What is Reality Therapy

Reality Therapy is a method of counseling developed by Dr. William Glasser in the 1960’s. He first developed the therapy working with young women that were in a detention center in California.  As a young psychiatrist he found a process that seemed to help these young women. When most were released they became successful in the world and did not return to the detention center.

He went on and wrote the book Reality Therapy in 1965 and he soon sold over a million copies and it continues to sell today. Why is that? It is because it is an effective counseling / coaching method that really empowers people to take effective control of their own lives.

There are three premises that Dr. Glasser believed, when he met new clients

1. There was no need to probe at length for the problem. It was always an unsatisfying present relationship. Sometimes we do not recognize it as a client but eventually it nearly always is the case.

2. Since the problem is always in the present there is no need to spend an exhaustive amount of time exploring the past. That does not mean we do not look at the past but we want to use the past for successes that can come to the present.

3.  Avoid listening to people complain about their symptoms, the actions of other people and the world they live in, etc. Reality therapy emphasizes what the client can do now to help them and to improve the present relationship that is the problem.

This seems like a simple process but combined with the understanding of Choice Theory and after using it for more than 30 years I have helped hundreds maybe even thousands of people.  A lot takes place in the conversation and all this is taught in our training programs.

This is the only counseling training that I have ever studies that gives us a process for working with people. I have not included the process or the procedures that lead to change here but rather have included an understanding that we share when we use Reality  Therapy.

When we learn Choice Theory and we understand the how and why of human behavior and include in that a process of communication for working with others both professionally and personally we have a very successful training program that is taught all over the world.

If this interests you, we have two training dates coming up.

1. April 6 is our next online training program. For more information: www.choicetheoryonline.com
2. May 2, 3, 4 is our next in person in Riverview, New Brunswick. www.choicetheorytraining.com