Early Recollections and School Counseling

Running head: EARLY RECOLLECTIONS AND SCHOOL COUNSELING 1
Early Recollections and School Counseling
A Literature Review
Presented to
The Faculty of the Adler Graduate School
______________________
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For
The Degree of Master of Arts in
Adlerian Counseling & Psychotherapy
______________________
Paul R. Thompson
______________________
Chairperson: Amy Foell, MA, SC
Reader: Richard Close, DMin, LPCC, LMFT
______________________
May 2018
EARLY RECOLLECTIONS AND SCHOOL COUNSELING 2
Abstract
School counselors today are spread thinner than ever in support of their students. While some
schools have no school counselors at all, others have too few counselors based on the American
School Counseling Association’s recommended ratio of one counselor to 250 students. In the
past five decades, some school counselors have borrowed techniques from Individual
Psychology to enhance their work with students. One of these techniques, early recollections,
involves asking students to share their earliest memories. This has been shown to be worthwhile
for both elementary age children as well as middle and high school students. Specifically, early
recollections benefited elementary students by helping build rapport and as a projective
assessment technique. For high school students, the study will show how Early Recollections
may be used to help with career counseling and post-secondary school planning. Included also
will be studies from the clinical counseling tradition as well as those specific to school
counseling or both. Also, the role trauma has played with some students and incidents where
early recollections may not be appropriate will be reviewed.
Keywords: Adlerian psychotherapy, early recollections, rapport, projective technique, school
counselor, school counseling, trauma

Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Adlerian Psychology ....................................................................................................................... 7
Method ............................................................................................................................................ 8
History of Early Recollections .................................................................................................... 8
What ERs Are............................................................................................................................ 11
How ERs Were Used................................................................................................................. 12
Method .......................................................................................................................................... 14
Early recollections in an elementary school setting .............................................................. 17
Early recollections used in a middle and high school setting ................................................ 19
Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................. 22
The Role of the American School Counseling Association Framework .................................. 24
The Role of Trauma .................................................................................................................. 25
The Adlerian Perspective of Trauma ........................................................................................ 27
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 28
References ..................................................................................................................................... 29
Early Recollections and School Counseling
Today’s schools are more challenging than ever for students. For more than a decade,
they have been replete with extensive inequalities (Berg, 2016; Wald & Losen, 2003).
According to the Minnesota Report Card (2017), the high school graduation rate in 2017 was
82.7% for the state. The Minneapolis Public School district, however, had a graduation rate of
only 72.3%. One could ask why the largest urban center in the state of Minnesota had such a
low graduation rate compared to the state. However, in looking at challenges this population of
students are faced with, the answer becomes clear. Minneapolis’ school district included nearly
8,700 homeless students. Moreover, though this number only included students and their
families who actually report being homeless, the number of homeless was even greater. Yet,
rather than work on resolving issues such as homelessness, society often ignored this issue.
Meanwhile, the schools were left to accommodate the students while not to discriminate against
them for their homeless status. To help schools accomplish this, federal legislation was enacted
such as the McKinney-Vento Act (Jozefowicz-Simbeni & Israel, 2006; Miller, 2011) as well as
every Child Succeeds Act (Klein, 2015). Yet, these were merely like putting a bandage on a
skin wound caused from a more serious, systemic underlying reason. As time went on, as no
other course of action was taken to remedy the underlying cause of the problem, the situation
continued to worsen.
How did the situation get to the point where students are victims of situational issues
caused by adults? To examine this, it would be beneficial to look back in time. Throughout the
20th century, educators were focused on attempting to improve student’s academic levels by
retesting (Klein, 2015). Yet, this proved ineffective. Rather than increasing pressure on
students academically, strength-based approaches such as Adlerian therapy proved more

effective (Tarpey, 2017). Adlerian therapy emphasized ways obstacles could be overcome
(Brigman, Villares, & Webb, 2017). It also emphasized encouragement and the development of
a positive lifestyle (Pryor & Tollerud, 1999). This was done through traditional approaches,
though also with non-traditional approaches such as art therapy (Sutherland, Waldman &
Collins, 2010) and play therapy (Kottman, & Meany-Walen, 2016). The alternative approaches
provided ways for individuals to communicate to their counselor when words alone may not
have been as effective.
For those in the United States without the benefit of therapeutic environments such as
Adlerian child guidance clinics in schools, Lapan (2012) found in a six-state study of school
counseling that students often left high school without benefit from all the support school
counselors can provide. School counselors who may be students of individual psychology
realized that social and political realities have a tremendous impact on the lives of the students
whom they support (Ergüner-Tekinalp, Johnson-Migalski & Belangee, 2018).
Students who were fortunate enough to experience Adlerian therapy overcame behavioral
issues which made it easier to focus on being academically successful in school based on
significant performance of student school attendance and academic performance (Lemberger &
Nash, 2008) and (Tarpey, 2017). Given these improvements, it is beneficial to consider the
reasons Adlerian psychotherapeutic techniques showed effectiveness with marginalized school
students. One of the most time-tested tools within Adlerian Psychotherapy is early recollections
(ERs) (Clark, 2013; Maniacci, Carlson & Sackett-Maniacci, 2017; Mosak, 1958). This purpose
of this thesis is to ascertain the role, if any, (ERs) provided school counselors in the past and
could potentially provide to them in the future.

