Wake Forest Counseling Students Study in Vienna

Summer of 2000

EDUC 750: The Vienna Theorists -- Freud, Adler, Moreno, and Frankl

This course focuses on four of the leading theorists behind modern counseling. The theories of each practitioner, i.e., Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Jacob Moreno, and Viktor Frankl, are examined in the context of the city in which they initially formulated their clinical ideas. Students will visit historical sites and institutes in Vienna as well as study original writings of each theorist.

On June 23^rd, 2000 10 rising second year counseling students, two recent graduates, and Professor Sam Gladding and his family boarded a Northwest jet in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their final destination, which they reached the morning of June 24^th, was Vienna, Austria, for an intensive course on the Vienna Theorists -- Sigmund Freud, Viktor Frankl, Alfred Adler, and Jacob Moreno. What they learned extended well beyond theories to include lessons on cultures and reflections on self.

The group made the Flow Haus, a residence owned by Wake Forest, their home. From there they branched out to both explore Vienna and the theories that originated in the city during the first half of the 20^th century. The Flow Haus provided both a formal and informal setting for discussions and interactions that helped integrate the materials presented in class on a more personalized level.

Saturday and Sunday, June 24-25^th , the group food shopped, learned about public transportation and the layout of the city, attended a service/concert of the Vienna Boys' Choir, as well as visited St. Stephans, the Mozart Museum, and a café where Sigmund Freud used to drink coffee.

On Monday, June 26^th, three classic Freudian cases -- Dora, The Rat Man, and The Wolf Man -- were presented and discussed in class. Afterwards, the class as a group caught public transportation (bus 40A) and went for a tour of the Freud Museum after which the group discussed Freud and his life at the Freud Café next door to the museum. The group then reassembled at the Flow Haus and discussed logotherapy and its founder, Viktor Frankl, for an additional three hours.

On Tuesday, June 27^th, Alex Vesely, the grandson of Viktor Frankl came to the Flow Haus and led a four-hour discussion on the life and work of his grandfather. He showed videotapes of his grandfather both lecturing on logotherapy and interacting with his family. He provided much food for thought and in turn, the group provided him food for nourishment, i.e., lunch. Later in the day, the group visited with Frankl's widow in her apartment for about 90 minutes. She talked to the class about her life with Dr. Frankl and showed everyone mementos of their marriage and his works. Both experiences were moving and full of information.

A bus pulled up to the Flow Haus at 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, June 28^th, and the class traveled as a group to the Theresienstradt Concentration Camp sixty kilometers north of Prague in the Czech Republic. The camp is one in which Viktor Frankl was imprisoned and one from which children of the Holocaust were treated after World War II by Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud. The class received a guided tour and an immersion into the inhumanity that Frankl and others experienced at this torture camp. It was a sobering and somber experience that helped us, as a group, better understand the man behind the creation of logotherapy and the effect that the inhumanity of the time had on the children immersed in it. The bus arrived back at the Flow Haus at midnight.

Despite the long day, the group left the house on Thursday, June 29^th, at 9 a.m. for a lecture on Alfred Adler at the University of Vienna by a professor and practicing Adlerian theorist, Dr. Wilfried Datler. As a class we were surprised to find that Adlerian theory as practiced in Vienna now is mixed with depth psychology, i.e., psychoanalysis -- Freud's theory. Another intriguing aspect of Datler's talk was his reenactment of how Alfred Adler treated cases. In the hallways of the University, Datler and his assistant, Johannes Gstach, showed the class a display on the life and works of Adler.

After returning to the Flow Haus the group discussed Adler and his theory until late afternoon. Then the subject area was switched and a presentation by a subgroup of students was made on Jacob Moreno and psychodrama. Besides warming up to the elements essential to the practice of this group psychotherapy approach, several class members participated in an actual psychodrama that lasted until early evening. As with all of the classes, the day ended with a processing of what had happened, what was learned, and a test on the materials covered in assigned readings and in class.

The next three days were left open for travel and exploration of the city and surrounding areas in order to get a better idea of the culture and history in which the theories developed. Most class members went to noted sites around the city including the Hofsburg Palace, the Belvedere, the Sconbrunn, the Opera House, the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum, the Prater, the Grinzing, and numerous shops around the town. A number of class members also took the train for a day trip to Salzburg.

On Monday morning, July 3^rd the class caught taxis back to the Vienna airport, went through customs, and boarded a KLM jet for the return to Greensboro through Amsterdam and Detroit. Although our luggage was lost in the process, we kept our memories intact and now look back with fondness and fulfillment regarding our experiences in Vienna and what we learned there. Theories and theorists will never be the same!

The Counseling Education Faculty hopes to offer the elective "The Vienna Theorists-Freud, Adler, Moreno and Frankl" to students in the program each summer. This opportunity is subject to the yearly availability of the Flow Haus. Tuition scholarships are available but students must pay for their own travel expenses.

View the Vienna Memory photo gallery

Faculty Leader

Sam Gladding

The Students who participated in the Vienna Theory class: