Welcome!
"WHAT’S THE STORY?": LIFE STYLE NARRATIVES STUDY GROUP
(an affiliate of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology [NASAP] https://www.alfredadler.org/)
We’re a book club with a twist in which we read and interpret a person’s important memories as if, “strung together,” they compose a short story or literary text.
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Four years ago, on the eve of the 2020 presidential election, What’s the Story?: Life Style Narratives Study Group presented
EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF U.S. PRESIDENTS
How timely: right (or left) before the upcoming election!
We focused mostly on the Early Recollections (ERs) of
Lincoln, LBJ, Jefferson, J.Q. Adams, and Grant!
This year we’re focusing on
THE LIFESTYLES/EARLY RECOLLECTIONS (ERs) OF TRUMP & HARRIS
SUMMARY NOW ON “PAST MEETINGS”! (or click here)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2024, OVER ZOOM
2:00 p.m. Eastern; 1:00 p.m./Central; 12 noon/Mountain; 11 a.m./Western; 7:00 p.m./Greenwich, London; 8:00 p.m./Europe
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89024953162?pwd=AnRv7Vi8k0dfnNvon5lZqGbQx6YiEV.1
Meeting ID: 890 2495 3162
Passcode: 533683
Meeting should last 1 ½ hours
Click here for agenda we will follow
CONTACT LES WHITE to RSVP and for more information: leswhitechicago@gmail.com
(click here for leaflet to send out)
What’s the Story? considers an individual’s Early Recollections or perceived important memories as if, “strung together,” they compose a short story. We then interpret that “story” by applying critical thinking methods adapted from literary and educational institutions, such as The Great Books Foundation, which promote a deeper comprehension of a “text.”
We’re a book club with a twist.
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CLICK HERE FOR A SUMMARY OF OUR MAY 14, 2023 MEETING:
Mother’s Day and Alfred Adler’s “New” ER!
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CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR MAY 14, 2023 MEETING —
INCLUDES A SUMMARY OF OUR FEBRUARY 12, 2023:
THE LIFE STYLES OF NOTED ADLERIANS RUDOLPH AND TEE DREIKURS
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INFORMATION ABOUT OUR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2023, OVER ZOOM (READING INCLUDED)!
In past Februarys, we’ve interpreted the ERs/Life Styles of Alfred Adler (birthday the 7th), his student Rudolph Dreikurs (birthday the 8th), and even compared the ERs of Adler, Freud, and Jung. This year, coinciding with Valentine’s Day (the 14th), we’re reading and interpreting the recollections and family descriptions (the Family Constellation) of Dreikurs and his wife Tee Dreikurs (birthday the 28th) who many consider the first art therapist.
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Look what you missed:
Click here for the summary of our Sunday, December 11, 2022 meeting
BAH HUMBUG! Just in time for the holidays! A Zoomin’ Life Style Interpretation of a “Scrooge”! (plus, ERs of sons of Nazis)
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SOME OF OUR OTHER PAST MEETINGS:
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2022 —
INTERPRETATION OF A LIFE STYLE CONDUCTED AT OUR AUGUST MEETING
Click here for a summary of our August and September 2022 meetings — a “twofer”!
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Zoom meeting: Sunday, August 14, 2022 — Life Style: “Live” Demonstration & Group Interpretation (1 p.m./Central)
— THE RECOLLECTIONS — LIFE STYLE — OF VLADIMIR PUTIN!)
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ZOOM MEETING: SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2022 (1 p.m. Central)
— LIVE DEMONSTRATION —
collecting and interpreting Life Style material (Family Constellation and Early Recollections)
CHANGE IN PLANS!!!!
INSTEAD OF A LIVE DEMONSTRATION WE WILL READ AND INTERPRET
THE RECOLLECTIONS (Life Style) OF VLADIMIR PUTIN!
Click here for the leaflet/invite to this momentous event!
For summaries of our past meetings, go to “Past Meetings” (above).
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2022:
Early Recollections/Life Style of Rudolf Dreikurs
the man called “undoubtedly the single person most responsible for the state of the practice of Individual (Adlerian) Psychology”
(yes, Raymond Corsini wrote that in 1967, but it’s probably still true today!)
Celebrating Adler’s Birthday (February 7; Rudolf Dreikurs’ February 8!)
Last year, to celebrate Adler’s birthday, we read and interpreted the Early Recollections (ERs) of
Adler, Freud, and Jung.
Two years ago we focused on Adler’s Life Style (his Family Constellation and ERs).
What will we do this year? Zoom in!
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Applying interpretive methods that educational and literary institutions such as The Great Books Foundation endorse to promote better comprehension of a text to the interpretation or deeper meaning of one’s memories help us to uncover one’s true self.
Go to “Past Meetings,” above, for summaries of our past meetings, including Celebrate Adler’s Birthday: Early Recollections of Adler, Freud, and Jung (2/7/21), Fauci New Year’s Eve, (12/31/20, natch), Early Recollections of U.S. Presidents (11/1/20 — two days before the presidential election!), and The Early Recollections of an Individual Diagnosed with Bipolar (9/20/20), which included our celebration of member Aimee Daramus’ new book on Bipolar Disorder. Oh, what the hey: here’s a summary of our EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF U.S. PRESIDENTS (click here!) meeting — hopefully, this will motivate you to go to our “Past Meetings” and learn more about what we do!
Members haven’t been sitting idle since our Celebrate Adler’s Birthday meeting at the beginning of 2021 (the “height” of the pandemic!): In May, at the NASAP conference in Milwaukee, we gave a half day seminar on interpreting. memories; in July, at the International Association of Individual Psychology Virtual/Zoom Conference (IAIP; Lviv, Ukraine), What’s the Story? was mentioned in Stability of Personality: Revisiting “Life Style Variables of Holocaust Survivors,” a talk by member Les White. Read the transcript of the talk here.
Contact us, above, for more information on our upcoming meetings!
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“Memories represent (the) ‘Story of My Life’: stories one repeats to oneself to warn or comfort, to keep concentrated on goals, to prepare by means of past experiences, to meet the future with an already tested style of action.”
— Alfred Adler (1931, What Life Should Mean to You)
In other words, our memories “guide” us, reminding us how to behave and not behave: they reflect one’s character and personalty.