This problem is important because although from early on, the practice of gathering and
interpreting ERs arose originally from the clinical tradition. Though in Adler’s time, ERs were
part of his practice in the assessment of individuals, regardless if it was a youth in a child
guidance clinic or an adult in a clinical setting, today’s world has separated the role of school
counselor and clinical counselor. While assessment techniques such as those involving ERs are
traditionally accepted by and for clinicians, their use by school counselors is at least somewhat
scanter in the literature. However, given research literature in the last five decades has included
the use of ERs for school counselors, it is important to consider the applicability of their use for
present and future school counselors. Also, it is important to note which areas ERs have been
the most successful for school counselors to use, such as within which grade level as well as
which areas they may not have proven as successful. Based on this, a primary hypothesis of this
review is that the use of ERs for school counselors is useful for both the student and the
counselor. This study will therefore examine the usefulness, if any, of ERs for both students and
school counselors. The use of ERs by school counselors implies the counselor has had training
in Adlerian psychology, specifically concepts such as lifestyle, holism, and social interest (Clark,
2013).
Though traditionally a staple of clinical work in Adlerian Psychotherapy (Travis, 2017)
ERs were used by school counselors in their work since the mid-20th century (Clark, 1994).
Yet, despite their use, rarely has this technique been mentioned in the literature since 1994 as
part of the work of school counselors though research continues to occur on a regular based even
to the current year (Harless & Stoltz, 2018).
Despite this, research discussing ERs as related to primary school children is rare.
Barbara Borden (1997) reported up to 1982 very little research had been written about the use of
ERs with children either clinically or in a school setting. Yet, Borden (1997) believed the sooner
a child learns about his/her mistaken goals, the easier it will be to resolve them. Therefore, she
found that childhood, specifically between five and eight years of age is the perfect time for a
counselor to use ERs with a child (Borden, 1997).
Given the positive benefits ERs has shown to provide children, it is uncommon for school
counselors not trained in Adlerian Psychology to be aware of ERs or their purpose. In fact,
nowhere within the ASCA national model are they discussed (American School Counseling
Association, 2012). This review will examine reasons ERs could be helpful for school
counselors and their students. It will also examine potential reasons ERs may not be appropriate
to be used in a school setting.
Adlerian Psychology
Relational in its nature, Adlerian Psychology looks at each individual from the
perspective of how he/she relates to others (Watts, 2003). Within this context, Adler believed
how well a person is psychologically is determined by their willingness to be helpful to others
within their community. In the domain of education, traumatic events, among other factors, can
inhibit this willingness in students. Therefore, it is important a school counselor has techniques
to help determine how each student sees his/her world to better understand the student’s “style of
life” (Griffith & Powers, 2007, p. 63). Adler (as cited in Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 175)
described the style of life as the “unity in his life of thinking, feeling, acting…”
Griffith and Powers (2007, p. 63) pointed out that “In Individual Psychology, lifestyle is
congruent with the term personality in other psychological systems but is contrasted to them not
least because of its emphasis on the person’s characteristic way of movement.” Because he
believed the lifestyle of a child is formed in the early years of a child’s life, Adler emphasized in
much of his work and literature the importance of the successful health development of each
child (Griffith & Powers, 2007). Given the importance of lifestyle as it relates to life tasks,
Adler developed specific tools for assessing an individual’s lifestyle. In a clinical setting, ERs,
along with family constellation and observations are the three key components of an Adlerian
lifestyle assessment (Clark, 1994; Mosak, 1958; Sweeney, 2009; Tarpey 2017).
Method
This study looked at how ERs were originally conceived in early psychotherapy by Freud
and Adler. This will be included as ‘History of Early Recollections’ and will review
chronologically how the use of ERS evolved as well as explanations within the research of What
ERs Are’ and ‘How ERs are used.’ The studies from school counselors reflect subjects from
kindergarten through high school, typically children aged five through seventeen. The clinical
studies, though including subjects of any age from five and older, often generalized beyond the
age of the subject as researchers were more concerned more about the age of the subject when
the early recollection took place.
History of Early Recollections
One of Adler’s earliest record of mentioning ERs was “a person’s true attitude toward life
can be discerned from his earliest dreams and recollected experiences, proving that such
memories are also structured according to a planful procedure” Adler, 1911, as cited by
(Ansbacher, 1973 p. 135-136). This was included in his presentation at the Vienna
Psychoanalytic Society in 1911 and marked his separation with Freud (Ansbacher, 1973). His
first published statement about ERs came a few years later, in 1913. Alfred Adler then
