Background :
Born in Cleveland , Ohio in 1925, William Glasser got his masters in clinical psychology and went on to medical school and psychiatry. Graduated from UCLA in 1953 and completed internship with Veteran's hospital. Glasser worked in the private practice of psychiatry in West Los Angeles from 1956-86, while lecturing and writing on a concurrent basis. His major effort is to teach the world choice theory, a new psychology aimed at replacing the present psychology of the world, which he calls external control psychology. He believes that external control psychology is a plague on humanity because it destroys human relationships. In doing so, it prevents us from getting along any better with each other than we ever have as evidenced by our failure to improve marital, family, teacher-student and manager-worker relationships during the present century.
The Institute for Reality Therapy was founded in 1967 by Dr. William Glasser, In
1994, the Institute was renamed The Institute for Control Theory, Reality Therapy and Quality Management to reflect the scope of the Institute's teachings. Two years later it became The William Glasser Institute, and Dr. Glasser renamed his theory, Choice Theory®. Glasser says that Choice Theory is offered to replace external control psychology, the present psychology of almost all the people in the world. Unfortunately, this forcing, punishing psychology is destructive to relationships. When used in a relationship it will always destroy the ability of one or both to find satisfaction in that relationship, and will result in people becoming disconnected from those with whom they want to be connected. Disconnectedness is the source of almost all human problems, such as what is called mental illness, drug addiction, violence, crime, school failure, spousal and child abuse, to mention a few.
Basic concepts of Choice theory theory on which Reality therapy is based.
View of Human Nature : We are not blank slate (like the strict behaviorists would argue), but rather we have 5 innate needs. Choice Theory states that all we do is behave, that almost all behavior is chosen, and that we are driven by our genes to satisfy five basic needs:
• Survival
• Love and belonging
• Power/achievement
• Freedom/independence
• Fun
Power can also be seen as recognition or accomplishment. What do we do to get a sense of accomplishment, that we can be successful?
Sometimes our needs are in conflict with each other example: if our need for belonging becomes in conflict with our need for freedom.
Fun we learn more through play than through any other means.
In practice, Glasser says the most important need is love and belonging, as closeness and connectedness with the people we care about is a requisite for satisfying all of the needs.
Total behavior acting, thinking, feeling and physiology comprise our total behavior. Analogy of a suitcase something we can pick up and carry with us, or of a car with acting and thinking steering our feelings and physiology. We try to get our needs met through our behavior, either in positive or in negative ways. When we feel we are not in homeostasis, we act in ways to get us back in balance.
Quality world the picture we have of our ideal world it is the picture of the world where we are in balance and our needs are being met. Sometimes called the picture album who and what is in your quality world?
The Ten Axioms of Choice Theory
• The only person whose behavior we can control is our own.
• All we can give another person is information.
• All long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems.
• The problem relationship is always part of our present life.
• What happened in the past has everything to do with what we are today, but we can only satisfy our basic needs right now and plan to continue satisfying them in the future.
• We can only satisfy our needs by satisfying the pictures in our Quality World.
• All we do is behave.
• All behavior is Total Behavior and is made up of four components: acting, thinking, feeling and physiology.
• All Total Behavior is chosen, but we only have direct control over the acting and thinking components. We can only control our feeling and physiology indirectly through how we choose to act and think.
• All Total Behavior is designated by verbs and named by the part that is the most recognizable. We are not depressed, we are depressing. We are not angry, we are angering.
The only person you can control is you. Life is not guaranteed to be fair. Complaining is ineffective behavior.
Characteristics of Reality Therapy
Reality Therapy is the method of counseling that Dr. Glasser has been teaching since 1965. It is now firmly based on Choice Theory and its successful application is dependent on the counselor's familiarity with, and knowledge of, that theory. In fact, teaching Choice Theory to counselees (whether clients or students) is now part of Reality Therapy. Since unsatisfactory or non-existent connections with people we need are the source of almost all human problems, the goal of Reality Therapy is to help people reconnect. This reconnection almost always starts with the counselor/teacher first connecting with the individual and then using this connection as a model for how the disconnected person can begin to connect with the people he or she needs. To create the relationship vital to Reality Therapy, the counselor will:
• Focus on the present and avoid discussing the past because what has happened can't be changed. Will discuss past successes/good relationships to help learn ways of dealing with present problems, but not past failures. If you focus on the past or on symptoms you keep people from facing the reality of the present.
