Term Paper on "Reality Therapy it Was During the 1960"

Term Paper 8 pages (3568 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Reality Therapy

It was during the 1960's that Dr. William Glasser developed the new approach to counseling called 'Reality Therapy'. According to this therapy, the various choices that an individual makes are based on the present life that he is leading, and it doesn't matter what the person has undergone in his past, or what has happened to him in his past life. All the choices are based on the situation that he is in at the present time, and his reactions and his behavior are based on the 'here' and the 'now' of the particular situation. The theory also states that the existence of an unsatisfactory relationship or the non-existence of a relationship with others is the primary cause for psychological problems among individuals. (Reality Therapy: (www.cognitive-therapy-associates.com)

Definition of Reality Therapy, what is it?

The focus according to the Reality Therapy, must be on the creation and the development and the maintenance of inter-personal relationships with others based on the choices that the individual makes, depending on his present life and experiences in the 'now' of things. This would inevitably mean that the individual would have to take on a personal responsibility for the different choices that he has made by himself, based on his very own experiences. The past of the person is treated as being the source of his needs, but all the discussions during therapy sessions are based on the present, and the relationships that he is in at the present time, that form the key to the problems that he is facing during the present time. It is a fact that al human beings 'behave' all the time, and all the behavior of a person is grouped under the term 'Total Behavior', that in turn is composed of the four components of acting and thinking and feeling and physiology. The basic categories of human needs are grouped under: power, love and belonging, freedom, fun and survival, and human beings are always on the look out for the ways and the means with which to satisfy these needs. (Reality Therapy: (www.cognitive-therapy-associates.com)

Reality Therapy helps a person see the various maladaptive strategies that he uses in order to get his needs met, and corrective methods are taught to him whereby he can change his behavioral pattern, since the individual's thoughts and actions are taken as the best material with which to work, and not, as in traditional therapy, based on feelings and symptoms. When the therapy focuses on the person's thoughts, the issues of blame and also of externalizing his problems can be totally avoided, and it is a fact that blame is one of the main causative factors for the tension in any inters personal relationship. (Reality Therapy: (www.cognitive-therapy-associates.com)

However, in order to understand this type of therapy better, one has to understand 'what is reality?' Reality is made up of quite a few facets, some of them being: the actual reality that the individual lives in, that can be either physical or spiritual or both, the individual's experience of physical reality, the persons' experiences of super reality, that is any experience that is connected to the mystic, including God and the Spirit, the individual's perception of reality, all that person's beliefs and ideals based on the perception and the experiences that he has with physical reality, and also his beliefs that are based on super reality. The problem generally arises when the individual's beliefs do not match with the experiences as he in fact recognizes or perceives them. A person discovers the world around him by the processes of perception, the interpretation of that perception, and the formation of reason based on the perception. Expectations are generally built up, and these become the model of the real world for the individual. When a person adheres to his own perceptions, then he will not make any mistakes, according to his viewpoint. However, he will not be able to learn much by this reasoning. (Reality Therapy: (www.hazelden.org.uk)

On the other hand, if he is able to reason, then the information derived will be useful but may or may not be wrong. This is the dilemma in which all human beings find themselves, wherein in order to live, they are forced to make decisions, based on assumptions, and these may be wrong at times. When the decision is based on a spiritual model, then the person would be faced with spiritual problems because it will not meet his particular expectations on the subject. It will be a similar dilemma for those persons whose physical world does not match his experiences and this may end up in psychological problems. Reality therapy sees to it that a person bases all his choices on his present experiences and in this way, is a boon in the repairing and bonding and the cementing of broken interpersonal relationships. (Reality Therapy: (www.hazelden.org.uk)

The History of Reality Therapy:

William Glasser, an American psychiatrist, created the concept of Reality Therapy during the 1960's. It has been acknowledged as one of the few therapies that actually begin in an adolescent situation, and the fact that William Glasser was initially employed in a school meant for adolescent delinquent girls will explain why he was interested in the development of this therapy. By the late 1980's the William Glasser Institute was founded in Ireland, and soon it gained in popularity all over the world, and these Institutions were set up everywhere. Ireland hosted the first International Convention of this Institute in the year 1995, and it has continued to grow in popularity all over the world. Reality Therapy is now an acknowledged form of therapy and all Institutes have a specialized faculty trained in the methods to be used in this form of therapy. (the Use of Reality Therapy in Guidance in second Level Schools)

In the UK, Reality Therapy has been growing steadily through the years due to a variety of reasons. The main reason is that it is widely applicable and is also highly practical at the same time. Its method of interactive therapy has established offers in the areas of counseling, of coaching and training, as well as in helping and managing people. Reality therapy has also been used for the purpose of 'addictions counseling' and is generally an extremely useful tool when it is used as a supplement in such types of treatment programs. (Reality Therapy - Basic Intensive Workshop: Castle Craig Hospital)

In truth, the creator of Reality Therapy, William Glasser, is not only a trained physiatrist in the theories of psychoanalysis and theories that had been developed by Freud but is also a student of chemical engineering as well as clinical psychology. William Glasser eventually rejected the theories of Freud and began formulating his own theory on psychoanalysis. He wrote his first book 'Reality Therapy' in 1965, before which he had written the book 'Mental Health or Mental Illness' in 1960. The language of psychotherapy however did not seem suitable for him, and this was why he remained primarily a behavioral technician. In 1969, Glasser wrote another book, 'Schools without Failure' in which he described the educational system by which many students were considered to be failures. In 'Identity Society' he had identified most of his creative ideas and was trying to explain them to the public. He also described the practical applications of Reality Therapy for the common man in his daily life in this book. (From Reality Therapy to Reality Therapy in Action)

Positive Addiction' was the next step, and in this book Glasser explains that it is the individual who makes his own life miserable, and not any one else. This brought out the theory of 'personal responsibility'. 'Stations of the Mind' was written in 1981, and this led to the writing of the book 'Control Theory' almost two decades later in time. (From Reality Therapy to Reality Therapy in Action) Glasser has always maintained the opinion that the person who is behaving in an inappropriate manner does not in fact need any help to defend their behavior. Instead of defense, therefore, the treatment focuses on teaching the person how to identify that his behavior is wrong or inappropriate, and then in teaching him the various means in which he can act better and more logically and more appropriately. Therefore, the individual learns to acknowledge that it is his own behavior that is wrong, and that he must be ready to change it into a more productive sort of behavior, since the world is filled with human beings and the individual must learn to live among this multitude of humans in a manner that would not only satisfy his own wishes and desires, but would also not encroach upon the other person's wishes and desires. (Reality Therapy: moodle.ed.uiuc.edu)

In essence, it is 'Choice Theory' that drives reality therapy, wherein when it is taken as an internal control psychology, it demonstrates the fact that all individuals are governed by the basic needs within them and not by external reality, and in… READ MORE

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