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Marina Bluvshtein, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Adlerian Practice + Scholarship | Interim Chair, Couple + Family Therapy Department
Chicago, Online, Vancouver
“I follow the Rule of the Three Rs – adhering to reason, rigor, and relationships. I see these principles being especially useful at the grand contemporary social junction where Adler’s Individual Psychology responds to a call for community actions and personal responsibility for the fate of humankind.”
Dr. Bluvshtein has devoted nearly three decades to the study, teaching, and practice of Adlerian psychology. At Adler University, she directs the Center for Adlerian Practice and Scholarship (CAPS) and serves as professor, teaching courses in Adlerian psychotherapy, assessment, family counseling, and counseling with older adults. Through CAPS, she has expanded Adlerian resources for faculty, students, and the wider community — overseeing Adlerpedia, supporting archival work, organizing clinical trainings, and building connections with Adlerian organizations worldwide.
Her leadership extends well beyond Adler University. In 2024, she was reelected to a second term as president of the International Association of Individual Psychology (IAIP), the oldest Adlerian organization in the world. She also serves on the boards of the International Committee of Adlerian Schools and Institutes (ICASSI) and the Alfred Adler Institute of New York, and is an ICASSI faculty member. Her scholarship has appeared widely, including as author, reviewer, and guest editor for the Journal of Individual Psychology and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
Dr. Bluvshtein’s areas of expertise include early recollections, dreams, metaphors, the history of Adlerian psychology, and cross-lingualism in mental health, with a special interest in neurocognitive development in older adulthood. She has mentored countless practitioners who have gone on to collaborate with her as colleagues in teaching, writing, and presenting. In 2016, she founded the Adler Academy of Minnesota. Earlier in her career, and before immigrating to the United States as a refugee, she worked as a high school teacher and assistant principal, librarian, chemical lab technician, and construction engineer.
MEMBERSHIPS + ASSOCIATIONS
2001-Current: American Psychological Association (APA)
1999-Current: American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), Clinical Fellow
1996-Current: North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP)
PRESENTATIONS + PUBLICATIONS
Presentations
The Future of Higher Education
2025
30th Anniversary of Trakia University – Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Adlerian-Based Brief Interventions for Couples in Distress
2025
Couples Therapy Certificate, Taiwanese Society of Adlerian Psychology (TSAP) – Virtual
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Advanced Lifestyle Analysis
2025
14-Hour Training Sponsored by Human Guild – Tokyo, Japan
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Inferiority as a Theoretical and Practical Concept
2025
Full-Day Workshop for Sanyou Growth – Hong Kong
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Alfred Adler: His Life and His Theory
2025
Guest Lecture at the University of Tirana – Tirana, Albania
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Adler’s Life and How It Influenced His Theory
2025
Master Class for IMAC Students, Blanquerna University Ramon Lull – Barcelona, Spain
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Using Metaphors: A Gift of Metamorphosis for Each of You
2024
57th Annual International Adlerian Summer School (ICASSI) – Kall, Germany
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Publications
Adler’s Individual Psychology studied through the lens of his Jewish ethnocultural, intellectual, and spiritual life
2025
Journal of Individual Psychology, 81(3) [In press]
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
Diagnostic value of early recollections: Match, rematch, and a perfectly imperfect match
2025
Journal of Individual Psychology, 81(1), 40–73
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M. and Eagle, R.
Echoing in the Bone and Blood: Adlerian approaches to cultural postmemories
2025
Journal of Individual Psychology, 81(1), 137–161
Author(s):
Saeedi, S. and Bluvshtein, M.
Psychopathology and Psychotherapy: DSM-5-TR Diagnosis, Case Conceptualization, and Treatment (4th ed.)
2024
Routledge
Author(s):
Sperry, L., Sperry, J., and Bluvshtein, M. (Eds.)
Early recollections and the use of Artificial Intelligence
2024
Journal of Individual Psychology, 80(2), 130–148
Author(s):
Borg, M. and Bluvshtein, M.
Tyranny and Wars: From Tyrannical Personality to Mass Tyranny – An Adlerian Perspective
2023
Journal of Individual Psychology, 79(4), 327–343(German Translation, 2025: Von der tyrannischen Persönlichkeit zur Massentyrannei: Eine adlerianische Perspektive, Zeitschrift für Individualpsychologie, 2, 143–160)
Author(s):
Bluvshtein, M.
LEADERSHIP + ENGAGEMENT
2023 – Present: Board member, Alfred Adler Institute of New York
2021 – Present: International Association of Individual Psychology (IAIP) – President
2018 – Faculty and 2024 – Present: Board member, International Committee of Adlerian Summer Schools and Institutes (ICASSI)
2016 – Founder and ED, Adler Academy of MN
CURRENT RESEARCH + OPPORTUNITIES
Continuous work on women’s voices in psychology.
Use of metaphors in therapy and beyond to enhance human experience.
