models of supervision.
Since Cane and Abel, sibling rivalry has been a part of nearly every household. This pattern will affect how clients interact with others as adults. Understanding your clients’ birth order position can help them mitigate the conflict between them and their siblings and other adults in their lives. Birth order traits combined with encouragement are the solution to the rivalries at home and in life. In this workshop, we will look at the factors that influence birth order positions and the traits and language patterns of each birth order position. We will examine how certain “positions” are more likely to argue or agree as a way for helping you and your clients get along better with others. Open to Laypersons and Therapists. Learning Objectives: 2. Participants will be able to recognize the personality traits and the language patterns of the birth order positions
3. Participants will understand how to change/improve their communication style based on their birth order position. 4. Participants will be able to encourage clients to explore the underused traits of their birth order position
1. Participants will be able to describe the factors that affect birth order positions
Bullying and Cyberbullying are still big issues in many schools. Numerous affected students don’t get help because they fear the bullying situation could become worse. In this course we will see why the way of intervention is essential with bullying and cyberbullying and you will get a lot of resources for prevention and intervention. Mobbing und Cybermobbing sind nach wie vor grosse Herausforderungen an vielen Schulen. Viele betroffene Schüler holen sich keine Hilfe aus Angst, die Situation könnte schlimmer werden. In diesem Workshop erfahren wir, weshalb die Form der Intervention bei Mobbing und Cybermobbing entscheidend ist und erhalten viele Ressourcen zur Prävention und Intervention. Open to Teachers, Therapists, Counsellors, Parenting Trainers, Parents Learning Objectives:
2. Participants will know the role’s goals in Bullying and the different stages and the consequences of Bullying.
3. Participants will be able to identify Bullying, if the children do not tell about and will know what there has strictly to be avoided in order to prevent a worsening of the Bullying situation.
4. Participants will know prevention tools against Bullying.
1. Participants will know different intervention options depending on whether it is a Conflict, Bullying or Cyberbullying.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an encouraging counseling approach that helps to elicit and strengthen motivation for change in counseling, coaching, and education settings. Over 200 controlled clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing among clients with various presenting issues. The link between Individual Psychology and Motivational Interviewing will be articulated. This course will include various MI demonstrations and counseling practice opportunities. Open to therapists, coaches, educators Learning Objectives: 2. Demonstrate the following MI skills: OARS (open ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries) 3. Summarize the empirical support of the MI counseling approach
4. Demonstrate five different MI strategies
1. Define Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a counseling style that compliments Individual Psychology
This is a basic introductory course on Adlerian principles. Participants will explore their own birth order, family constellation, values, atmosphere, private logic, and the purpose of behavior to understand how these influence relationships. Through activities, demonstrations, and discussions, they will practice encouragement, address goals of misbehavior, and foster social interest in their families, schools, and communities. Open to all—especially parents, teachers, and anyone who has ever been a child. Open for Beginners. Learning Objectives: 2. Identify how mistaken goals and private logic influence behavior and relationships 3. Apply Adlerian strategies of encouragement and democratic practices to foster belonging, cooperation, and social interest. 4. Apply Adlerian strategies of encouragement and democratic practices to foster belonging, cooperation, and social interest.
Demonstrate cooperation through participation in group activities, discussions, and role plays that connect theory with practice.
1. List key Adlerian concepts and explain their relevance to family and community life.
This is an experiential course that integrates Adlerian principles with reflective exercises and group activities to explore the pathways of belonging and becoming as foundations for joyful living. Participants will examine how connection, encouragement, and social interest foster a sense of belonging, while also engaging in practices that support personal growth, meaning, and becoming. Emphasizing personal empowerment, courage, and the holistic Adlerian perspective, this program provides practical tools for therapeutic, educational, and personal settings. Open to all. Learning Objectives:
1. Identify at least three Adlerian concepts (e.g., social interest, lifestyle, encouragement) and explain how they relate to belonging and joyful living.
2. Demonstrate through role-play or group exercises how feelings of belonging and becoming influence individual choices and interpersonal dynamics.
3. Analyze personal and relational patterns using Adlerian frameworks and articulate how these patterns can support or hinder joyful living.
4. Apply at least two Adlerian-based strategies (e.g., encouragement techniques, meaning-making practices) to promote resilience, empowerment, and social interest in therapeutic, educational, or personal contexts.
Do you struggle understanding some of the concepts of Individual Psychology? Do you want a better understanding of how the concepts fit together? Do you wonder how the concepts were developed? If you answered yes to any of those, this class is for you. This class will unpack Adler’s foundational concepts including: as if, holism, birth order, the universality of striving, apperceptive schema, teleology, phenomenology, and more. By the end of the class, all participants will be able to analyze and draw connections between those Adlerian concepts, explain them, and create a group presentation incorporating all the discussed concepts. Open to all. Learning Objectives: 2. Analyze the term phenomenology and well enough to apply it to your stay at ICASSI. 3. Synthesize the concepts discussed into a joint class presentation. 4. Create a pneumonic (word, phrase, etc.) for 5 of the concepts discussed in the class.
1. Evaluate 2 different Adlerian concepts well enough to draw connections between the two.
