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is flooded with people who are choosing anxious, fearful, depressive, obsessive, crazy, hostile, violent, addictive and withdrawn behaviors.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.
Many members of our society have sculpted their listeners into fooling their selves into believing that there are only two types of “happy”, happy or depressed. This leads to individuals suppressing their problems or believing they are suffering from a chronic illness when sadness is just a natural emotion that a person faces throughout their lifetime. Begley mimics “get over it: take a pill” (558). When living in a world where not being “happy” can provoke your friends and family to encourage drug use or choose to decline spending time with you until you are “happy again may cause many people to not even tell someone they are having problems which can result in the sadness to increase. It is soothing to know not all experts would say you are sick and need help just for an ordinary feeling. A lay reader that has no idea of what most psychologist feels about the evading happiness situation, may have thought all professionals insist on everyone being happy even when they have no desire
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.
According to Glasser (1965), “reality therapy is a treatment based on changing negative behavior, habits and relationships by focusing on the present or current situations.” An essential aspect of Reality Therapy focuses on the five needs of survival, love and belonging, achievement and power, independence and freedom, and fun, being essential for individuals to ascend through life and establish relationships (Content Guide 5, n.d.). The various techniques utilized during Reality Therapy include: exploring behavior as a focus of change, focusing on the present situation, the adolescent assumes responsibility, a friendly relationship exists between the therapist and patient, the therapist is patient with the individual, the individual considers their ability to change, and lastly the therapist takes into consideration specific factors that are in control of the individual (Content Guide 5, n.d.). In the video, we see the Dr. McFarland create a both friendly and comfortable environment where Adrianne is able to express her opinions and thoughts of her present situation with her parents. Dr. McFarland is also patient with Adrianne, and this is one of the strengths of Reality Therapy, since the way the questions are presented to Adrianne, for example “what are the things your parents need to see from you”, this allows Adrianne to take responsibility and focus on the present situation. One limitation/weakness
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.
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.
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
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.
Summers, R.F., & Barber, J.P. (2010). Psychodynamic therapy: A guide to evidence-based practice. New York: Guildford Press.
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.
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.
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.
Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 36:2, 67-68. Simon, D. (2004). The 'Secondary'. Practicing Mind-Body-Soul Medicine. Alternative Therapies, 10:6, 62-68.