Dr. Walton has been a psychologist in private practice in Columbia, South Carolina for over 40 years. He was Associate Director of the University of South Carolina Counseling Center from 1967 until 1974. He is the founder of Adlerian Child Care Centers and Kindergartens (www.adlerianchildcare.net). For eighteen years Dr. Walton offered graduate courses through the South Carolina Adlerian Summer Institute in Columbia, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston. He has been a member of the faculty of the International Committee of Adlerian Summer Schools and Institutes (ICASSI) (www.ICASSI.net) since 1976. He is known for his outreach activities through which he has helped to establish or strengthen the use of the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler in universities, schools and agencies in North America as well as in seventeen European countries, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and Uruguay (www.centroadleriano.org), Japan, China and South Korea.
Dr. Frank Walton was inspired by the work of psychiatrist Rudolf Dreikurs, who was a protégé and colleague of Alfred Adler in Vienna. Dr. Walton subsequently studied with Dreikurs in Chicago. He typically teaches family therapy and individual therapy by means of live demonstrations in the manner introduced by Adler and pioneered in North America by Dreikurs. As a practitioner he is regarded by his professional colleagues as a master in the field. He has been a member of the Faculty of the Adlerian Certification Institute in Cambridge, England, and a visiting professor with Trakia University in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, where he recently presented the keynote address at the International Conference of European Scientists. He has also served as a visiting professor with the Center for Adlerian Studies in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was the keynote speaker at the national convention of the Japanese Society of Adlerian Psychology, October 14, 2017, and subsequently provided counseling demonstrations in Osaka and Tokyo, October 21, and 22. He has been a consultant to parent educators in China and has been invited to teach Family Counseling in Shanghai in October, 2018.
One of the significant contributions to the practice of Adlerian counseling and therapy in recent years was Dr. Walton’s creation of a powerful technique known as “The Most Memorable Observation.” He has been recognized by his peers for his work as a “counselor to counselors” and a “therapist to therapists.”
He is co-author (with R. L. Powers) of the popular publication Winning Children Over: A Manual for Teachers, Counselors, Principals, and Parents, which was given by the Chicago City School system to each of its 28,000 teachers. Dr. Walton is also the author of the best selling booklet, Winning Teenagers Over in the Home and School. His books have been published in 15 languages. Dr. Walton was the psychological consultant for the critically acclaimed videotape and DVD, Teen Suicide: An Approach to Prevention, which merited the Golden Eagle Award of the Council of International Non-theatrical Events. He has also produced the popular DVD: The Use of The Most Memorable Observation in Counseling and Parent Consultation. Several of his works have been published in the 2009 Bulgarian publication, Francis X. Walton, Ph.D. Contemporary Adlerian Profiles. He was president of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (www.alfredadler.org) from 1976-78, and is Executive Director of the South Carolina Society of Adlerian Psychology. He is a recipient of the Life Time Achievement Award of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology.
At the center of Dr. Walton’s personal life is his wife of fifty-seven years, Kathy, their four children, and nine grandchildren. He is a former athlete and an enthusiastic outdoorsman with interests in fishing, hiking, canoeing, gardening and tennis. He is a devoted sports fan of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was elected to the Athletic Hall of Fame of John Carroll University in 1992.
