Reality Therapy: A New Approach to Psychiatry

This book saved me from dropping school. As a young student of Psychology in the Freudianism dominated Universidade de São Paulo I was disilusioned about the usefulness of psychotherapy and its antagonism with my own values system, until a friend gave me this book, 27 years ago. To this day, hundreds of books later, it remains as one of the best books I ever read. Responsibilty for self and for your choices and the learned abilites to fulfill one's own pshycological needs and to help others do it is what this book is all about. William Glasser is a blessing to this world.

In this book, Dr. William Glasser puts forward the claim that mental illness does not exist. He does not deny that the people whom we like to call 'mentally ill' have problems and are in need of help. He maintains, rather, that such people are not sick, but are instead irresponsible. The behaviour of so-called 'mentally ill' people is, on Glasser's view, an expression of those people's inability to fulfill two basic psychological needs without depriving others of the ability to fulfill their own basic psychological needs. The first need is the need to love and to be loved, the second is the need to feel a sense of being worthwhile to oneself and to others. Reality Therapy is the method of treatment that Glasser and his colleague have developed in an effort to help people to help themselves to fulfill these basic psychological needs and thereby to become more responsible. Glasser's book is divided into two main parts, one that describes the theory of Reality Therapy and one that describes its practice. The first two chapters of the book outline the main principles of Reality Therapy and explain how Reality Therapy differs from conventional therapy. The remaining four chapters of the book present a variety of case studies that illustrate both some of the techniques involved in the practice of Reality Therapy and its success at treating patients who appear to be suffering from very different kinds of 'mental illness'. It is noteworthy that Reality Therapy often succeeds where traditional therapy has failed. The principles of Reality Therapy are also very effective in public school classrooms, so this is a book that could be read profitably not only by mental health professionals, but also by teachers. More generally, this book is also suitable for people who are interested in mental hygiene for themselves and the people they care about. For anybody who is interested in further exploring some of the issues raised in this book, I highly recommend Eric Berne's _Games People Play_, R.D. Laing's _The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness_, and John Russon's _Human Experience: Philosophy, Neurosis, and the Elements of Everyday Life_.

I was privileged, as part of Florida's modernization of its state programs to serve youngsters in trouble and especially those who were "in the correctional system", to have heard Dr. Glasser present and demonstrate the principles in this book, his previous work, "Mental Health and Mental Illness", and his third publication, "Schools Without Failure". I was further privileged to work with his resource team initiating a "Schools Without Failure" training to teachers in a public school system while I supervised a nearby camp for young delinquents. I have found his coaching and these principles to be of central importance to me over the last thirty years whether counseling troubled youth, consulting with professionals, or coaching Mainland Chinese students in the vagaries of English language. I have spent very few days without directly referring to at least one of the principles he taught. My favorite, from Reality Therapy, is "never give up".

I read this book at a time when I was dealing with some very difficult people in my life. It helped me to see ways that I could change my own way of dealing with difficult people in constructive ways.In particular, the thing that stuck most with me was the importance of taking responsibility for my own actions, and holding others accountable in appropriate ways.And yes, his book helped A LOT in dealing with difficult people.I have since read another one of Glasser's books and plan to read as many as I can. HIS BOOK IS A CLASSIC.You won't be disappointed.

People no longer have an excuse when they start to find out they have the power to choose. Understanding is fine, but it doesn't propel you forward. Please if you are sick of spinning your tires in the mud of the past and want to get unstuck, take a reality check. If you don't want to grow up, don't read this book. Don't waste your time reading this book if you don't want to take action.