COUN1003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: William Glasser, Existentialism, Sensory System
25 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
WEEK 9: Choice theory/reality therapy
Dr William Glasser:
- Born in 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio
- Developed reality therapy and choice theory
- Contends that behaviour in school will not improve until we change the way we
work with student
- Used innate knowledge to understand how systems work to field human
behaviour
- There always a choice in our knowledge, how we feel, what we say – powers an
individual with the idea of choice
- Understand our own behaviour to make informed choices afterwards
- Phenomenological – relation to the environment as a whole/being/self (eg,
footprint – what you leave behind, our behavioural and ethics being – idea of self)
- People have freedom to make choices
- People must take responsibility for their choices
- Behaviour should be considered in its totality – our behaviour based on our
choices
- The capacity to change as in ourselves (we are only victims if we choose to be)
Key concepts of choice theory:
- All we ever do is behave (good or bad)
- We are externally motivated by the world around us – everyone views things
differently (subjective)
- If we are sad, unhappy, or depressed, it is because we choose to feel and
behave that way - we need to go deep inside ourselves to understand or
behaviours/feelings and choices (eg. A clinically depressed person is
disempowered by a choice they can’t control)
- We are not victims of our past unless we choose to be – influenced by
existentialism but no one is able to control the thoughts in one’s mind, it’s the
individuals own choice
- We are constantly seeking to live in our “quality world” – an individual can only
determine what that quality is
Human basic needs:
- Can be in any order
1. Love and belonging: connecting with other people that are important to you,
hard to truly love yourself, however, its easier to love others (belonging, being
loved, being respected, friendship, sharing, cooperation) – the more you are
loved then the more you can love someone else
2. Power: the power within ourselves – giving yourself credit instead of being too
hard on yourself (success, acknowledgement from others, achievement, skills,
importance, recognition)
3. Fun: (laughter, the genetic reward for learning, change, enjoyment)
4. Survival: personal survival, being able to experience disadvantage – putting
yourself in some else’s shoes to be able to understand what they’re feeling
and experiencing (physical needs, food, water, security, health, relaxation,
sexual activity, warmth)
5. Freedom: freedom in our hearts and ourselves – based on how the individual
chooses to feel at that time, to have choices and control in your life…freedom
from…and freedom to (choices, independent)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Contends that behaviour in school will not improve until we change the way we work with student. Used innate knowledge to understand how systems work to field human behaviour. There always a choice in our knowledge, how we feel, what we say powers an individual with the idea of choice. Understand our own behaviour to make informed choices afterwards. Phenomenological relation to the environment as a whole/being/self (eg, footprint what you leave behind, our behavioural and ethics being idea of self) People must take responsibility for their choices. Behaviour should be considered in its totality our behaviour based on our choices. The capacity to change as in ourselves (we are only victims if we choose to be) All we ever do is behave (good or bad) We are externally motivated by the world around us everyone views things differently (subjective)