mentioned ERs in a paper about sleep disturbances. Adler, 1913 as cited by (Ansbacher, 1973).
This was one year before he opened his first child guidance clinic.
Adler had already begun to separate from Freud in many of Freud’s theories by the time
Adler began to mention the potential use of ERs (Ansbacher, 1973). This also included how
different their view was on trauma.
A recollection as a purposeful construction was quite a variance from Freud’s concept of
early memories as screens for traumatic sexual experiences. Adler had expressed this
difference from Freud as early as 1907. In Adler’s view it was not particularly the
neurotic who repressed sexual traumas and disguised them by screen memories, but
rather it was the ‘non- neurotic individuals who have kept secret their sexual traumata.’
And most importantly, ‘One must not overrate the trauma.’ Instead one must understand
that ‘the constitution finds the sexual trauma’ Knowing that Adler used biological
metaphors at that time, 1907… …we can substitute ‘individual’ for ‘constitution.’ The
above quoted sentence means, the individual is actively selecting from the environment
rather than being merely passively exposed to stimuli from the environment. (Ansbacher,
1973, p. 136)
Alfred Adler later came to further describe early recollections as giving “us glimpses of
depths just as profound as those more or less suddenly recalled during treatment” (Adler, 1937).
He saw ERs as aligned with each individual’s idiosyncratic system of beliefs and he showed how
they provide the counselor a glimpse into the lifestyle of his/her clients (Adler, 1937). He also
stated, “the significance of early recollections are one of the most important discoveries of
individual psychology.” (Adler, 1932, p. 11 as cited by Ansbacher, 1973, p. 135). Moreover,
according to Adler’s experience, “so far the most trustworthy approaches to the exploration of
personality are given in a comprehensive understanding of the (1) earliest childhood
recollections…” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p.327-328). Moreover, Adler’s reason for
having individuals recall their memories is to have a “simpler, more easily discernible picture of
the style of life” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 191).
As a projective technique, early recollections were used by therapists successfully for
decades (Mosak, 1958). The technique has also been used by school counselors as an
assessment technique (Clark, 1994). Myer and James (1991) found it also useful as an
assessment technique for elementary school children. For older students, the technique of early
recollections has been used by their school counselor to predict college achievement (Harless &
Stolts, 2018; Rogers, 1982).
In his time, Adler believed early recollections could be used to determine both the
individual’s lifestyle and how they deal with problems (Adler, 1954). When working with
clients psychotherapeutically, the relationship between client and therapist can be seen as a dance
where the therapist carefully guides the client to more harmonious relationships with others
(Watts, & Garza, 2008). Early recollections can enhance this dance.
While Sigmund Freud (1914) found early recollections (ERs) to be merely a screen
which hid more meaningful content, Alfred Adler (1932, as cited in Ansbacher, 1973, p. 19)
believed “every memory is a memento” and therefore the manifest content of ERs was itself
“meaningful and related to the style of life” (Holmes & Watson, 1965, p. 486). In fact, Adler
saw ERs has a consistent guide for a person’s style of life (Holmes & Watson, 1965).
The process of gathering ERs reveals patterns within the client’s lifestyle center to their
movement of life (Griffith & Powers, 2007; Sweeney, 1989). If the ER was recalled easily, it
likely provided a fundamental theme or pattern to the individual’s movement in life (Sweeney,
1989). Movement was defined by Adler as “all thoughts, feeling and physical activity” (Griffith
& Powers, 2007, p. 70) and was the term Adler used for what others often call behavior.
Adler knew that “every word, thought, feeling or gesture contributes to our
understanding.” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 332). According to Clark (2013, p. 1), it is
“possible to gain insights into human personality through the interpretation of the first memories
of life.” Given the significance of memories, Adler found ERs “give us glimpses of depths just as
profound as those more or less suddenly recalled during treatment” (Adler, 1937, p. 79).
Savickas (2015, p. 35) found that “listening to ERs allows the counselor to hear the tacit
preconceptions of the self and others that lead to themes in a life story.” Day (2018, p. 56) noted
ERs can “uncover issues and patterns from the past that distract individuals from their true path
forward.” Dinkmeyer, Carlson, and Michel (2015) found ERs can provide the counselor with
assumptions a child makes about his/her life. Furthermore, Pomeroy and Clark (2015, p. 29)
determined ERs “contribute to the assessment of a person’s wellness functioning.” ERs can do
all this without “labelling, charting or otherwise depersonalizing people through categorization”
(Mosak & Di Pietro, 2007, p. 13).
What ERs Are
Early Recollections (ERs) are “stories of single, specific incidents in childhood which
the individual is able to reconstitute in present ERs are experienced as mental images or as
focused sensory memories” (Powers & Griffith, 2007, p. 26). In Individual Psychology, ERs,
though derived from an individual’s past, reflect that person’s present-day convictions as well as
their evaluations and attitudes. Ansbacher (1973) noted the paradox of Adlerian psychology,
