Background
The American psychiatrist William Glasser believed psychoanalysis dwelt too much on the past and the unconscious, and published Reality Therapy (1965). The approach first developed in a facility for delinquent girls and in a psychiatric hospital, and he later set out its theoretical basis as choice theory (1998), which grew out of control theory.
Five basic needs
Glasser proposed five needs that everyone is born with.
- Survival: the need to eat, rest and stay safe.
- Love and belonging: the need to be closely connected with others, which Glasser regarded as the most important.
- Power (achievement): the need to be recognized and feel competent.
- Freedom: the need to choose and move for oneself.
- Fun: the need to learn, play and enjoy.
Quality world and total behavior
People keep images of the people, things and beliefs that seem to satisfy their needs in their quality world, and they act when reality differs from those pictures. This behaviour is total behavior, in which acting, thinking, feeling and physiology move together. Glasser compared it to a car: the front wheels, acting and thinking, can be changed directly, while the back wheels, feeling and physiology, follow the front. Clients are therefore encouraged to speak in the language of behaviour, saying "I am choosing to depress" instead of "I am depressed."
Critique of external control
Choice theory holds that external control psychology, the attempt to change others through blaming, threatening and punishing, damages relationships and causes many psychological problems. Instead it recommends connecting habits such as listening, supporting, encouraging and respecting.
The WDEP procedure
Wubbolding (2000) summarized the procedure of reality therapy as WDEP. W (Wants) asks what the client wants, D (Doing) what the client is doing now, E (Evaluation) asks the client to judge whether that behaviour helps get what they want, and P (Planning) builds a plan that is simple, specific and can be carried out soon. The counselor accepts no excuses but does not punish, and keeps a warm relationship.
Evaluation
Reality therapy is widely used in school counseling, corrections and addiction work, and its strengths are that it is short and practical. On the other hand it is criticized for treating the unconscious, past experience and the biological factors of mental illness lightly, and for having few outcome studies with rigorous designs. For comparison with other approaches, see counseling theory.
References
- Glasser, W. (1965). Reality Therapy: A New Approach to Psychiatry. Harper & Row.
- Glasser, W. (1998). Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom. HarperCollins.
- Wubbolding, R. E. (2000). Reality Therapy for the 21st Century. Brunner-Routledge.
- Corey, G. (2017). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.