Major Concepts of Reality Therapy - Essay Example

Reality Therapy (RT) Theory of choice I chose Reality Therapy (RT) The main theorist DR. William Glasser developed Reality Therapy in early 1960s and was the pioneer in teaching this theory since its invention. Major concepts, strengths, and weaknesses Major Concepts of RT Reality Therapy was found based on choice theory and it emphasizes on the changes that individuals can make with respect to their actions and thoughts. RT is based on the premise that all human beings have inherent basic needs that if left unsatisfied then it can lead to disturbance. According to RT, the most basic human motivation is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain and the source of these feelings of pleasure or pain relies on the satisfaction/non-satisfaction of basic needs (Murdock, 2013). Dr. Glasser classified the fundamental human needs into five different categories namely Power (sense of wining or accomplishment), Love and Belonging (feeling of receiving love, give love, or accepted by others), Freedom (sense of autonomy, independence or having personal space), Fun( sense of pleasure and enjoyment) and Survival (basic needs of food, shelter, or sexual fulfillment). RT asserts that these essential human needs should be met in order for an individual to operate optimally. According to Dr. Glasser, every person is always struggling to achieve these needs and some of the needs are often met without the knowledge of an individual (Murdock, 2013). For instance, reaching out to support group or socializing with workmates and friends or family members is an effective way of satisfying the need for love and belonging and most of people may not be aware of this fact as they consider it an ordinary occurrence. The fact that every person is always striving to attain all the five basic needs is the central construct of Reality Therapy. This is also a clear justification that all human beings are always in control of what they want in their lives in the quest to meet their basic needs and it does not matter whether their actions help them achieve their basic desires. Murdock (2013) asserts that it is unfortunate that most individuals act inappropriately in their pursuit to achieve the basic needs and thus the issue of individual choice arises, as it is believed that it is through choices that one makes his goals attainable or not. It is noteworthy that achieving the need for love and belonging is the primary goal of most individuals as people always want to feel connected and accepted before they pursue other goals. This claim can be justified by the fact that one of the key goals of RT is to assist people reconnect with individuals they consider part of their quality world. According to RT, individuals are mainly motivated to achieve their needs but the needs for significant relationship often supersede other needs. Two other important things at the heart of Reality Therapy is our doing and thinking. This because emotions as they seem an amazing source of information about how an individual is and whether he/she is pleased with what is happening at the moment it is certainly impossible to change emotions directly but very easy to change thoughts and actions that leads to particular feelings. It is also worth noting that RT emphasizes on the present client’s life and conscious mental processes as individuals makes choices about future prospects (Murdock, 2013). Strengths Reality Therapy emphasize on what the client is capable of controlling in relationship instead of finding areas of fault or speak about what they are incapable of controlling. It strives to assist the clients learn better modes of meeting their basic needs and reconnect with everyone they consider vital in their quality world. RT has a short time focus and also requires less training RT takes both existentialism and cognitive behaviorism into consideration RT techniques are empirically supported RT can work well with different problems settings and population considering its focus on establishing workable relationships RT is renowned for facilitating freedom and responsibility within people without critism or blame. Weaknesses RT overemphasize on here and now action thus leaving many unresolved issues about the clients past and causes of disturbance RT ignores the influence of biochemical or genetic factors in mental illness as Dr. Glasser indicates that individuals should not be labeled with mental illness unless a true brain disorder has been established. RT does not reinforce any inner growth of the person as it only focus on addressing the symptoms by providing skills overcome existing disturbance only. Reasons for choosing Reality Theory compared to other theoretical approaches Reality theory is such a unique theory distinguishable from other traditional approaches to psychotherapy based on its lack of regard for symptoms of mental illness and instead lays emphasis on behavioral choices. Reality theory does not pay attention to an individual’s past but instead focuses on the choices one makes to better his present and the future an attribute that is incompatible with other approaches. The kind of population I will be working with I will be working with drug addicts. Reality theory is best placed for this population because it seeks to help people move away from irresponsible actions through involvement and interaction with people they consider vital in their quality world. RT is based on the conviction that people often tend to find pleasure on other actions such as drugs when they are not in position to meet some of their basic needs such as need for love and belonging. Treatment goals My first major goal will be to help the clients understand choice theory and reconnect with people that they consider valuable in their quality world. The second goal will be to assist individuals become more effectual in achieving all their psychological needs. My role as a therapist My role as a therapist is that of a teacher and a model considering that I will strive to take him/her through control of displayed thoughts and actions as well as choice theory. The client on the other hand will assume the role of the student, as he/she will have to make commitment in learning choice theory and control of thoughts and actions. The nature of client resistance in counseling Resistance will involve demonstration of reluctance on the part of the client in following the guidelines set by the therapist. For instance, the client can demonstrate reluctance in following the eight-step approach to RT as per the therapist’s guidelines. I believe that effective therapy as well as successful management of resistance lies squarely on the level of interaction with the client and allow change to happen rather than force it. This means that I will start by establishing a favorable therapeutic alliance with the clients before guiding their attention to the preexisting behaviors and out of their experiences. Therapeutic techniques involved Reality Therapy encompasses a wide range of techniques, which range from imposing consequences, physical activity and mediation, metaphors, self disclosure, humor, reframing, doing the unexpected, to questioning. These techniques are selected based on their ability to ring about discussions that will lead to the identification of the client’s current need-related behavior that seem to be destructive and ways of making choices in terms of behaviors that still meets the client’s needs. The limitations to the Reality Therapy RT theory is viewed as too simplistic and culturally bound The viewpoint that behavior is chosen has been a target of criticism considering that it ignores the fact that other factors such as social and environmental also influence behavior. Reality therapy does not take into consideration influences of unconscious as well as the power of the past TR theorists have always given much favor on traditional heterosexual marriage relationship over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) relationships (Murdock, 2013) How Reality Therapy limit the kinds of clients I can work with The basic assumption that human beings have choice limits the kind of clients that a therapist can work with especially targets of oppression and mistreatment such as cultural minorities, women and LGBT individuals. Such groups have had hard time dealing with constant oppression from other people in the society as they have been forced to behave in certain ways that they do not appreciate owing to fear of victimization or physical harm. It would be quite hard to make such group of peoples understand that behavior is motivated by choices when in reality they know that their behavior is not as a result of their choice. Requirements for additional training to practice RT Reality theory does not involve any complicated therapeutic techniques and as such, it does not require additional training to accomplish the therapeutic processes. New awareness that I gained by studying RT theory The most important thing that I learned about Realty Therapy is the fact that choice theory is the ideological basis for RT. According to RT, human beings chose everything about their lives including their misery (Murdock, 2013). Reference Murdock, N. (2013). Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Case Approach, 3rd Ed. New York: Pearson Education, Inc. Read More