• Avoid discussing symptoms and complaints as much as possible since these are the ways that counselees choose to deal with unsatisfying relationships.
• Emphasize choice and responsibility. Teach the concept of total behavior, which means focus on what counselees can do directly-act and think. Spend less time on what they cannot do directly; that is, change their feelings and physiology. Feelings and physiology can be changed, but only if there is a change in the acting and thinking.
• Reject transference. Transference is an avoidance of reality. Therapist strives to be themselves in their work, and avoids criticizing, blaming and/or complaining and help counselees to do the same. Remain non-judgmental and non-coercive, but encourage people to judge all they are doing by the tenets of Choice Therapy.
• Challenge traditional views of mental illness. Except for people with organic illness, all mental problems are a result of choices people make in an attempt to get their needs met.
Reality Therapy's Basic Beliefs:
• Emphasis on responsibility
• Therapist's function is to keep therapy focused on present
• We choose misery in attempt to meet our needs
• We act responsibly when we meet our needs without keeping others from meeting their needs.
Main question: Is what I am doing getting me closer to the people I need? If the choice of behaviors is not getting people closer, then the counselor works to help them find new behaviors that lead to a better connection.
Therapeutic process :
Must first create a good relationship with the client through active and sincere listening. Teach counselees that legitimate or not, excuses stand directly in the way of their making needed connections.
• Focus on specifics. Find out as soon as possible who counselees are disconnected from and work to help them choose reconnecting behaviors. If they are completely disconnected, focus on helping them find a new connection.
• Help them make specific, workable plans to reconnect with the people they need, and then follow through on what was planned by helping them evaluate their progress. Based on their experience, counselors may suggest plans, but should not give the message that there is only one plan. A plan is always open to revision or rejection by the counselee.
• Be patient and supportive but keep focusing on the source of the problem of disconnectedness. Counselees who have been disconnected for a long time will find it difficult to reconnect. They are often so involved in the symptom they are choosing that they have lost sight of the fact that they need to reconnect.
• Help them to understand, through teaching them Choice Theory and encouraging them to read the book, Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom, that whatever their complaint, reconnecting is the best possible solution to their problem.
The counseling environment is free of coercion and allows for creativity in creating new behaviors to replace old, unsuccessful behaviors.
The WDEP System developed by Robert Webbolding and used in the practice of reality therapy to help client identify strategies to change:
• Wants explore what you want and need, and how you meet those needs. How do you perceive what your external world and how is that different than your inner world of wants. Think about what you want from your family, friends, work, from counseling and from themselves. Ask: If you were the person that you wish you were, what kind of person would you be? What would your family be like if your wants and their wants matched? What would you be doing if you were living as you want to? What do you think stops you, gets in your way of making these changes?
• Doing and direction - Focus on behavior what are you doing now? What did you do this week; how could you do things differently? What stopped you from doing what you said you want to do? De-emphasize feelings, focus on behavior, actual doing. Don't look for the why's but for the what's
• Evaluation Does your present behavior have a reasonable chance of getting you what you want? Is it helping or hurting? Is the behavior working for you? If you are depressing, is that behavior helping you? Emphasis on choice of doing, thinking feeling and physiology.
• Planning and commitment once client decides to change, make a specific plan of action and evaluate the plan. Plan should be:
• i. Simple easy to understand, concrete
• ii. Attainable involve a new course of action stated in terms of what you will do; realistic
• iii. Measurable can look back and say, yes, I did this or I didn't do that. Changes are observable.
• iv. Immediate and involved something that can be immediately put into place. Involves active change, new behavior. Performed daily or repetitively.
• v. Controlled Can be done by the client and not dependent on what others will or won't do.
Must then work with the plan to evaluate if it is working, and if not, what needs to change. Does our behavior satisfy our needs? If not, what can we do to change the plan so that we can what we want and need.
Advantages of reality therapy easy to teach, good for short-term focus; conscious behavioral problems. Helpful with life situation problems; good for adolescents. Limitations does not deal with trauma and long-term affect of trauma. Might be easy to fix problem but may return in another form. Pretty extreme thoughts on DSM-IV-TR and fails to recognize possibility of neurochemistry with addiction and depression. Could induce guilt in some people to think they are choosing their behavior when could be biologically based. In multicultural counseling must be aware of cultural variables that influence choices and language variations. Also may not take into account very real environmental forces that limit people's choices.
Homework review
For next week please complete the Quick Discrimination quiz in the student handbook.
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