Chapter 9: Choice Theory & The New Reality Therapy Flashcards
William Glasser
Revered figure in the desemination and application of reality therapy
Glasser’s Birthplace
Cleveland, Ohio
Glasser’s Childhood
Uneventful and happy; does not consider exploration of the past to be a valuable part of therapy
Glasser’s Profession
Chemical Engineer; changed his focus and began a PhD program in clinical psychology; Master’s degree in psychology at Western Reserve University
Glasser’s Mentor
G.L. Harrington, M.D.
Reality Therapy
Involves teaching clients how to think, plan, and behave more effectively; considered a cognitive-behavioral therapy but one that focuses that focuses very much on realism and how to treat difficult clients
Relationship between Therapist and Client
Characterized primarily by kindness, connection, and a genuine desire to help the client and by a teaching or eductional process
Choice Theory
Holds that humans are internally motivated; Environmental factors only provide humans with information; after obtaining and processing external information, we then choose exactly how we want to behave; decisions are made not on the basis of external contingencies, but on the basis of internal factors; all of us are motivated to satisfy one or more of five basic, genetically encoded, human needs
Internal Factors which guide human decision making
Survival, Love and Belonging, Power (or achievement), freedom (independence), and fun (or enjoyment)
Survival Needs
Linked with needs for love or power
Survival
Expressed through total behavior including our thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and physiology
Love & Belonging
Primary human need because we need other people in our lives to meet most of the rest of our needs most of the time; Runs strong and deep; includes sexual love, friendship love, and romantic love; love relationships are often derailed by the human need for power
Power
Having power is intrinsically gratifying; Either extreme, excessie striving for power or experiencing oneself as powerless may result in unhappiness and a need for counseling; Glasser discusses early childhood as a time when our human needs for power, and the gratification associated with meeting those needs, become recognized; neither good nor bad, it is how it is defined, acquired, and used that makes a difference
Why People Get Preoccupied with Power, Freedom, or Fun
Their preoccupation is caused by their inability to be involved in a satisfying relationship
Some people have incorrectly turned to external control theory as a means for getting their love and belonging needs met
Freedom
Independence; Concerns s mainly when we perceive that it is threatened; need for freedom is evolution’s attempt to provide the correct balance between your need to try to force me to live my life the way you want and my need to be free of that force;
Inability to Express Oneself
May cause a person to channel his or her creative impulses into a destructive behavior pattern or an illness
Fun
The need for fun became built into our genes; links need for fun to play and links playing with learning; easiest need to satisfy and is best defined by laughter
Quality of World
Consists of a small group of memories or mental pictures that you assoicate with obtaining one or more of your basic needs
Quality World Consists of
People
Things or Experiences
Ideas or systems of belief
Total Behavior
Includes acting, Thinking, Feeling, and Physiology which occur simulateously;
Glasser’s Position on Psychopathology
He believes deeply in human problems and human suffering, but he does not believe that mental illeness exists except for extreme forms in which brarin pathology is clearly present such as Alzheimer’s disease, brain trauma, or brain injury
Most Compassionate Approach
Set clients free and empower them by helping them see their mental, emotional, and physical pain in terms of personal choice; insensitivity, in practice, lies in the practitioner and not the theory