Alfred Adler (1870-1937) was one of the early contributors to the field of counseling. He believed that people are social creatures and we need interaction with one another to survive. He stressed our responsibility for others and held to the religious principle of "Love thy neighbor." Adler believed that the social environment, especially the one that a person is raised in, affects their personality. A lack of human contact and interaction will make it difficult for an individual to have healthy relationships and can result in the person having an inferiority complex.

For Adler, a "malajusted" child is not a sick child, but a very discouraged one. When a person suffers from discouragement, they need love, hope and encouragement. They need to be "touched" by other human beings. In other words, anyone who is isolated from the community in which they live will not only feel inferior but could even develop certain neuroses. Thus they are labeled "sick."  Alfred Adler believed that people needed to be "touched" and included socially to develop healthy lives. His theory was in direct opposition to Sigmund Freud's, which was popular at that time. But, Adler believed in a different approach and introduced an entirely new concept, one that requires a loving contact between us humans.

You may wonder why this was so important to Adler. When Adler was a small child he was very clumsy and children often made fun of him. He developed "rickets" at an early age, another one of those despicable diseases during the 19th century. As a child he once contracted pneumonia and almost died. He spent much of his early years isolated from his peers. Because of his lack of coordination and weak condition he was run over by a horse and wagon, not once but twice.

Adler understood the need to be touched. Fortunately for him, his parents were extremely supportive and very social people. With their help, not to mention their faith, Adler was able to rise above his situation and encourage his followers to do the same. Like the man in our story, he too could say, "He touched me," and made me whole.