Reality therapy focuses on addressing clients' present unsatisfying relationships and ineffective behaviors by teaching them choice theory. The therapist guides clients to evaluate their current behaviors, identify their needs and wants, and make plans to behave more effectively. Reality therapy uses the WDEP method - exploring the client's wants, the direction of their behaviors, having them self-evaluate, and creating plans for change. The goal is for clients to learn how to better meet their needs and develop more satisfying relationships.

2. REALITY THERAPY
By: Judy Ann N. Terrado

3. Reality therapists believe the
underlying problem of most clients
is the same:
 Either they are involved in a
present unsatisfying relationship
or…
 Lack what could even be called
relationship.

4. The therapist guides clients toward a
satisfying relationship…..
….and teaches them to behave in more
effective ways than they are presently
behaving.

5. Clients feel a great deal of pain or that
they are unhappy because they have
been sent for counseling by someone
with authority who is not satisfied with
their behavior……

6. TYPICALLY A…..
COURT
OFFICIAL
SCHOOL
OFFICIAL
A PARENT A SPOUSE

7. Reality therapists recognize that clients
choose their behaviors as a way to deal
with the frustrations caused by
unsatisfying relationships…….

8. Glasser’s perspective, diagnoses are
descriptions of the behaviors people
choose in their attempt to deal with
the pain and frustrations that is
endemic to unsatisfying present
relationship.

9. Therefore , labelling ineffective
behavior as mental illness is not
accurate……….

10. He believes mental illnesses are
are conditions such as.
Condition associated
with tangible brain
damage
Alzheimer’s
disease
Epileps
y
Head
trauma
Brain
infections
Because this people are suffering from a
brain abnormality they should be treated
primarily by a neurologist.

11.  Reality therapy is based on
choice theory.
Choice theory explains why and
how we function, and reality
therapy provides a delivery
system for helping individuals take
more effective control of their
lives.

12. Reality therapy has been used in a
variety of settings. This approach
is applicable to…..
 Counseling
 Social work
 Educatiion
 Crisis intervention
 Corrections and rehabilitation
 Institutional management
 Community development

14. CHOICE THEORY POSITS THAT….
We are not born
blank slates
waiting to be
externally
motivated by
forces
R
A
T
H
E
R
SURVIVAL
LOVE AND BELONGING
POWER OR ACHIEVENT
FREEDOM OR
INDEPENDENCE
FUN
We are born with
five genetically
encoded needs.

15. Our brain function as a control
system. It continually monitors
our feelings to determine how
well we are doing in our lifelong
effort to satisfy these needs.
Whatever we feel bad, one or
more of these five needs is
unsatisfied.

16. Reality therapists teach clients
choice theory so clients can identify
unmet needs and try to satisfy them.

17. Part of the process
of reality therapy
is assisting
clients in
prioritizing their
wants and
uncovering what
is most important
to them.

18. CHOICE THEORY EXPLANATION OF
BEHAVIOR

19. Choice theory explains that all we
ever do from birth to death is
behave and with rare exceptions,
everything we do is chosen.
Every total behavior is our
best attempt to get what
we want to satisfy our
needs.

20. Total behavior teaches that all behavior is
made up of four inseperable but distint
components..
– that necessarily accompany all of our
actions thought and feelings.
TOTAL
BEHAVIOR
actingthinkin
g
feelin
g
physiolog
y

21. Behavior is purposeful because it is
designed to close the gap
between what we want and what
we perceive we are getting.
Our behavior come from the inside,
and thus we choose our destiny.

22. When a reality therapist starts
teaching choice theory, the client
will often protest…..
“I’m suffering,
don’t tell me
I’m choosing
to suffer like
this.”

23. As painful as depressing is the
therapist explains…
People do not choose
pain and suffering
directly; rather, it is
an unchosen part of
their total behavior.
The behavior of the person is the
best effort, ineffective as it is, to
satisfy needs.

24. Reality therapy focuses quickly on
the unsatisfying relationship or the
lack of relationship, which is often
the cause of client’s problem

25. Reality therapists ask clients to
consider how effective their
choices are, especially as these
choices affect their relationships.

26. CHARACTERISTICS OF REALITY THERAPY

27. Choice theory teaches
that there is no
sense talking about
what the client can’t
control; the
emphasis is on what
clients can control in

28. EMPHASIZE CHOICE AND RESPONSIBILITY
 If we choose all we do, we must be
responsible for what we choose.
 Choice theory changes the focus of
responsibility to choice and
choosing.

29. REJECT TRANSFERENCE
Glasser contends
that transference
is a way that both
therapist and
client avoid being
who they are and
owning what they
are doing right
now.

30. KEEP THE THERAPY IN THE PRESENT
Reality therapist will devote only enough
time to past failures to assure clients
that they are not rejecting them.
“What has happened is over; it can’t be
changed. The more time we spend
looking back, the more we avoid looking
forward.”

31. AVOID FOCUSING ON THE SYMPTOMS
Focusing on the past “protects” clients
from facing the reality of unsatisfying
present relationship, focusing on the
symptoms does the same thing.

32. CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL VIEWS OF MENTAL
ILLNESS
Choice theory rejects the traditional notion that
people with problematic physical-and-
psychological symptoms are mentally ill.

34. THERAPEUTIC ‘S
GOALS OF REALITY THERAPY
1. To help clients
get connected
or reconnected
with the people
to they have
chosen to put
their quality
world.

35. 2. To help clients
learn better ways
of fulfilling all of
their needs,
including power of
achievement,
freedom and fun.

36. 3. Another goal
entails with an
increasing
number of
involuntary
clients who may
actively resist the
therapist and
therapy process.

37. THERAPIST’S FUNCTION AND ROLE
MENTORING PROCESS
 The role of therapist
is not to make
evaluations for clients
but to challenge
clients to examine
and evaluate their
behavior and make
plans for change.

38.  It is the job of therapists
to convey the idea that
no matter how bad
things are there is hope.
 Therapist functions as
an advocate, or
someone who is on the
client’s side.

39. CLIENT’S EXPERIENCE IN THERAPY
Much time of client must be spent
talking about feelings separate from
the acting and thinking that part of
total behaviors over which clients
have direct control.

40.  Reality therapists will often ask
questions such as:
 Is what you are choosing to do bringing
you closer to the people you want to
closer right now?
 Is what you are doing is getting you
closer to a new person if you are
presently disconnected from everyone?

41.  At the end of therapy, the clients
should able to say to themselves “I
can begin to use what we talked
about today in my life. I am able to
bring my present experiences to
therapy are my problems in the
present, and my therapist will not let
me escape from the fact”.

42. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THERAPIST AND
CLIENT
o This therapy
emphasizes an
understanding and
supportive
relationship, or
therapeutic alliance,
which is the foundation
for effective outcomes.

43. * Listening in oneself as a
counselor
*Listening for metaphors in
the client mode of
expression
* Listening for themes
* Summarizing & focusing
* Ethical Practitioner

44.  Personal Qualities of Counselor
* Warmth * Concern
* Sincerity * Respect for Clients
* Congruence * Openness
* Understanding * Willing to challenge
• Acceptance others

45.  Climate that leads to involvement with
clients such as:
* Attending behavior
* listening to clients
* Suspending judgment of clients
* Doing the unexpected
* Sense of humor
* Being oneself as counselor
* Facilitative self-disclosure

47. THE PRACTICE OF REALITY THERAPY
Two Major Components
of Reality Therapy
(Cycle of Counseling)
1. Creating the
counseling
environment
2. Implementing specific
procedures that leads
to changes in

48. Working with
client
Client’s Exploration
(needs, wants,
perceptions)
Self-
Evaluation
New
Behavior
Plans to make
a Change
How do these
components
blend in the
Counseling
Proces?
Follow-up

49. RUBERT
WUBBOLDING-
REALITY THERAPIST
 Contributions:
 Extended the
practice of Reality
therapy (WDEP
system) for both
implementing and
teaching reality
 He rendered Choice
theory-usable by
counselors

50. THE COUNSELING ENVIRONMENT
 Supportive and challenging
environment allows client to begin
making life changes
 Therapeutic relationship is the
foundation for effective practice.
 In coercion-free atmosphere, clients
feel free to be creative and to begin to
try new behaviors.

51. PROCEDURES THAT LEAD TO CHANGE
 According to Glasser (1992), the
procedures that lead to change are
based on the assumption that human
beings are motivated to change
1. When they are convinced that their
present behavior is not getting what they
want

52. 2. When they believe they can choose
other behaviors that will get them closer
to what they want
 Reality therapists begin by asking clients
what they want from therapy.
 In the first session, skilled therapist
looks for and defines the wants of the
clients.

53. 3. The therapy is under way as the clients
can control their own behavior.
4. Reality therapists explore the tenets of
choice theory with clients
- Basic needs - Clients’ quality
world
- Choosing the total behavior (symptoms)

54. Prepared by: Maryrose Ann C.
Manalo

55. The WDEP
is used to
describe
key
procedures
in the
practice of
reality
therapy.

56. It can be described
as “effective,
practical, usable,
theory-based,
cross-cultural and
founded on
universal
principles.”

57. It can be used to help
clients explore their
wants, possible
things they can do,
opportunities for self
evaluation, and
design plans for
improvement.

58. W– Wants and Needs
D– Direction and Doing
E– Self Evaluation
P– Planning

59. (EXPLORING WANTS, NEEDS AND PERCEPTION)
 Through the therapists'
skillful questioning,
clients are assisted in
defining what they
want from the
counseling process
and from the world
around them.

60. USEFUL QUESTIONS TO HELP CLIENTS PINPOINT
WHAT THEY WANT:
What do you
want?
What would you
be doing if you
were living as you
want?
Do you really
want to change

61. It is an art for the
counselors to
know what
questions to ask,
how to ask them,
and when to ask
them.

62.  Early in counseling it is
essential to discuss with
clients the overall
direction of their lives,
including where they are
going and where their
behavior is taking them.

63. What are you
doing?
What do you see
yourself now and in
the future?
What did you want
to do differently this
past week?

