Reality Therapy Flashcards
william glasser
Early in his psychiatric training Glasser rejected the Freudian model of basic drives and began asking himself basic questions regarding human behavior and why his colleagues were dealing with “mental disease” rather than “mental health.” One of his first practices was in a prison for girls in Ventura, California. He noticed that some girls were able to get their lives straightened out and rejoin society in a positive way and others were not. He recognized that those who were successful in positive change were the ones who took responsibility for their behavior—this became the early focus of his work. As he developed the idea that people needed to be responsible for their here-and-now behavior, someone remarked, “Oh, you are talking about reality.” The name stuck and he began conceptualizing his ideas as Reality Therapy.
Success Identity & Failure Identity
He originally saw people moving toward a Success Identity or a Failure Identity based the choices made to meet basic needs. One of Glasser’s (1962) earliest statements was, “People do not act irresponsibly because they are ‘ill’; they are ‘ill’ because they act irresponsibly” as stated in Reality Therapy. Notice that “ill” is in quotation marks. In a split with most of his fellow psychiatrists, Glasser does not accept the basic tenets of the medical model. He does not refer to people being sick; they are miserable due to poor choices and unhealthy relationships.
Reality Therapy –> Choice Theory
Reality therapy has become a time-tested therapeutic model. After reality therapy was formulated, Glasser began to ask, “Why does it work?” As he researched this question, he came across Bill Powers’ work comparing brain function to a mechanical control system. In 1981 Glasser published Stations of the Mind in which he adapted Powers’ work into a psychological model he called Control Therapy. In the late 90’s the name was changed to Choice Theory which incorporated Glasser’s original Reality Therapy. A useful analogy is Choice Theory and Reality Therapy are like a train and a track. Choice theory is the train while Reality Therapy is the track.
External Control Psychology
Glasser states that most people have been brought up under the tenets of a popular psychological system that has been influencing human behavior ever since the dawn of history. He calls this External Control Psychology. Please note he is not specifically referring to stimulus response theory or behavioral theory.
external control psychology 2
External Control Psychology is the “common sense” idea that we are in competition with each other; our main goal is to get those in our sphere of influence to do what we want them to do and to keep from being controlled by those around us.
External Control Psychology has 3 beliefs
- I answer a ringing telephone, open a door, stop at a red light, or do countless other things because I am responding to a simple external signal.
- I can make other people do what I want them to do even if they do not want to do it, and other people can control how I think, act, and feel.
- It is right, it is even my moral obligation, to ridicule, threaten, or punish those who don’t do what I tell them to do or even reward them if it will get them to do what I want.
Choice Theory as an alternative to ECP
Choice Theory is used to improve human interaction and foster mental health, rather than mental illness. When applied to management it is called Lead Management and it is the foundation of the Glasser Quality School program.
Choice Theory Basic Premises
a. All behavior is purposeful to meet one or more of my basic needs.
b. Behavior is what a person chooses to do, think, feel, and respond from a physiological aspect.
c. Because behaviors are chosen, one cannot blame others for personal behavior.
d. Since behaviors are learned, a person can choose new behaviors if there is a desire to change.
Choice Theory recognizes 5 inherent biological needs
a. SURVIVAL: The need to be healthy, safe and to reproduce.
b. LOVE AND BELONGING: The need to have a place in which we belong and people with whom to relate, to love and be loved.
c. POWER: The need to achieve, to accomplish something, to get a win occasionally. This is where we develop self-esteem.
d. FREEDOM: The ability to move, to implement choices.
e. FUN/PLEASURE: The need to play, to enjoy. This has physiological as well as psychological benefits.
frustration signal
When one or more of these needs are not being met, we feel a frustration signal telling us that something needs to be done. The problem is that the signal does not tell us what to do. It expresses itself as a want. Whenever we experience a want it is telling us to do something to meet that need.
quality world
- From the moment of birth people form their quality world.
- This can be described as an internal picture album of what we value—what we would like to see from the external world.
- When what we perceive from the outside world agrees or comes close to our picture of what we want we feel pleasure and choose a total behavior which includes an emotional response from mild satisfaction to ecstasy depending on the value we place on the experience.
- When our perception of an external experience does not match or contradicts our picture, we feel the frustration signal which prompts us to choose a total behavior to bring the external world closer to the picture we have in our quality world.
choices to meet basic needs
- People choose learned behaviors to affect the external world to meet their needs.
- Behaviors which have worked for us in the past are stored in our behavior bank.
- The choice of behaviors appears to be automatic, but it is not.
- The behavior chosen can be effective in meeting our basic need or ineffective. It is always the best choice known by that individual when the choice is made.
