The study investigated the effectiveness of a parent education program at the Adlerian Institute for Parents located in Israel. The major hypothesis was that participation in the counseling program would improve children's behavior as perceived by their parents. The subjects were 69 parents (50 mothers and 19 fathers) who attended classes for eight months. The parents' behavioral perceptions were measured by the Family Relationship Index (FRI) questionnaire . Following the intervention, parents perceived both their older and younger children as less difficult, both according to a global measure and regarding specific behavioral areas. However. in distinguishing between problematic and non-problematic children's behavior, the former were viewed as improved, whereas the latter evidenced a tendency toward a slight deterioration in behavior. The implications of the findings and directions for future research were discussed.
Theoretically-based, systematic parent counseling programs have been designed with the goal of achieving two specific objectives: to develop parents' skills and awareness regarding various aspects of parenthood ) and to replace traditional child-rearing practices with alternatives that more closely reflect our times . Group counseling, where parents share experiences, discuss ideas, and acquire skills, has emerged as the dominant approach used for educating parents . Among the various theoretical approaches underlying parent counseling methods, three orientations currently prevail: Parents ' Effectiveness Training (Gordon, 1970), behavior modification (Johnson and Katz, 1970;, and the Adlerian approach . The present study investigated the effectiveness of parent counseling using the Adlerian approach.
Adler proposed that children's displays of psychological disturbances or deviant behavior are rooted in the children's early family relationships and reflect a deficiency in the children's social sense and feelings of belonging. This paper was presented at the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counseling (IRTAC): Dublin. Ireland; July, 1989. The author would like to express her appreciation to Dee Ankonina for her editorial contribution to the manuscript.