1. "Reality therapy concentrates on the client's needs and getting them to confront the reality of the world. In Reality Therapy, these needs are classified into power, love and belonging, freedom, fun, and survival. Survival includes the things that we need in order to stay alive, such as food, clothing and shelter. Power is our sense of achievement and feeling worthwhile, as well as the competitive desire to win. Love and belonging represent our social needs, to be accepted by groups, families and loved ones. Freedom is our need for our own space, a sense of independence and autonomy. Fun is our need to enjoy ourselves and seek pleasure. We seek to fulfill these needs at all times, whether we are conscious of it or not."
Choice theory, the new theory of how our brain functions that supports reality therapy, directly challenges this belief. I contend that when we are unable to figure out how to satisfy one or more of the five basic needs built into our genetic structure that are the source of all human motivation, we sometimes choose to behave in ways that are currently labeled mental illness. These needs, explained in detail in Choice Theory, are: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun.
What is common to these ineffective and unsatisfying choices, no matter what they may be, is unhappiness: there is no happiness in the DSM-IV. Choice theory explains that, not only do we choose all our unhappy behaviors, but every behavior we choose is made up of four components, one of which is how we feel as we behave. When we choose a behavior that satisfies our needs, immediately or eventually, we feel good. When we choose a behavior that fails to satisfy our needs, sooner or later, we feel bad. But the choice to be unhappy is not mental illness.
Our society is flooded with people who are choosing anxious, fearful, depressive, obsessive, crazy, hostile, violent, addictive and withdrawn behaviors. All of them are seriously unhappy; there is no shortage of unhappy people in the world. But, unfortunately, many mental health practitioners who believe in mental illness don't see the unhappy people described above as capable of helping themselves or benefitting from therapy. They see them as "suffering" from brain pathology, incapable of helping themselves without drugs. They reject psychotherapy as useless or too time-consuming.
In my new book, Reality Therapy in Action, I describe how my use of reality therapy has helped many seriously symptomatic clients choose to function normally without the use of drugs.
Wubblding (2015) defined reality therapy as “a system that counselor’s use to liberate clients and help them make realistic choices to more effectively satisfy their needs within their limitations”. Reality therapy is strength-based and requires therapist to review their clients as individuals who can achieve their goals. The idea behind
The work of Sigmund Freud continues to influence contemporary practice, as many of his basic concepts remain the foundation from which other theorists develop. Freud described life instincts, a central tenant of the Freudian approach, as instincts that serve the purpose of survival for man as well as the human race. Glasser’s Choice Theory maintains that human behavior is internally motivated by five genetic impulses. The first noted among these impulses is survival (Skeen, 2002; Wubbolding, 2005). Man is a carnal being, sharing the same defensive and predatory instincts found throughout the animal kingdom. Man has basic needs and is driven towards satisfying them.
In regards to the questions and answers, I feel as though my personal approach to counseling is based off of my own priorities I set forth in myself that follow more closely to the aspects of Reality Therapy, and Adlerian Therapy. Though Reality Therapy primarily focuses on the present, it still has some grounding in the past but not as much as Adlerian does. Even knowing this I still feel these two therapies are more closely related to my own belief system. I am in agreement with Reality Therapy, in that we are responsible for the choices we make. I trust that we can exercise great control over our lives, over how we can change to better ourselves, and to better our relationships with those around us. I feel that we all as a society are influenced by basic needs: belonging, survival, freedom, and power, and that these needs can be used as motivational tool when working with clients.
The Reality Theory understands the importance of a positive, satisfying therapist-client relationship. The therapist should be caring, mildly confrontational, yet not critical, blaming, or complaining. Glasser also believes that we choose everything we do, including how we feel. Other people can’t make us miserable; we choose to be that way. So I would help the client decide which of their needs weren’t being met satisfactorily.
The article, Prescriptions for Happiness, by Fisher and Greenberg demonstrates the flaws in effectiveness between prescription drugs and placebos. Through blind-studies between antidepressants and placebos there were little results that show that the antidepressant actually does much more than the placebo. When taken into account, many factors such as whether or not doctors were nice also had a role in whether or not patients believed the pills actually worked. Thus leading us to believe that depression is far more complex than taking a pill and feeling better. Instead one has to come to the realization of its functions and origins in order for them to be able to solve the problem.
Summers, R.F., & Barber, J.P. (2010). Psychodynamic therapy: A guide to evidence-based practice. New York: Guildford Press.