which is present and future-orientated though looks back with the use of ERs. Yet this paradox
is resolved when considering that the subject is, in choosing which experience to recount and in
recounting it, the actor rather than the re-actor (Ansbacher, 1973). Moreover, the recollection,
begin a memory that is far removed from objective facts and is therefore the child (or client’s)
own creation. Finally, within the recollection, how the individual responds is more important
than the situation itself (Ansbacher, 1973). Catherine Day (2018, p. 63) noted “A hallmark of
ERs is the vividness and specificity of the story details.”
How ERs Were Used
To better understand how ERs were used, it is helpful to be aware of the orientation in
which Adlerian therapists originally worked with them. Initially, Adlerian therapists worked
with their clients to “approach goals on the useful side of life” (Maniacci et al., 2017, p. 101).
The therapists also worked to engage and inspire the client’s feeling of contributing to the
community by engaging their social interest. With this help, the client was better able to
understand his/her life tasks (Maniacci et al, 2017). Techniques through which this was done
included encouragement, lifestyle assessment, ‘spitting in the soup’ as well as acting ‘as if.’
Within the lifestyle assessment is the technique of early recollections.
Rudolf Dreikurs (1963) believed it was possible to interpret the lifestyle of a person
through using ERs. Dreikurs (1963) stated “the fact that one remembers from all the childhood
experiences only certain impressions makes these recollections highly significant” (Dreikurs,
1963, p. 1046). When ERs of a client substantiate each other they thereby reveal the viewpoint
of the person and how the person interprets his life (Dreikurs, 1963).
ERs was part of the interview process Alfred Adler used when gathering information
from his clients about their family constellation (Sweeney, 1989). They “provided cues for
understanding present behavior” (Sweeney, 1989, p. 215). Adler expanded further:
The memories of early childhood are especially useful in showing how long standing is
the individual’s own peculiar approach to life, and in giving the circumstances in which
he first crystallized his life-attitude. For two reasons the earliest memory of all has a very
notable place. First, the fundamental estimate of the individual and his situation is
contained in it; it is his first totaling-up of appearances, and his first more or less
complete symbol of himself and the demands made of him. Secondly, it is his subjective
starting point, the beginning of the autobiography he has made for himself. (Adler, 1964
p. 19)
As a projective technique, ERs has been used by therapists successfully for decades
(Mosak, 1958). Shifron and Rasmussen (2009, pp. 93-94) found “Early recollections are the
keys to understanding the person here and now.” In each ER, an integration of the person’s
creativity and emotional expressiveness is revealed. (Shifron & Rasmussen, 2009). An early
recollection involves a specific incident rather than a usual routine (Sweeney, 1989). For
example, if a client reports that his/her family used to walk to the local neighborhood shop every
summer evening to get an ice cream cone, it would not be as helpful for the purpose of collecting
the ER as if the client reported one time, he/she nearly drowned in the water while his/her mother
was nearby talking to a friend. It was not actually important if the early recollection occurred or
if it was accurate (Ackernacht, 1976; Mosak, 1958; Studer, 2014). “What is important is the
child’s memory of these events” (Studer, 2014, p. 195).
Alfred Adler believed ERs provided insight into people’s views of themselves and others
(Mosak & Di Pietro, 2007). They also reveal how subjects see the world around them and
“prepare them for their futures.” (Mosak & Di Pietro, 2007, p. 13).
Method
While each counselor may derive different benefits for the students they support through
the use of ERs, it is clear the method for the process of gathering ERs is similar within the
clinical setting as within the school setting (Clark, 1994). As this review centers on how ERs
may be used on school settings, these will be emphasized. However, studies involving the use
of clinical ERs may also be included given both the similarity in implementing the process
between school counselors and clinicians as well as the benefits derived in both settings.
Childhood dreams of the specific, rather than reoccurring type, could also be considered an ER
(Sweeney, 1989).
The question asked to begin the process of ER is for the counselor to ask “what is your
earliest recollection?” (Sweeney, 1989, p. 216) or “think back to a time when you were young
and tell me one of your earliest childhood memories” (Studer, 2014, p. 194). It is recommended
either for the counselor to write down word-for-word each word with which the client responds
(Sweeney, 1989) or for the client to write down the earliest recollection on their own (Capuzzi &
Gross, 2013). If, however, instead of answering by citing an early recollection, the individual
seems puzzled at the request of the counselor, it may be helpful to repeat the question in a
different way.
If the individual responds with a question like ‘What do you want me to say?’ a general
ambiguous response, such as ‘Whatever one of your first memories that comes to your
mind’ or ‘Try to remember one of your earliest memories.’ In other instances, it may be
helpful to repeat a pair of the original directions, or encourage a person to take the time
necessary to think about an early memory. (Clark, 2013, p. 92)