- If a person continues to use ineffective behaviors to meet their “wants,” he or she will become miserable.
- If a particular behavior does not work, then the person can use a different learned behavior or develop a new one using the process of Reality Therapy.
- If continued use of various behaviors is ineffective in changing the external world, the person has the choice to change the picture they hold of their Quality World.
total behavior
- Every behavior has four parts which form a total behavior.
- Everything we do involves all four simultaneously.
a. Doing—physical activity involved in the total behavior.
b. Thinking—the thoughts that are involved with the total behavior.
c. Feeling — emotions associated with the total behavior.
d. Physiological—the physiological component of the total behavior, i.e., sweating, heart rate, etc. - Total behaviors are expressed as verbs:
a. Depressing instead of being depressed.
b. Anxieting instead of having an anxiety attack.
c. Etc. - They are expressed as verbs because it is something the person does rather then something that happens to the person.
- Glasser uses the analogy of a car to explain total behavior (see below). Needs provide the power (engine), wants give direction (steering wheel), the doing and thinking components are the easiest to change (front wheels) and the feeling and physiology components of the total behavior follow the changes in doing and thinking (rear wheels).
Characteristics of Effective & Ineffective Behaviors
- INEFFECTIVE BEHAVIORS
a. They do not meet one or more basic needs.
b. There is a cost to other basic needs.
c. They deal with the past or future.
d. They are directed at controlling others or situations over which one has no power. - EFFECTIVE BEHAVIORS
a. They meet one or more basic needs.
b. There is no cost to other needs.
c. They deal with the present, not the past or future.
d. They are directed at controlling self.
importance of relationships
Dr. Glasser suggests that most (if not all) miserable people have at the core of their misery relationship issues which affect their love/belonging needs. A. He lists Seven Deadly Habits which can ruin a relationship: 1. Criticizing 2. Blaming 3. Complaining 4. Nagging 5. Threatening 6. Punishing 7. Rewarding to control
alternatives to 7 deadly habits
- Supporting
- Encouraging
- Listening
- Accepting
- Trusting
- Respecting
- Negotiating differences
Basic Concepts of Reality Therapy
Please note that this is a circular process not a linear one, and that the apparently simplicity of the process presented here does not mean it is easily learned or applied. Counselors must learn to apply Choice Theory and Reality Therapy to themselves before effectively using it with clients.
Basic concepts 2
A. The therapist needs to establish a friendly counseling environment by listening, understanding, and guiding clients towards making changes in their lives. This includes:
- Being friendly by constantly and consistently reassuring clients that you are comfortable with them and their situation and that you can help them change.
- Trying not to allow clients to talk about events in the past unless they can be easily related to present situations.
- Avoid discussing clients’ feelings or physiology as though they were separate from their total behaviors. Always relate them to their concurrent actions and thoughts over which clients have more control.
- Do not accept excuses—teach the client to be responsible.
- Do not criticize or punish.
- Do not give up.
basic concepts 3
B. The phases of Reality Therapy are designed to bring clients to self-evaluation of their behavior and bring a commitment to work on change. They are:
1. “What do you want?” and “What do you really want?”
2. “What are you doing to get what you want?”
3. “Is that working?” or “Is that against the rules?”
4. “Do you want to try something different?”
5. “Will you commit to working a plan to implement new choices?”
6. Client self-evaluation of the results of the plan.
i. These questions can be asked in several different ways. It is the responsibility of the client to make the value judgments regarding the questions. Again, remember that
Reality Therapy is circular process. If the client gets stuck in any spot you go back to building the relationship until the trust level is established enough to move on.
basic concepts 4
C. PLANNING
Working with clients to develop a successful plan is important in Reality Therapy. In as far as possible, plans are developed in cooperation with the client and follow the SEVEN STEPS TO GOOD PLAN MAKING (Adapted with permission by Dr. Gary Applegate):
1. A good plan is ACHIEVABLE: something the client can do.
2. A good plan is SIMPLE: Not complicated, a small plan, not self-defeating.
3. A good plan is SPECIFIC: What, where, when, how, etc.
4. A good plan is a DO plan: it is something that you can do rather than stop doing something.
5. A good plan is a REPETITIVE plan: something you can do each day or repeat often.
6. A good plan is an INDEPENDENT PLAN: a plan that is contingent or dependent only upon you and not upon others.
7. A good plan is an IMMEDIATE plan: A plan that can be started right away or real soon, a now plan.
counselor’s responsibility
The counselor’s responsibility is to direct clients to self-evaluate the effectiveness of behaviors being used to get their wants and basic needs met. When clients come to the place of making the value judgment that their present behavior is not working, the therapist then becomes a teacher helping clients learn more effective behaviors.
