Rudolf Dreikurs, MD, was an Australian-born American psychiatrist and educator, who lived from 1897 to 1972. He originally helped to develop the Australian psychologist Alfred Adler’s ideas called individual psychology into a pragmatic method for understanding the purposes of inappropriate childhood behavior without punishment or reward. He worked with Dr. Adler both in Europe and in the United States and later organized and refined Dr. Adler’s and his own ideas into an effective treatment system. These insights and treatment methods were then further refined by Dr. Dreikurs during the remainder of his life to become a highly usable theory of personality and psychological treatment, not only for use with children but also with families, counselors, teachers, and others, including groups.

The content of this book summarizes the results of his commitment and mission in doing this work as he created, tested, refined, and applied these concepts in creation of methods for understanding and treatment of a wide variety of behavior problems and disorders common in families worldwide. He also trained people to use these methods in various countries throughout the world. In doing so, he adapted and applied his knowledge in work with business, industry and government, including the military.

The ideas and methods contained in this volume are easily understood and may be applied immediately by parents and their families, by teachers in classrooms, and by others – now, today – with valuable positive results. The chapters in this book provide a distillation of logical techniques and procedures, for productive application of his original insights including those originated by Dr. Adler and others.

Dr. Camp had the honor to meet Dr. Dreikurs in 1970, two years before his death. At that time Dr. Dreikurs told him and a few others that if he had their youth, he would write another book or books to further update and share his insights with new/upcoming generations. This volume is part of an attempt to do exactly that.