If the child cannot recall an early memory, Kottman and Meany-Walen (2016, p. 185) found it
helpful to “tell him or her to tell us about something that someone told about a time when he or
she was little like a family story.” After listening to the student repeat his/her memory, it is
recommended to ask three follow-up questions (Clark, 2013). First, the counselor asks if there
is anything else the student may be able to recall in his/her memory. Second, the student is
asked which part of the memory he/she recalls most. Lastly, the counselor asks the student
about his/her feelings during the memory, e.g. “How are you feeling at that point?” or “What
feelings to you remember having then?” (Clark, 2013, p. 93).
It is of vital importance when the child is recounting an early recollection to write down
what the student says verbatim (Clark, 2013). This not only provides a protocol for
interpretative purposes, but could later be used for scoring purposes. This could be explained to
the students as “I need to write down what you say to help me remember it” (Clark, 2013, p. 93).
The age of the recollection can be helpful in that it may help make it apparent that the
subject recalls no other memory before that event (Sweeney, 1989). Mosak (1958) and Clark
(2013) recommend the memory being used occur no later than seven years of age, however
Watts and Carlson (2013) use age ten and under for their purposes of gathering early recollection
memories.
If the counselor is uncertain of what age the child was when the experience was they are
recounting, it is appropriate to ask the student how old he/she was when the memory occurred
(Clark, 2013). Also, as regards age, Clark (2013) found that children less than eight years of age
vary markedly in their ability to produce early memories which are useful for interpreting. For
this reason, it is recommended by Clark (2013) to gather ERs from students eight and older.
Borden (1997), on the other hand, found ERs useful as an adjunct tool for children between the
ages of five and eight years old.
It is important to note that the mode of communication with younger children may be
expanded to include alternate forms given young children’s often limited vocabulary. To help
accommodate these limitations in children, Stutey and Wubbolding (2018, p. 1) found
“additional skills such as tentative hypothesis, art work, metacommunication, metaphors and
bibliotherapy” can all be used to assist the counselor better understand the individual with whom
they are working.
Though ERs were usually done at least three times with each client (Sweeney, 1989) this
can vary (Clark, 2013). In fact, the number of memories relayed in the literature varies from as
little as one to as many as ten (Clark, 2013). Practicalities such as the amount of time a
counselor has to spend with a client can figure into the number of early memories collected.
While “the rationale for at least three or more memories is to enable the person to obtain a wider
spectrum of self” (Shifron & Rasmussen, 2009) whereas Clark (2013, p. 96) reported “a
determination of the retrieval number on early recollections may likely be influenced by time
constraints placed on practitioners and interpretive complexities once memories are gathered..”
Moreover, some clients may experience difficulties recalling more than three or four memories if
asked to do so (Clark, 2013).
Early Recollections in Education
An Adlerian based goal for school counselors, along with helping students develop and
become aware of their social interest could also be to encourage them towards a positive lifestyle
(Pryor & Tollerud, 1999). However, many school counselors have yet to be trained in these
Adlerian concepts, let alone ERs specifically (Clark, 1994). However, their use for those school
counselors trained in the technique has proven helpful (Clark, 1994; Myer & James, 1991). This
is largely because while early memories may not determine behavior, they can reflect the current
self-image of the student as well as the student’s world view and the manner in which they
interact with others (Lingg & Kottman, 1997). Gathering ERs can help the counselor begin to
better understand the student’s hopes, behaviors, attitudes and conflicts.
Utilizing the content student’s share during ERs provide counselors insight into the
challenges the students face (Studer, 2014). “Furthermore, the use of ERs serve as additional
metaphors for understanding the counselees present world view” (Studer, 2014, p. 194). For
several decades, Adlerian-trained school counselors have used ERs to also help build rapport
with students (Clark, 2013). Flood, Lawther and Montandon, (2015) used early recollections
related to sports and outdoor activities with students to help them improve their ability in those
activities.
Early recollections in an elementary school setting. Eventually, ERs were also used
by school counselors as an assessment technique. Myer and James (1991) found it also useful
this way specifically with elementary school children. Barbara Borden (1997) concluded ERs
are an excellent technique to use for children five through eight years old for helping the child
confirm and validate their emerging lifestyle and possible overcome mistaken goals they may
have made early on. With children so young, Borden found timing is even more crucial than it is
with adults. The child can have the opportunity through ERs to clarify their private logic and
how it impacts the movement towards the child’s final goal (Borden, 1997). Despite the
recentness of the actual event being remembered for a young child, the actual important
component in the process is why the child chooses the ER they do to share with his/her
counselor. For more than a decade, Borden (1997) worked with children’s groups using ERs to
help the children.
Borden (1997) had three prerequisites for each counselor working with children before
administering ERs. First, develop “mutual trust and respect” (Borden, 1997, p. 309). Aligned
with the American School Counseling Association’s goal to be collaborative, rapport is a
necessary and vital virtue for all school counselors to possess (American School Counselor
Association. (2012). Second, understand the child’s goals (Borden, 1997). This includes goals of
misbehavior, if any, the child may have (Borden, 1997; Dreikurs & Soltz, 1991). Third, “expose
the child to the goal disclosure process” (Borden, 1997, p. 309). Ideally, after the ERs are
interpreted, the child will see whether or not his goals and behavior are aligned (Borden, 1997).
Arthur Clark (1994) also found ERs very useful when working as a school counselor for
elementary age students. Clark (1994) believed that if used as a tool within counseling
assessment, ERs can reveal the self-concept of the student as well as the quality of their
relationships to others. The use of ERs provide a useful tool to help the counselor better
understand the student he/she supports. They can enhance the relationship between counselor
and student by helping the rapport between them and increasing the trust the student has for the
counselor (Clark, 2013). For young children who may find it challenging to otherwise explain
how they feel, ERs provide an intermediary tool enabling an easier way for the child to let the
counselor know what may be going on in the child’s life (Clark, 1994). By interpreting themes
and details of early memories, the lifestyle of the child is given a chance to reveal itself to the
school counselor. As the counselor listens non-judgmentally to important times of the child’s
life, rapport between the two become strengthened. Both the content and process of ERs provide
the counselor with the child’s background and development (Clark, 1994; Clark, 2013; Mosak,
1958). This can all be done in a minimum amount of time (Clark, 1994) which is vital given
how most school counselors today feel spread too thin given the number of students they are
asked to support (Zyromski & Mariani, 2016).
Early recollections used in a middle and high school setting. For older students, the
technique of early recollections has been used by their school counselor to predict college
achievement (Harless & Stolts, 2018; Rogers, 1982).
As a school counselor, Arthur Clark (1994) used early recollections with each student
with whom he worked. He believed due to the increased complexity and diversity found in
schools, early recollections could be used to help school counselors determine how to best make
use of both the counselor and student’s time to ensure maximum success for the student.
Because of the non-threatening nature of ERs, and the open-ended procedure used to collect
