“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 “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 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 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.

This whole theory, in part, is the bases for discipline action plans that have students look at what happened, how they could do it differently, and what they will do next time. Yet, in the classroom some pieces of this 8-step program can be used in daily classroom management. “This choice theory can be

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