child and adolescent counseling chapter 9

Chapter ObjectivesAfter reading this chapter, you should be able to: • Outline the development of reality therapy and Glasser’s involvement • Explain the theory of reality therapy and

Chapter 9

Reality Therapy

Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Chapter Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Outline the development of reality therapy and Glasser’s

involvement

• Explain the theory of reality therapy and choice theory

including its core concepts

• Discuss the counseling relationship and goals in reality

William Glasser

• Education: chemical engineering,

clinical psychology, medicine

• Theory and concepts based on his

work with delinquent adolescent girls

• Rebelled against Freudian concepts

• Founded Institute for Reality therapy for training courses in his approach to

Nature of People

• Psychological problems are the result from an

inability to fulfill one’s basic needs

• Correlations exists between lack of success in

meeting needs and the degree of distress and

unhappiness

• Denial of reality refers to tendency to try to avoid the natural and logical consequences of behavior

• Irresponsible behavior, attempts to satisfy needs

in ways that infringe on the rights of others, leads

Glasser’s Beliefs

• Teach people to love and be loved

• Help people feel valued by themselves and others

• Those will lead to success identity

Choice Theory

• Only behavior we can control is our own

• We are responsible only for what we

choose to do with our behavior

• All long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems resulting from

attempts to get people to do things they do not want to do

Five Basic Needs

Survival Freedom Power Fun Love and Belonging

Important Terms

Denial of reality

• tendency of people to try to avoid the unpleasant

natural and logical consequences of their irresponsible behavior

Irresponsible behavior

• attempts by people to satisfy their own basic needs

in ways that infringe on the rights of others to meet

their needs

Theory of Counseling

• Discard mental illness in favor of

responsibility

• Focus on moral issue of right/wrong

• Ignore past, focus on present/future

Theory of Counseling

• Relate on a person-to-person basis

• Ignore the unconscious

• Counseling with children = teaching and learning experience

Choice Theory

• Reality therapists practice Choice

Theory

• Prevent problems before they happen

• Examine client’s belief system

• Help people handle the pain from not getting what they want

Choice Theory

• Behavior = acting, thinking, feeling, and

physiology

• People are responsible for own choices,

decisions, goals, and happiness

• We control our mental images

• We choose psychosomatic illness, we can

choose something more satisfying

• The closer reality is to quality world = happier

Four Choices

An example for someone who is

depressed:

1.Continue to depress yourself

2.Change what you are doing to get what you want

3.Change what you want

4.Both #2 & #3

Help questions for

Step 3

• How does this behavior help you?

• How does this behavior hurt you?

• How does this behavior help you learn math?

• How does this behavior improve your math?

• Is your behavior getting you what you

Eight Steps (Cont.)

Step 4: Counselor and child look at possible

alternatives

Step 5: Child selects alternatives for reaching goals and commits to trying the choices.

Step 6: Counselor and child examine the results.

Step 7: Logical and natural consequences are not removed

Step 8: The counselor does not give up on the child.

Moral Development

(Piaget and Kohlberg)

Preconventional Morality

• Stage 1: Will I get caught?

• Stage 2: What is in it for me?

Conventional Morality

• Stage 3: What will the neighbors think?

• Stage 4: What is the rule or law?

Postconventional Morality

• Stage 5: What is best for society?

• Stage 6: What is best for humankind?

Reality Therapy Process

1 What are you doing?

2 Is what you are doing helping you get what

For younger children

1 What did you do?

2 What is our rule about this?

3 Was what you did against our rule?

4 What were you supposed to do?

5 What are you going to do next time?

6 Do you want to write your plan for next time or

do you want me to write it?

7 Let’s check tomorrow to see if your new plan is

For older children and

adolescents

1 Let’s begin by talking about what you have been

doing to solve the problem.

2 It would be helpful if you could give me an idea

of how what you have been doing has been

helping you

• We may want to consider some questions:

• Is your behavior in touch with reality?

• Is your behavior the responsible thing to do?

• Is your behavior the right thing to do?

• Is your behavior cost-effective?

For older children and

3 If your behavior is not getting you what

you want, what would you like to do

differently?

4 What plan would you like to develop?

5 When can we follow up on your plan?

Ten-step Consultation Model

Step 1 List what you have already tried

that does not help

Step 2 (if needed) Make a list of

change-of-pace interventions to disrupt the

expected

Step 3 (if needed) Make a list of things

you could and would do to help the child

Ten-step Consultation Model

(Cont.) Step 4 Try one-line counseling

approaches

Step 5 Use reality therapy question that

emphasize the rules on which

agreement was reached in a previous

negotiation

Step 6 Use standard reality therapy

questions that end with a written contract

Ten-step Consultation Model

(Cont.)

Step 7 In-class time-out is recommended Step 8 Some children may require a time-

out outside the classroom

Step 9 and 10 are designed for special

more severe cases