64.  Rather than focusing
mainly on the feelings
of the client, reality
therapist encourage
clients to take action
by changing what they
are doing and thinking.

65. According to Glasser
(1992), what we are
doing is easy to see
and impossible to
deny and serves as
proper focus on
therapy.

66.  Self-evaluation is the
core of reality
therapy. It involves
the client examining
behavioral direction,
wants, perceptions,
new directions and
plans.

67. SKILLFUL QUESTIONS TO HELP THE CLIENT EVALUATE
HIMSELF:
 Is what you are doing
helping or hurting you?
 Is what you are doing
now what you want to
be doing?
 Is your behavior
working for you?

68. The process of
creating and
carrying out plans
enable people to
gain effective
control over their
lives.

69. ESSENCE OF A GOOD PLAN (SAMIC3)
 S – Simple
 A – Attainable
 M – Measurable
 I – Immediate
 C – Commited to
 C – Continuously done

70.  Asking clients to determine what
they want for themselves, to make
a self evaluation and to follow
through with action plans includes
assisting them in determining how
intensely they are willing to work to
attain the changes they desire.

71.  Wubbolding (2007a)
maintains that it is
important for a
therapist to express
concern about clients’
level of commitment, or
how much they are
willing to bring about
change.

72. APPLICATION TO GROUP COUNSELING
 Once group members
get a clearer picture of
what they have in their
life now and what they
want to be, they can
use the group as a
place to explore an
alternative course of
behavior.

73. REALITY THERAPY FROM A
MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
Prepared by:
Arh-Lyn M. Cruz

74. STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE
Cross-Cultural
Therapy
The counselors
respect the
differences in
worldview between
themselves and their
clients.

75. Glasser (1998) contends that
reality therapy and choice theory
can be applied both individually and
in groups to anyone with any
psychological problem in any
cultural context.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

76. Wubbolding (2007a)
asserts that reality therapy
is based on universal
principles, which makes the
theory applicable to all
people.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

77. Wubbolding (2000)
has adapted the cycle
of counseling in
working with Japanese
clients.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

78. He points to some
basic language
differences
between Japanese
and western
cultures.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

79. STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE
Adaptations to make the reality therapy
relevant to Japanese clients are:
 Question being
raised more
elaborately and
indirectly is more
favorable than direct
questions.

80.  There is no exact
Japanese translation for
the word “plan” and
“accountability”, yet
both of these are the key
dimensions in the
practice of reality
therapy
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

81.  In Japanese culture, asking clients
to make plans and commit to them,
the counselor in likely to accept “I’ll
try” as a firm commitment.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

82. Reality therapists
cannot work in
exactly the same
manner with all
clients
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

83. A key strength of reality therapy
is that it provides clients
with tools to make
the changes they
desire.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

84. The Planning
Phase is the central
to the process of
reality therapy.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

85. The focus of
Reality Therapy is
on positive steps
that can be taken,
not on what cannot
be done.
STRENGTH FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

86. Discrimination
and Racism are
unfortunate
realities.
SHORTCOMINGS FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

87. Wubbolding
(2008b) maintains
that because of
oppression and
discrimination, some
people have fewer
choices available to
them, yet they do
have choices.
SHORTCOMINGS FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

88. Some clients are
very reluctant to
directly verbally
express what
they need.
SHORTCOMINGS FROM A DIVERSITY
PERSPECTIVE

90. The Reality therapist is
guided the key concepts of
choice theory to identify
Stan’s behavioral
dynamics, to provide a
direction for him to work
toward, and to teach him
about.

92. Stan has fallen
into a victim role,
blaming others,
and looking
backward instead
of forward .Initially,
he wants to tell his
counselor.

93. The negative aspects of his life,
which he does by dwelling on this
major symptoms: Depression, Anxiety,
Inability to sleep and other
Psychosomatic symptoms.

95. The therapist
hopes that he will
come to realize
that if he decides
to change.

96. The therapist on the premise that
therapy will offer the opportunity to
explore with Stan what he can built
on Successes, Productive times,
Goals and hopes for the Future.

97. The therapist
has Stan describe
how his life would
be different if he
were symptoms-
free.

98. The therapist is interested
in knowing what would be
doing if he were meeting his
needs for belonging,
achievement, power, free
dome and fun.

99. The counselor talks
to him about all of his
basic psychological
needs and how this
type of therapy will
teach him satisfy them
in effective ways.

100. The therapist
wants him to
understand that he
can begin to take to
different action, which
is likely to change his
depressing
experience.

101. The therapist help Stan
understand that his depressing
is the feeling part of his choice .

102. The majority of time in the
sessions is devoted to making plans
and discussing their implementation.
Together he and the therapist focus on
the specific steps he can take right
now to begin the changes he would
like.

105. The advantages of
reality therapy are its
relativity short-term focus
and the fact that it deals with
conscious behavioral
problems.

106. Commitment to
clients self-
evaluation and a
plan of action are
the core of
therapeutic process
rather than insight
and awareness.

108. Aspects of the counseling
process
 The role of Insight, the
Unconscious, The power of
the past and the effect of
traumatic experiences in
early childhood, the
therapeutic value of dreams
, and the place of
transference.