IN MEMORIAM

Dr. EVA DREIKURS FERGUSON

It is with great sadness we share with you the passing of Professor emerita Dr. Eva Dreikurs Ferguson. After not being able to travel to some of the most recent summer schools, she was able to attend the summer school in Collinsville this year one last time. Attending the International Rudolf Dreikurs summer schools was an important part of her life and she very much cherished that the summer school 2025 took place close to her home in Collinsville and she was able to meet many old friends and got to attend some events.

Reflecting on many years of her ICASSI work, we dedicate this In Memoriam to her lifelong committed effort in spreading the Adlerian theory and practice.

Eva was raised by an Adlerian father. She did not know otherwise. In a 2016 interview, she shared: “I lived in my dad’s house. It is important to note, not only that my dad talked about psychology and the philosophy that he had on a regular basis, it was part of the everyday conversation in our house.” (Interview with Eva Dreikurs in the Journal of Individual Psychology, 2016, p. 12). Her father – Rudolf Dreikurs – was, without question, an inspiring source for her work and life.

Eva made it clear that he – who had worked with Adler in Vienna – followed the Individual Psychology as it was created and meant by the founder. Dreikurs developed it further by applying Adler’s ideas to different areas of life. His publications on parenting in families and education are good examples of such development.

Eva was well known for her clear presentations highlighting IP ideas and their applications. Her many plenaries at the summer school were highly appreciated because of their strong and clear language, understood by all ICASSI participants regardless of their language proficiency, age, education, or occupation. In the same interview (2016), she said: “I am talking proletariat. And that is what I am doing.” The booklet “Adlerian Theory: An Introduction” (1982) and her numerous articles in the Journal of Individual Psychology over many years are examples of her clear way of presenting important IP principles.

Her father started a summer school in 1962. For him, this was an important source of education that kept Adlerian ideas alive, as Adler would have wanted. After Adler’s death in 1937, Dreikurs feared that Adler’s teaching would not survive. He devoted all his energy to keeping this teaching alive. After Dreikurs’ death in 1972, his widow Sadie Dreikurs, asked Eva to join the staff of the summer school. At that time, Eva was a single mother raising four children and building her own career, so the request fell hard on her.

With the tremendous help of Eric Blumenthal, Achi Yotam, Edna Nash, and many others, Eva worked hard to organize the summer school. The first years after her father’s death were not easy. It was pioneering work. In 1974, the summer school received legal status as a foundation, with the name The International Committee for Adlerian Summer Schools and Institutes. Eva once told her colleagues: “ICASSI had been given legal status, which meant that none of us ended up in jail and the organization could continue as a non-profit organization.”

A set of by-laws and a description of organizational characteristics were developed. Since the inception of the summer school (1962), these documents became a framework ensuring the survival of the organization. Currently, ICASSI has three co-chairpersons, seven board members, and administrative staff with responsibility for organizing the annual ICASSI summer school (each year in a different country, sometimes in a virtual format). Recently, a virtual Adler Café, the Virtual Winter Conference, and mini ICASSI meetings were added to ICASSI activities.

Eva was very proud – and mentioned it often to the participants – that all this is made possible by volunteers and professional faculty members from all over the world. ICASSI still is a non-profit organization.

Eva has been a board member and co-chair of ICASSI since the summer of 1979, and she has attended 50 summer schools. Her first Monday plenary sessions often emphasized the role of Individual Psychology in the contemporary world. In recent years, her courses have mainly focused on the applications of Individual Psychology in the workplace. Her course description can serve as a summary of the message Eva carried to us in her courses: “Adlerian psychology helps improve human relationships in all settings, including the workplace. Workplace solutions are also applicable to family and school problems.”

This brief In Memoriam can never do justice in fully outlining the significance of Eva’s valuable and inspiring contributions to the spread of Adler-Dreikurs’s theory and applications or in spotlighting her encouragement and cooperation. This was part of her lifestyle modeled after her father. In an interview with Anabella Shaked (November 2021), Eva noted, “My father was so encouraging. That part was the best. He was always encouraging.” (Whenever Eva was in virtual sessions, the picture of her father was always behind her).
Following the lead of Rudolf Dreikurs and Eva Dreikurs Ferguson, the ICASSI board will continue what has been built over the past decades, remembering Eva and building on her commitment, wisdom, and contributions.

Co-chairs ICASSI