Avoiding traps refers to what in Adlerian therapy?

• A. The client's impulses to act
• B. The therapist's efforts to avoid reinforcing clients' destructive behavior patterns
• C. The use of dream analysis to guide behavior
• D. Group support sessions

Answer: (B)

In Adlerian therapy, the focus is on guiding clients toward socially useful goals without reinforcing their self-defeating patterns. Avoiding traps means the therapist consciously does not reinforce destructive behavior patterns or faulty life scripts by going along with excuses, defensiveness, or blame. Instead, the therapist offers encouragement, helps reframe goals, and supports the client in choosing approaches that foster cooperation and belonging.

This is why the correct idea is about the therapist’s role in not unintentionally strengthening clients’ negative patterns. Dream analysis and group sessions aren’t central to this concept in Adlerian practice, and the client’s impulses to act describe internal motivations rather than the therapist’s corrective stance.