Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy Training
TRAINING PROGRAM
A rigorous, mentor-based program for clinicians seeking theoretical coherence, clinical depth, and the capacity to support lasting therapeutic change.
Why Depth and Coherence Matter
A crisis of coherence in contemporary psychotherapy
Contemporary clinicians are exposed to an ever-expanding range of therapeutic approaches, models, and techniques. Many of these offer valuable insights into specific aspects of human functioning. Yet when clinical work is guided primarily by methods rather than by a coherent understanding of human functioning, practice can lose its orienting center.
Therapists may find themselves skilled, thoughtful, and well-intentioned - yet without a unifying framework capable of guiding clinical judgment, ethical responsibility, and therapeutic meaning across the full complexity of human life.
Adler’s coherent and holistic view of humanity emphasizes the fundamental unity of human thinking, feeling, and behaving, understood as coordinated expressions of a single, goal-directed personality. His framework advances a purposive understanding of human action and invites the clinician to attend carefully to the intentions and meanings that organize a client’s experience. Rather than assuming the stance of expert interpreter, the therapist engages the client in a shared process of observation and reflection, co-assessing the patterns that give shape to the client’s characteristic way of moving through the world.
As clients become increasingly aware of their largely unconscious psychological patterns, they develop a deeper sense of agency and personal responsibility. This collaborative process supports growth without recourse to blame - toward oneself or others - and fosters an expanded capacity to contribute meaningfully to the well-being of the world.
Fostering lasting therapeutic change requires more than the application of techniques. It depends on understanding how human beings develop, how they lose their way, and how they can be guided back toward meaning, responsibility, and social embeddedness.
What Our Training Offers
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A Coherent Psychological Framework
Master a unified theory that integrates psychological depth, social embeddedness, and purposeful striving—providing a clear orienting framework for clinical judgment.
02
Mentor Based Clinical Formation
Work closely with experienced Adlerian clinicians who follow your development over time, shaping your training through ongoing individualized mentorship.
03
Integration of Theory, Practice & Personal Development
Integrate theoretical study, clinical supervision, and reflective personal work—so your practice develops with depth, consistency, and clinical confidence.
04
Accredited, Professionally Grounded Training
Complete a program accredited by the International Society of Psychotherapy and Counselling, aligning with international standards of psychotherapy training.
THE PROGRAM
The Training Experience
Each year builds
what the next requires
Our training unfolds over three to four years, moving from theoretical foundation through broadening clinical application to the refinement and integration of a genuinely unified practice. Each year builds on the last — grounded throughout by weekly mentorship, personal study analysis, and an annual onsite experiential workshop that brings the work into direct embodied experience.
Training Program FAQs
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We welcome English-speaking therapists who are drawn to the practical and humane orientation of Alfred Adler’s psychology. Our programs serve both experienced clinicians seeking to renew or deepen their clinical perspective and those encountering Adlerian thought for the first time. We aim not only to introduce Adler’s ideas, but to cultivate their thoughtful application in contemporary practice, helping clinicians meet the urgent social and psychological demands of the present moment.
Our depth-oriented approach supports careful assessment of clinical capability and the steady development of each therapist’s professional capacities.
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In brief: Training is grounded in an ongoing, collaborative apprenticeship with an experienced Adlerian clinician, where professional skill develops through relationship, reflection, and guided practice.
A mentor-guided orientation places the training relationship at the center of professional development. Rather than relying primarily on standardized curricula or large-group instruction, our approach is grounded in sustained collaboration between student and mentor - one that reflects Adlerian values of cooperation, encouragement, and shared responsibility.
At its core, learning happens through dialogue and lived experience - not theory alone.
This depth requires time, continuity, and personal attention.
Ultimately, mentorship shapes not only what a therapist knows, but who they become as a clinician.
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Personal study-analysis ensures that therapists learn the work by living it, not merely by studying it.
Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy achieves a unique integration of the cognitive, affective, intuitive, creative, and somatic realms which must be experienced in order to be understood. No amount of academic study alone can prepare someone to learn this multi-faceted art. Students must begin a weekly, personal study-analysis, in order to absorb this complex process first-hand, so they can duplicate it with a client.
Study analysis aims to awaken a lifelong eagerness for growth, for self-awareness and the desire to draw toward the individual’s fullest potential. We help each student become ready and capable of guiding clients all along the spectrum of awareness, responsibility, and contribution.
Annual three-day experiential workshops extend training into an embodied, interpersonal context — where the intricacies of Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy can be observed and directly experienced. Students work on personal material face-to-face with training analysts and peers, further internalizing this complex art. A minimum of three workshops is required for certification.
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The full certification program in ADP takes about three to four years of weekly study and a minimum of three, 3-day, on-site, experiential workshops. Our students move through the program at a pace that balances their professional and personal responsibilities with their ability to engage deeply wtih the material.
The total investment in the program is approximately CHF 39,000. Of that, nearly CHF 22,000 goes directly to the elements that define classical training and distinguish it from certificate programs: a full year of personal study analysis and a minimum of 100 hours of individual supervision of the student's own cases. These are not add-ons — they are the core of how a classical Adlerian therapist is formed.
The remaining costs cover mentor-guided coursework through each stage of the curriculum and three on-site experiential workshops. Students pay for each course as they begin it — there is no lump-sum tuition.
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The three training analysts at AAIsr (Jane, Jinger and Erik) bring together decades of scholarship, clinical experience, and lived engagement with Classical Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy - each from a distinct vantage point, and each deeply committed to the work. Read about their journeys to Adler Here.
Between them, students will encounter rigorous intellectual grounding and a profound familiarity with the Adlerian literature; a steady, encouraging presence that makes even the most challenging theoretical terrain feel navigable; and a warm, creative energy in the consulting room and seminar that keeps the work alive and personal. They will also encounter a voice that keeps theory honest - one that insists feeling, attachment, and the full human being in the room never be lost in abstraction.
Together they form a trio that is at once scholarly and warmly human, exacting and encouraging, deeply rooted in the classical tradition and fully present to the lived experience of the person in training. Over the course of their studies, students will come to know each of them, and to feel the coherence of what the three bring together.
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Yes. In addition to the full certification program, we offer two further paths for those who wish to engage with Classical Adlerian Depth Psychotherapy at a different level of commitment. The Certificate of Advanced Adlerian Studies is a two-year educational program for serious students who want rigorous coursework without the full developmental demands of certification. We also offer small-group modality courses for clinicians and interns who have completed our introductory course and wish to deepen their practice in specific areas. Learn more on our Study Pathways page.
Ready to Learn More?
We’d love to hear from you