Final: CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY Flashcards
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Key concepts
○ We choose everything we do
○ People are self-determining; choices of thoughts, feelings, and actions determine quality of
life (choice theory) p. 371
○ Mental health: success in meeting basic needs while respecting the rights of others
○ Healthy choices reflect awareness of reality, responsibility for oneself, & understanding of
right and wrong
○ Treatment helps people make responsible and realistic choices and responses that are likely
to meet their needs. P.469
○ Emphasizes self-determination and process more than results
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: View of motivation
○ Motivated to meet our needs and make connection
○ Reality theory views people as basically self determining and are able to overcome
childhood issues.
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Five basic human needs
○ Love and belonging; survival; power; fun; freedom
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Quality world
○ Pictures or images of the sort of life a person would like to have, the people they want to be with, the possessions or experiences they would like to have, and the ideas and beliefs they value
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Total behavior (car metaphor)- four inseparable components
○Acting/Thinking/Feeling/Physiology
○ Car Metaphor- Front two wheels are acting/thinking, back wheels are feeling/ physiology.
The direction of the car cannot be changed by the movement of only one wheel- similarly a
person cannot change by only changing one aspect of total behavior
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Techniques
○ Metaphors ○ Relationships--with counselor and others ○ Questions--what and how (not why) ○ WDEP ■ Wants, Doing, Evaluation and Planning ○ SAMIC ■ Simple, Attainable, Measurable, Immediate, Involving clinician, Controlled by planner, Committed, Consistent ○ Positive Addictions ○ Use of language-- verbs, “ing” ○ Reasonable consequences, not punitive ○ Paradoxical interventions ○ Skill development
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: View of psychopathology
○ Problems originate during early childhood
○ Mental illness: failure to meet the five basic needs in responsible and effective ways
○ What is the Purpose of choosing maladaptive behaviors?
■ Have more control over self/others
■ Get help from others
■ Avoid something – because unwilling or hard
■ Gain power over others
Basic assumption is that people are self-determining and are able to overcome their early difficulties.
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Reasons clients come to counseling
○ Current relationship issue–could be lack of connection, unfulfilling relationships, etc
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Confrontation
○ Process of noting discrepancies, usually in a person’s words and behaviors, and reflecting those discrepancies back to the person
○ Ex: “I hear you saying this, but you are acting this way.. Can you tell me more about that?”
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Therapeutic relationship
○ Share perceptions, experiences, ask for feedback
○ Pay little attention to transference and countertransference
○ Warm, accepting, friendly, caring, respectful
○ May give client advise on what to wear to a meeting
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: WDEP
○ Wants– what you are and are not getting; how are wants linked to needs?
○ Direction/Doing– What actions are you doing to meet your wants/needs
○ Evaluation–How is that behavior helping you get your wants and needs?
○ Planning–Help client make better choices through SAMI2 C3
■ Simple, Attainable, Measurable, Immediate, Involving, Controlled by planner, Committed to, consistent
CHOICE THEORY/REALITY THERAPY: Types of responses/questions
○ Avoid telling people what is not working for them and how they should change
○ Instead they use carefully structured questions to help people take a close look at their lives
○ Ask what and how, not why
○ “What did you do today to satisfy your need for belonging?”