them, ERs “almost invariably enhance the therapeutic alliance” (Clark, 2013, p. 4) This alliance,
strengthens the rapport between the counselor and counselee, integral to the relationship they
have for each other. As in the clinical setting, in schools, ERs not only help the rapport to
develop between the counselor and the student, but it can also clarify goals as well as help the
school counselor to determine methods of intervention (Clark, 1994). ERs help clarify these
goals by allowing the counselor and student to “learn the perspective that a person take on life
and identity major life themes” (Savickas & Lara, 2016, p. 75).
Participation in work is necessary for both the individual and society (Taber & Briddick,
2011). As no one is self-sufficient, it is therefore up to each individual to contribute to the
general community (Dreikurs, 1950 as cited by Taber & Briddick, 2011). The Work Task
depicts a duty for people to live cooperatively (Mosak & Di Pietro, 2007). This occurs as people
“live dependently with others” (p. 16). For example, “someone makes wheat, another plants
flour.” (Mosak & Di Pietro, 2007, p. 16). The Work Task provides a way for individuals to
contribute to the common wellbeing of the community.
Based on the importance to Alfred Adler of the work task as one of the three life tasks
(Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956; Griffith & Powers, 2007), career counseling may be considered
even more important to Adlerian school counselors than to those who have no knowledge of
Adler. For this reason, Carolyn Berger (2013) found career counseling one of the most crucial
aspects of High School Counselor’s work. Adler (1964) stated:
Events remembered from childhood must be very near to the main interest of the
individual; and if we know his main interest we know his goal and style of life. It is this
fact which makes early recollections of such value in vocational guidance. (Adler, 1964,
p. 74)
The first researchers to link ERs to vocational counseling were Holmes and Watson (1965).
They found with groups tested, a significant correlation between actual career choice and content
of ERs.
Career counseling is offered as a service to ensure as many of the students who high
school counselors support feel well prepared for their post-secondary school plans. Helping
students find their career identity can be very challenging for school counselors (Harless &
Stoltz, 2018). An Adlerian school counselor will also realize the work task as integral to one’s
overall happiness in life, along with the social task and the love task (Griffith & Powers, 2006).
Utilizing ERs as part of the career planning process for middle and high school students has been
shown to be effective and recommended. Especially effective is the use of narrative integrated
with ERs.
When school counselors work with students to help with post-secondary college and
career planning, a narrative approach provides a unique opportunity for the counselor to be more
of a facilitator than an expert. “Instead of telling the student what to do, the counselor develops a
collaborative relationship with the student and assists the student in the storytelling process and
in looking at life themes, vocational personality and sources of adaptability.” (Harless & Stolts,
2018, p. 123).
In fact, Savickas (2005) has found that ERs provide a tremendous source of material in
which to construct narratives around career choice. For this reason, ERs are used as a significant
component in his Career Construction theory. By listening to ERs of their students, counselors
may hear the “tacit preconceptions of the self and others that lead to themes in a life story”
(Savickas, 2015, p.35). Savickas describes specifically his methodology for collecting ERs as a
career counselor, which he believes is akin to a journalist asking for information for a story.
What are your earliest recollections? I am interested in hearing three stories about
things that happened to you when you were three to six years old. When a client is finished
communicating each ER counselors ask, If you were to assign a feeling to that memory, what
feeling would it be? After writing down that overall feeling, counselors ask a second question, If
you had a photograph of the most vivid part of that memory, what would 36 show? After
collecting the three ERs, counselors work with clients to compose a headline for each ER.
Counselors say to the client, Please give me a headline for each memory. The headline is like
that used for a story in a newspaper or a title for a movie. A good headline has a verb in it. Then
counselors read aloud the first ER and wait for the client to compose a headline. Counselors
work with a client until the client thinks the headline is just right. Titling ERs is not simply a
linguistic activity; it is an expression of authority in which clients themselves make sense of their
experiences. The process has clients author their own meaning and feel its emotional truth.
(Savickas, 2015, pp. 35-36). Savickas (2015) recommends that the counselor try to get at least
four sentences for every ER. Additionally, when constructing the headline, he recommends
having at least one verb in it. Also, Savickas (2015) felt it important a feeling word be
associated with each ER (Di Fabio, 2016).
Results and Discussion
Given the student-to-counselor ratio is not meeting ASCA recommendations in over 80%
of school districts ((Gagnon & Mattingly, 2016), it is obvious school counselors are not only left
with less time to spend with each student, but they are challenged with how their time is spent
daily. However, given the potential benefits for ERs to help both students and counselors, it is
ERs will continue to be used both for elementary students as a projective technique as
demonstrated by Arthur Clark (1994). ERs have also been found beneficial when providing
post-secondary school counseling to high school students (Harless & Stolts, 2018). Portrie-
Bethke, Hill, and Bethke, (2009) concluded ERs to be a significant component for specific
populations of children, such as those with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Clark (2002) and (Dinkmeyer, et al, (2015) both warned the importance of a counselor to
be aware of Adlerian concepts such as lifestyle, private logic, holism and social interest before
using ERs in counseling. For school counselors, this limitation would transfer as well given so
few of them may be trained on Adlerian concepts and techniques (Pryor & Tollerud, 1999).
Clark (1994) found just as in clinical work, ERs can be useful for school counselors with
elementary age children both to develop rapport as well as a projective technique. However, he
warned that proper training of the counselor is essential to help understand both the purpose and
the way ERs can help both the student and the counselor. Clark (1994) also warned that utilizing
ERs as a projective technique for emotionally distressed children or those with psychotic
disorders is not appropriate. He also urged counselors to understand ERs is not useful as a
formal technique to detect abuse of the child. However, just as in any instance where abuse may
be brought to light, it is up to the counselor to make appropriate referrals if the student
communicates through the recollections occurrence of abuse and/or if the child is in peril.
If a school counselor has had training in Adlerian Psychology and how to utilize ERs,
they may find it beneficial to consider their use. When the consultant has had special
training in understanding the use of early recollections, these may be particularly useful
in helping him or her gain an impression of the way in which the child views the world.
When a child is asked to recall one of the first things he can remember happening to him,
either before or after school, or during his first years of school, these recollections
provide some indication of his assumption about life. (Dinkmeyer et al., 2015, p.77)
Harless and Stoltz (2018) found integrating narrative approaches with ERs worked
excellently with secondary students, especially those from low socio-economic schools where
other tools such as Naviance may not be available. This idea, borrowed from Brott’s Storied
Approach (2001), looks at using a non-traditional method of career counseling through allowing
individuals to reflect on and share their own life story with their counselor. In doing so, defining
moments, sparkling moments as well as highs and lows can be revealed (Harless & Stolts, 2018)
all which have the potential to help students identify and clarify the career areas with which they
most closely resonate.

