Free Essays on Reality Therapy

Reality Therapy: An Ongoing Process. â€Å"Regardless of what has happened in our lives, or what we have done in the past, we can choose behaviors that will help us meet our needs more effectively in the future.† (Glasser, 2003). William Glasser developed a program based on this statement. The therapy is called Reality therapy. Glasser, an American psychologist, developed reality therapy in the mid sixties and it still continues to evolve by his hand today. Reality therapy is just one of several counseling methods which teaches people how to direct their own lives, make better choices, and develop coping mechanisms to better handle stress. The difference in reality therapy is the idea that â€Å"regardless of what has happened in our lives, or what has been done in the past, we can choose behaviors that will help us meet our needs more effectively in the future†(Glasser 2003). The practice, the appeal and the payoff of the program are essential keys to fully understanding this method of counseling. The practice of reality therapy is an ongoing process made up of two major components. One, the counselor must have a trusting relationship with the patient so that they can feel safe. The counselor must secondly; use techniques, which help a person to the realization of what they really want. The patient must then reflect on their current situation, and create a new plan for fulfilling their wants in the future. The Appeal of this method is that it’s both very efficient and straightforward. The program puts the responsibility of fixing the problem on the patient. It is said to be self-empowering and doesn’t dig into the patients past failures but instead takes a positive forward approach. The procedure leading to the change has 8 steps not to be followed in any certain order. The goal upon completion of the steps is that â€Å"people can live their lives more successfully when they acknowledge and accept responsibility for their ... Free Essays on Reality Therapy Free Essays on Reality Therapy Reality Therapy: An Ongoing Process. â€Å"Regardless of what has happened in our lives, or what we have done in the past, we can choose behaviors that will help us meet our needs more effectively in the future.† (Glasser, 2003). William Glasser developed a program based on this statement. The therapy is called Reality therapy. Glasser, an American psychologist, developed reality therapy in the mid sixties and it still continues to evolve by his hand today. Reality therapy is just one of several counseling methods which teaches people how to direct their own lives, make better choices, and develop coping mechanisms to better handle stress. The difference in reality therapy is the idea that â€Å"regardless of what has happened in our lives, or what has been done in the past, we can choose behaviors that will help us meet our needs more effectively in the future†(Glasser 2003). The practice, the appeal and the payoff of the program are essential keys to fully understanding this method of counseling. The practice of reality therapy is an ongoing process made up of two major components. One, the counselor must have a trusting relationship with the patient so that they can feel safe. The counselor must secondly; use techniques, which help a person to the realization of what they really want. The patient must then reflect on their current situation, and create a new plan for fulfilling their wants in the future. The Appeal of this method is that it’s both very efficient and straightforward. The program puts the responsibility of fixing the problem on the patient. It is said to be self-empowering and doesn’t dig into the patients past failures but instead takes a positive forward approach. The procedure leading to the change has 8 steps not to be followed in any certain order. The goal upon completion of the steps is that â€Å"people can live their lives more successfully when they acknowledge and accept responsibility for their ... Free Essays on Reality Therapy Reality Therapy Reality Therapy is the method of counseling that Dr. Glasser has been teaching since 1962. He published a book named Reality Therapy the same year. It is now firmly based on Choice Theory and its successful application is dependent on the counselor’s familiarity with, and the knowledge of, that theory. In fact, teaching choice theory to counselees is now part of Reality Therapy. Reality Therapy, though catchy, is easily misunderstood to do with giving people â€Å"a dose of reality.† In fact, the approach is far more people- friendly and people- centered than that. Reality therapy is a very powerful tool for personal growth, accomplishing goals, and measuring progress. Almost all approaches to psychology assume that people have certain basic needs and, indeed, there is broad agreement on what these needs are. In Reality therapy, they are classified under five headings: Power, Love & Belonging, Freedom, Fun, and Survival. One of the core principles of Reality Th erapy is that, whether we are aware of it or not, we are all the time acting to meet these needs. The goal of Reality Therapy is to help people reconnect. This reconnection usually starts with counselor first connecting with the individual and then using this connection as a model for how the disconnected person can begin to connect with the people he or she needs. To create the relationship vital to Reality Therapy, the counselor will focus on the present and avoid discussing the past because all human problems are caused by unsatifasfying present relationships. Avoid discussing symptoms and complaints as much as possible, since these are the ways that counselees choose to deal with unsatisfying relationships. Understand the concept of total behavior, which means focus on what counselees can do directly-act and think. Spend less time on what they cannot do directly; that is, change their feelings and physiology. Feelings and physiology can ... Free Essays on Reality Therapy Reality Therapy Abstract: Reality Therapy is the method of counseling that Dr. Glasser has been teaching since 1962. He published a book named Reality Therapy the same year. Reality Therapy, though catchy, is easily misunderstood to do with giving people â€Å"a dose of reality.† In fact, the approach is far more people- friendly and people- centered than that. Reality therapy is a very powerful tool for personal growth, accomplishing goals, and measuring progress. Almost all approaches to psychology assume that people have certain basic needs and, indeed, there is broad agreement on what these needs are. In Reality therapy, they are classified under five headings: Power, Love & Belonging, Freedom, Fun, and Survival. The goal of Reality Therapy is to help people reconnect. To create the relationship vital to Reality Therapy, the counselor will focus on the present and avoid discussing the past because all human problems are caused by unsatifasfying present relationships. Avoid criticizing, bla ming and complaining and help counselees to do the same. By doing this, they will learn to avoid the extremely harmful external control behaviors that destroy relationships. If the choice of behaviors is not getting people closer, then the counselor works to help them to find new behaviors that lead to a better connection. Focus on specifics. Help them make specific, workable plans to reconnect with people they need, and then follow through on what was planned by helping them evaluate their progress. Help them to understand, through teaching them choice theory and encouraging them to read the book, Choice Theory: a New Psychology of Personal Freedom, that whatever their complaint, reconnecting is the best possible solution to their problem. Reality therapy employs some key questions that help us with self-examination. The first question in reality therapy centers on the main goal, target, or objective. Doing is placed at the hear...