331). It believes that all behavior “is generated within ourselves for the purpose of satisfying one or more basic needs” (Gladding, pg. 331). Reality theory does not believe that “we react to outside events but internal needs” (Gladding, pg. 331). This is based on four psychological needs the reality theory believes a human is motivated by. These include “belonging, power, freedom and fun and survival” (Gladding, pg. 331). One interesting point the author makes is that “the origin of fun is the new human brain while survival is the old human brain” (Gladding, pg. 331). When a person has a problem, if they are participating in reality therapy; “the basic premise is that regardless of their problem is that they are not satisfying an internal need they have” (Gladding, pg.
In Billy Swartz’s “The paradox of choice”, he reveals the idea that more choice can lead to lower personal satisfaction. First he explains the official dogma, which states that the maximization of individual freedom maximizes the welfare of citizens. In order to maximize freedom, one must maximize choice; thus the more choice one has, the more welfare one has. However, the notion aforementioned is problematic. With more choices, life has become a matter of choice. For example, patient autonomy, is the transfer of the burden and accountability for decision making from someone who knows something to someone who knows nothing. This is present in clinics across the United States, where doctors give their patients choices as to which medical procedure they will undergo; however, their
Some people, such as psychology professor Barry Schwartz of Swarthmore College, may argue that the narrowed list of choices is like “freedom within constraints” that may make it easier for people to be satisfied with their decision, thus increases their happiness (842). In his work titled “The Tyranny of Choice”, he suggests that the availability of too many choices will cause people to doubt themselves and have troubles deciding and feeling satisfied with their final decision since they can’t possibly examine all the possibilities and they tend to have higher expectations. Nevertheless, the constraints in the case of stereotypes are paralyzing, as they don’t allow the person to live up to their full potential while simultaneously take away the choices that may lead them to happiness. The set image forces a person to behave in a certain way, eliminating anything that goes against the image. Yuan may be interested in becoming a business manager, but is discouraged by the fact that it is difficult for him to get that job in the professional world with the stereotype in place. Fearing that he may not be able to find a job and apply what he has learned in college, Yuan may end up choosing to major in computer science to become an IT technician. He may feel unhappy with his choice later in his life
This therapy can help a patient identify unmet needs that have led to negative life patterns, and focuses on helping get needs met in a healthy manner to promote positive life patterns.
Stan’s problems and concerns can be conceptualized in many different ways. Reality therapist emphasize that each individual is the author of their own life; hence, Stan’s problems and concerns all because of his choosing. When looking at reality therapy, it is important to assess the client’s behaviors, thinking, feelings, and physiology. Stan is acting in a behavior that is self-destructive, for example, within the year Stan began drinking. Drinking was not self-destructive at first since Stan described it as allowing him to be more sociable with his peers. However, Stan’s drinking has led to destructive behaviors because it has caused him to become forgetful and unable to concentrate. Moreover, it is threatening his job and his academic studies.
Reality therapy is a practical therapeutic method developed by Dr. William Glasser, which focuses on here and now rather the past, problem-solving rather than the issue at hand, and making better choices with specific goals established. Reality therapy is a time-limited, no-nonsense approach that Glasser developed and taught as a method of counseling which is based on choice theory, which states: “all we do is behave, almost all behavior is chosen, and we are driven by five basic needs” (William Glasser Institute, 2010).
I did not have to look very far for a real-world problem that psychology can address. I had to look no further than my own family to see the problem of depression. For example, my maternal grandmother has high blood pressure, has had two heart valves replaced, in addition to back problems. Although she is still able to live alone, both of her children live at least four hours away. Often she exclaims “I just don’t feel good” or “I don’t feel like going anywhere”. It doesn’t take much to wonder if she is lonely or if she is feeling socially isolated. This lack of willingness to do anything, at times, actually makes her feel worse physically.
It is clear that psychotherapy is very effective. Meta-analysis studies have shown consistently that the positive effects of treatment exceed those of no treatment or placebo treatments for a wide range of disorders. Yet, there has been a recent noticeable interest in both the scientific community and in the media with psychological treatments that could potentially cause harm. Psychology lacks a medicinal equivalent to the Food and Drug Administration. This leaves the physiological profession vulnerable to detrimental effects to mental health consumers.
The Public Choice For some parents, deciding on a school for their children can be a difficult decision. Many parents do not spend much time thinking about it; they place their children into the local school designated by where they live. Others attended a private school themselves and found that it was a beneficial experience and therefore want the same for their kids. But which is better: private schools or public schools? While there are many advantages and disadvantages to each (nothing is going to be absolutely perfect), we are going to focus on the benefits of an education in the public school system, or in other words, schools funded by the government that are for anyone to attend.