The Role of the American School Counseling Association Framework
As an occupation, school counseling is over a century old. It came about because of
several social, economic as well as education forces driven by several groups of people
(American School Counselor Association, 2012). A result of this evolution is the American
School Counselor Association (ASCA) model, which was originally published in 2003. By
providing a framework and model for school counselors, ASCA helps inspire counselors to
better serve their students. The framework defines three domains which school counselors center
their work with which to serve students: Academic, Personal/Social and Career/College
counseling.
Success in this endeavor is through collaboration with students and on their behalf.
Native American Chief Sitting Bull understood the power inherent in collaboration for helping
youth when he said, “We must put our minds together and see what life we can make for our
children.” (Sitting Bull as quoted by the American School Counseling Association, 2012, p. 18).
Being able to successfully collaborate even with their own students, however, may be
challenging given today’s current climate. Though ASCA (2012) recommends a student-to-
counselor ratio of 250:1, only 17.8% of school districts nationally meet this criterion (Gagnon &
Mattingly, 2016). The national median is closer to 411:1. Within large cities, the ratio is even
more increased, with the median at 499:1.
The ASCA national model “acknowledges the strength of leadership to design
comprehensive school counseling programs and integrate with the lateral themes of advocacy,
collaboration and systemic change” (Anita & Dollarhide, 2016, p. 37). As collaboration is one
of several themes defined by ASCA, it represents within it the need for school counselors to
develop rapport with students when working with them (Anita & Dollarhide, 2016). While the
use of ERs has been shown to be an excellent tool used to develop rapport (Clark, 1994) and
(Clark & Butler, 2012), today’s school counselors may not be familiar with the use of ERs. This
is because research specific to the technique of ERs for school counselors has been nearly non-
existent since the 1990s despite its continued growing use in clinical settings (Clark & Butler,
2012; Sweeney, Myers & Stephan, 2006). In fact, Sweeney, Myers and Stephan (2006) found
rapport was one of the positive benefits of integrating Adlerian ERs into counseling and therapy
assessment. Arthur Clark (2013) found that the development of trust and rapport enhances the
counseling relationship between counselor and counselee. Once a school counselor himself
before becoming a university professor, Clark (2002, p. 96) believed “as a projective technique,
ERs help counselors understand the uniqueness and potential of individuals through an
empathetic interaction in counseling.” He also noted, once rapport has been established, “most
individuals become quickly absorbed in relating their early memories and usually find the
transaction appealing and stimulating” (Clark, 2013, p. 92).
Individual Psychology has long contributed to School Counseling in ways which
positively impact students (Lemberger & Nash, 2008). Adlerian School counselors make use of
Adlerian techniques such as ERs to gain an understanding of the student’s social life based on
the family dynamics of the student (Studer, 2014). More and more, student counselors have been
providing services to students including group counseling, one-on-one counseling along with
academic and social-emotional support as well as career counseling (Lemberger & Nash, 2008).
The Role of Trauma
In the United States, two out of three children experience at least one traumatic event
before they reach adulthood (Forman-Hoffman et al., 2013). Along with homelessness, since the
advent of the new millennium, the issue of trauma has been discovered as a potential factor in the
low academic results of students (Dyregrov, 2004). More recently, research has allowed us to
discover that trauma is not without neurobiological correlates (Sperry, 2016). Trauma can be
defined as any overwhelming, terrifying event. When a person experiences intense experiences
for which one has no control, the effects of such an experience counteract a person’s ability to
cope (Millar, 2013). Moreover, for counselors who support victims of trauma, secondary
exposure can occur in the form of compassion burnout and increased fatigue to the counselor
(Rumsey, 2017). Considering the potential powerful effects of trauma is therefore important in
working with today’s students.
Given the increase in student populations of refugee students within the United States, the
amount of trauma present in the overall student population has increased as refugees report
“more total types of trauma and different types of trauma than immigrant and US. -origin youth”
(Betancourt, et al., 2017 p. 7). If trauma is chronic and occurs in childhood, the effects can be
both devastating and lifelong (Sperry, 2016). Personality disorders can easily occur in these
situations, particularly borderline personality disorder. In addition, behaviors such as
Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder among other disruptive
behaviors can result from not only being a victim of, but even a witness to, a traumatic event
(Atwoli, Stein, Koenen, & McLaughlin, 2015; Grothaus, 2013). Therefore, it is important for
educators to understand the complexity of helping students who may display these various types
of behaviors, especially given the ability for students to cope contains a direct link between the
trauma of the student and behavior the child may exhibit as a result of the trauma (Millar, 2013)
and (Souers & Hall, 2016).
While it has been suggested that early interventions for individuals with trauma may be
detrimental to helping the individual and in fact may potentially even further the damage done,
these beliefs have been proven wrong (Dyregrov & Regel, 2012). Researchers now understand
the wiser choice is early intervention, as it provides a better outcome for individuals with trauma.
Early intervention also helps individuals stricken with trauma to more accurately appraise their
own reaction to the traumatic event. For traumatic events like school bus accidents or school
shootings, it is not only expected adequate counseling by professionals take place immediately
but is effective in ensuring students feel ready to return to school as mentally fit as possible.
Recent empirical research supports effectiveness of immediate intervention in these situations.
Moreover, given the extent of trauma occurring with students in all grade levels today, there is a
huge need for more research in the area of ERs and trauma (Paige, DeVore, Chang, &
Whisenhunt, 2017).
The Adlerian Perspective of Trauma
From an Adlerian perspective, an individual who experiences trauma is tasked as a result
with overcompensating behaviors to adjust to the decreasing felt minus as “the impetus from
minus to plus never ends.” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p.103). Alfred Adler preferred using
the word “shock” instead of “trauma” (Sperry, 2016). He wrote:
We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences – the so-called trauma – but we make
out of them just what suits our purposes. We are self-determined by the meaning we give
to our experiences, and there is probably always something of a mistake involved when
we take particular experiences as the basis for our future life. Meanings are not
determined by situations, but we determine ourselves by the meanings we give to
situations (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 208).
Adler himself was no stranger to traumatic events. When he was only four years of age, he once
awoke to notice his brother was dead beside him in the bed (Millar, 2013). Later, as a physician,
though he was well aware of the neurobiological effect of shock and trauma, Adler chose to
write instead about the individual’s “style of life.” (Griffith & Powers, 2007, p. 63).
Conclusion
Providing a school counselor works in a situation which provides adequate time to do so,
ERs can be a useful tool for school counselors to help students from elementary age through high
school. This assumes the counselor has training in Adlerian principles and in how to gather and
interpret ERs with their students. Providing they have adequate training not only in the
implementation of ERs, but in Adlerian concepts such as lifestyle, holism and social interest,
school counselors can find the practice of using the ER technique advantageous for primary,
middle and high school students. Without adequate training in both ERs and Adlerian
psychology, ERs would not benefit either the student or the counselor.
As noted, most of the research sharing benefits of ER use in school settings is related to
their use with elementary students as a projective technique (Borden, 1997) and for developing
rapport (Clark & Butler, 2012). For high school students, ER’s can be an important tool in
exploring college and post-high school career counseling (Harless & Stoltz, 2018). However,
given the many benefits ERs may offer the student and counselor, it is important to keep in mind
ERs are “not a magical cure” (Lingg & Kottman, 1997, p. 260). Given the advantages for both
students and the school counselors who support them, it is evident that ERs will continue to be
used to benefit these student populations as they have been the last several decades.
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Running head: EARLY RECOLLECTIONS AND SCHOOL COUNSELING 1

