History of the Association
Adler’s Legacy Shapes the Present
1911
Wahlanzeige erster Vorstand
Founding
A break occurs between Alfred Adler and Sigmund Freud. Adler goes on to found the “Society for Free Psychoanalytic Research” (German: „Verein für freie psychoanalytische Forschung“), which is renamed in 1913 as the “Society for Individual Psychology” (German: „Verein für Individualpsychologie“)
1920
Volksheim Ottakring
Rise
After the First World War, an internationally recognized movement of Individual Psychology emerges. In Socialist Vienna, educational and social projects are established — such as child guidance centers and an experimental school based on Individual Psychology.
1934
Überwachung des Vereins
Suppression under Austrofascism
Political repression and economic hardship lead to the closure of counseling centers and force many Individual Psychologists to emigrate or flee. Alfred Adler himself emigrates permanently to the United States in 1935.
1938
Vereinsauflösung
Individual Psychology under National Socialism
Jewish members of the association are systematically persecuted and murdered. In 1939, the association is officially dissolved. A small number of Individual Psychologists remain in Vienna and maintain contact with a group of psychoanalysts around August Aichhorn.
1946
F. Birnbaum und K. Nowotny
New Beginning
Ferdinand Birnbaum and Karl Nowotny reactivate the association. Oskar Spiel promotes the re-establishment of counseling centers and organizes lectures for professional audiences.
Development of Modern Individual Psychology
In the reconstruction period after the Second World War, Individual Psychologists founded or directed a number of socially significant institutions.
In 1948, Erwin Ringel established Europe’s first suicide prevention center, which still exists today as a crisis intervention center.
In 1949, Vienna saw the creation of the first Child Guidance Clinic, an institute for educational assistance, based on close cooperation between psychoanalysis and Individual Psychology.
From 1951 to 1974, the Individual Psychologist Knut Baumgärtel headed the Viennese Institutes for Educational Assistance (German: “Wiener Institute für Erziehungshilfe”).
1979
Erwin Ringel
Expansion
The association’s activities were expanded to cover all of Austria, and it adopted the name “Österreichischer Verein für Individualpsychologie” (Austrian Association for Individual Psychology). Following this statutory amendment, the ÖVIP began to divide into several groups. In 1996, four regions were established: West, South, Central, and East.
1982
Academy
The Alfred Adler Institute is founded as a training academy. In 1993, the Austrian Association for Individual Psychology (ÖVIP) is officially recognized as a psychotherapeutic training institution for the method-specific approach of Individual Psychology, under the Psychotherapy Act, which came into force in 1991.
2011
Beisetzung der Urne
Burial of the Urn
The solemn interment of Alfred Adler’s urn takes place in an honorary grave at Vienna’s Central Cemetery.
2013
Eröffnung Vereinslokal
New Association Headquarters
A new association headquarters is opened in the Alfred Adler Center International (AACI).
2014
Universität Wien
Program with the University of Vienna
The psychotherapeutic specialization in Individual Psychology and Self Psychology is introduced at the University of Vienna, in cooperation with the Austrian Association for Individual Psychology (ÖVIP).
2020
Crisis Hotline and Outpatient Clinic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis hotline was established; in 2025, it is being expanded into a psychotherapeutic outpatient clinic.
2025
Groundbreaking
The Alfred Adler Museum project begins.
A Selection of External Institutions Related to Individual Psychology
