Autogenic training in Adlerian psychotherapy

Abstract

Schultz recognizes Autogenic Training as a means of recovering physical and mental energy and, above all, of deepening introspection and self-awareness. For Schultz, AT is a psychagogical method, a term referring to an educational psychotherapy that takes particular account of the patient's relationship with their environment. The importance he emphasizes of socialization is in line with Adlerian principles, as is the belief that the body is a tool for nonverbal communication, with its own language, useful for a more effective understanding of emotions or particular fantasies. The proposal to include TA as a sub-technique in Adlerian therapy is in line with its approach to lifestyle analysis, where the subject is asked to dwell on their earliest memories and allow thoughts, emotions, and feelings to emerge. These memories and recollections emerge spontaneously during TA and can be revisited later to rework core conflicts