Early Recollections and School Counseling

The Faculty of the Adler Graduate School

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For

The Degree of Master of Arts in

Adlerian Counseling & Psychotherapy

Chairperson: Amy Foell, MA, SC

Reader: Richard Close, DMin, LPCC, LMFT

recollections benefited elementary students by helping build rapport and as a projective

early recollections may not be appropriate will be reviewed.

Keywords: Adlerian psychotherapy, early recollections, rapport, projective technique, school

counselor, school counseling, trauma

Early Recollections and School Counseling

students academically, strength-based approaches such as Adlerian therapy proved more

have been as effective.

whom they support (Ergüner-Tekinalp, Johnson-Migalski & Belangee, 2018).

reasons Adlerian psychotherapeutic techniques showed effectiveness with marginalized school

could potentially provide to them in the future.

Though traditionally a staple of clinical work in Adlerian Psychotherapy (Travis, 2017)

to the current year (Harless & Stoltz, 2018).

counselor to use ERs with a child (Borden, 1997).

to be used in a school setting.

how well a person is psychologically is determined by their willingness to be helpful to others

the early recollection took place.

History of Early Recollections

different their view was on trauma.

A recollection as a purposeful construction was quite a variance from Freud’s concept of

individual psychology.” (Adler, 1932, p. 11 as cited by Ansbacher, 1973, p. 135). Moreover,

personality are given in a comprehensive understanding of the (1) earliest childhood

the style of life” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 191).

As a projective technique, early recollections were used by therapists successfully for

Stolts, 2018; Rogers, 1982).

(Mosak & Di Pietro, 2007, p. 13).

What ERs Are

ERs is the vividness and specificity of the story details.”

How ERs Were Used

Within the lifestyle assessment is the technique of early recollections.

understanding present behavior” (Sweeney, 1989, p. 215). Adler expanded further:

child’s memory of these events” (Studer, 2014, p. 195).

necessary to think about an early memory. (Clark, 2013, p. 92)

feelings to you remember having then?” (Clark, 2013, p. 93).

ages of five and eight years old.

accommodate these limitations in children, Stutey and Wubbolding (2018, p. 1) found

they are working.

asked to do so (Clark, 2013).

Early Recollections in Education

better understand the student’s hopes, behaviors, attitudes and conflicts.

help the children.

with the American School Counseling Association’s goal to be collaborative, rapport is a

asked to support (Zyromski & Mariani, 2016).

achievement (Harless & Stolts, 2018; Rogers, 1982).

2011). As no one is self-sufficient, it is therefore up to each individual to contribute to the

contribute to the common wellbeing of the community.

aspects of High School Counselor’s work. Adler (1964) stated:

associated with each ER (Di Fabio, 2016).

Results and Discussion

populations of children, such as those with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

be brought to light, it is up to the counselor to make appropriate referrals if the student

most closely resonate.

The Role of the American School Counseling Association Framework

As an occupation, school counseling is over a century old. It came about because of

more increased, with the median at 499:1.

The ASCA national model “acknowledges the strength of leadership to design