Transcript Reality Therapy

Reality Therapy
BY ASHLEY WAGNER
Choice Theory
 Developed by William Glasser ( formerly control
theory) as the basis for reality therapy
 Focuses on the needs and wants that people have
 People have the capacity to choose their behaviors to
meet these needs and wants
 The purpose of behavior is to attempt to control the
current external world
William Glasser
 Tough background but turned his life around
 Psychoanalysis wasn’t meeting the needs of his
clients, wanted to make concrete change
 William Glasser Institute (1967)
Glasser’s View of Mental Health
 Mental health is accumulation of behaviors
 Behaviors that cause person to be labeled with a
mental disorder are under their control
 Negative behaviors are an attempt to meet needs
 Mental disorders overemphasize the role of external
factors instead of personal responsibility
Regressive and Positive Paths of Development
 Positive:
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Positive statement to
change
Positive symptoms
Positive addictions
 Regressive:
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Attitude of giving up after
unsuccessful attempt at
meeting needs
Negative symptoms
Negative addictions
Application of Choice theory
 Reality therapy focuses on strategies and techniques
for dealing with human choices
 Helping clients meet internal needs in the outside
world- coping with reality
 Counselor is the teacher of choice theory
 Assessment- no formal methods
Underlying ideas of Reality Therapy
 Not labeling behavior in order for person to view
behavior as controllable
 Focus on the present, current behaviors
 Person is capable of taking responsibility for meeting
their needs
 Connections with others important and can even be
curative
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUYPchyQfiU
4 elements of behavior
 Acting
 Thinking
 Feeling
 Physiology
 Most control over acting and thinking
Goals of Reality Therapy
 Helping clients meet internal needs in the outside
world- coping with reality
 Defining wants and evaluating behaviors in terms of
meeting their needs, using the WDEP system
 Making concrete plans for fulfilling their needs
5 basic needs
 Survival
 Belonging
 Power
 Freedom
 Fun
WDEP System
 W- Wants
 D- Doing
 E-Evaluation
 P-Planning
Quality (Ideal) World
 Guide/model in your mind that directs your
behaviors
 Guide consists of images ( such as people, places,
objects, or ideas) that meet your needs
 Can be updated, like a computer file
 Used to compare to current experience
My Quality World
“Quality World and Culture”
 Culture and Quality World are both fluid, dynamic,
and interactive through development
 Culture influences the organization of the Quality
World and the meeting of basic needs in general
 Clashes between Quality World and culture
 Exploring client’s cultural Quality World
Therapeutic Techniques
 In general having conversations about needs and
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wants, being flexible
Using questions
Doing the unexpected
Allowing or imposing consequences
Physical activity, humor, metaphors
Primary Applications
 Schools the idea of Quality Schools
 ADHD and ODD efficacy
 Couples counseling
 Other applications: Groups, work settings
Limitations
 Lack of empirical research, especially with diverse
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groups
Human behavior oversimplified
External factors downplayed
Feelings not focused on enough for some clients
Disorders being behaviors we choose
References
 Glasser, W. (2000). Counseling with choice theory:
The new reality therapy. New York: HarperCollins
Publishers Inc.
 Sanchez, W. (1998). Quality world and culture.
International Journal of Reality Therapy, 17(2), 1216.
 Wubbolding, R.E. (2011). Reality therapy.
Washington D.C.: American Psychology Association.