Helped me to conclusively understand that I am totally responsible for the words I am now using, or the fact that I am answering your enquiry. I said,nearly 20 years ago, that Choice Theory is the psychology of the future, sadly most of the world are more comfortable being sick, than applying it and risking a whole better future for us all. — Andrew Hatton
One of the biggest impacts Dr. Glasser’s training has had on private psychotherapy practice has been the Caring Habits (and the Deadly Habits). I have incorporated these powerful “Tenets to Live By” in my family counseling, pre-marital and marital counseling. With each and every client, I introduce the Quality World Connections and present a hand-out printed on cheery bordered paper. I acquaint each client with my initial favorable impressions of Dr. Glasser and his brilliant invention of these common sense habits. I explain these Habits in terms of being a ‘road-map’ to follow for a happy and peaceful existence. I ask them to put this handout on their refrigerator door as a constant reminder of the path to follow for Love & Belonging, Power, Fun, Freedom and Survival! My clients tell me later that this training has helped them understand how easy getting along can actually be when these suggestions are faithfully followed. Knowing Dr. Glasser has made my work so fulfilling! Dr. Glasser is an inspirational role model exuding kindness and understanding. Teaching his concepts is easy and rewarding when we see relationships transformed as a result. — Kathi Madison
Choice Theory was the pivotal point in my life that set me on a path of recovery and understanding about life and relationships. After a divorce, a friend and counselor recommended Choice Theory. That began my journey to eventually become RTC and develop my interest in Glasser Quality Schools. It has taught me self-responsibility and that choices make my world go around. And I can do something about it. And my choices have brought me to this point in my life and will take me to the next point. When I became involved in Al-Anon and I attended AA meetings my understanding of Choice Theory made the work within those programs easy to understand and utilize. I am one thankful man for Choice Theory.–Ken Klug,Charlottesville, VA
When my wife and I took a vacation to New Zealand in January of 2003, I took along Choice Theory, A New Psychology of Personal Freedom to read on the long non-stop flight between LA and Auckland. I had read it before, but this time it struck home and as soon as we returned home I called the office and asked to attend a Basic Week. Carleen was giving one that month and was kind enough to add me to the list. That was the beginning of a real change in my life. Both she and Dr. Glasser shared themselves and the concepts of Choice Theory with me during the next several years in their home and at the conventions. This has been the most wonderful liberating experience that I have ever had in my life. I have taken the concepts to my counseling of intimate partner violators and parenting clients with such a great reception that shows me that Dr. Glasser’s concepts are of true and meaning value to all of us in our relationships with others, especially those with whom we want an intimate relationship. I have been able to really effect change in many of my client’s lives and helped them to gain lasting happiness in their families.– Bellows, Northridge, CA
I have been learning, living, and teaching Choice Theory for over 15 years with children and their families. I have worked in residential settings, outpatient mental health services and in clinical supervision with other therapists and have seen a significant change in the lives of many and have personally seen the improvement in the quality of their lives. For me, Choice Theory has provided a tool to improve my personal and professional relationships. In my professional life, it has been the theoretical framework in my work with hundreds of clients who, by learning Choice Theory, are enjoying more satisfying and longer-lasting relationships. Thank you Dr. Glasser and the Institute for providing me a roadmap to a need-fullfilling life.–Cesar A. Castaneda, LMFT, Sacramento, CA
I have designed an equine assisted growth & learning program based on Choice Theory & Natural Horsemanship, called Transition Reins. Just as most present psychology is based on external control, so also traditional horsemanship is based on external control. Basically, participants learn to replace external control with the 7 caring habits (which we call the 7 relationship-building habits) as they build need-satisfying relationships with horses.— Janet Cameron
I first met Dr. Glasser through Reality Therapy and Schools Without Failure when they were first published. I was impressed with his ideas and experiences. At this time, I was somewhat dissatisfied with how I saw my teaching career if I continued as I was. I worked hard and students passed the exams but I didn’t know what they were actually learning or wanted to do. I figured if Dr. Glasser could run Class Meetings, I could too. I tried out the various types of meetings and began to see some welcome changes. Students seemed to like the meetings and began to take ownership for the way our classes operated. Reality Therapy was an 8-step model and I started using some of the questions in conversations with students. They liked how they could focus and sort things out. I also began to use the steps as part of my own internal dialogue in an ongoing way. I didn’t know about Fun being a basic need, but I was now having some. Since that early beginning, I have continued to take training in RT/CT and incorporated more of the concepts in my daily activities and personal life. I think I have a fairly clear understanding of Choice Theory and could never say that it has changed my life or the lives of any people I have worked with because that would not be true. When I finally saw the difference between stimulus-response and Choice Theory a lot of things became clear for me. Stimulus-response (cause and effect) works very well in the world of science. Drop a ball and it falls according to the conditions and gravitational attraction of the earth. Add some acid to a basic solution and it will turn it into salt and water. Dr. Glasser in developing Choice Theory saw we are not just physical objects acted on and controlled by outside events. We are all motivated for our own purposes and reasons and decide for ourselves what we will do or not do based on how we view our perceptions of what we think happens around us. Choice Theory is easy to live with when we perceive our lives going the way we want. When life is not to our liking then it is very easy to slip into stimulus-response and blame the world for what we think we are experiencing. The biggest thing I learned about living a Choice Theory life is that no matter what is happening and how I perceive it, I create my own reality, choose my own thoughts, feelings, and actions and ultimately am responsible and accountable for all that I choose to do (and choose not to do). I thank Dr. Glasser for all he has done in developing Choice Theory and sharing it with the world. I feel liberated and enriched.–Bryan Zeman
I was exposed to the Choice Theory as a professional, since 1992 when I was General Manager for Social Development Office (Body created by Kuwait Amir to deal with people that had been psychologically affected by Iraqi aggression 1990) , I was amazed with its simplicity and deepness in the same time, you don’t have to be a Psychology graduate to absorb and understand it, it it touched your heard and mind in the same time. I was enrolled in the certification program Since then I applied its techniques it in two major occasions in my professional life beside my personal life of course. Here I’ll talk about my professional career As CEO of leading Telecom company in the region, and before that I was the CHRO for it, Choice was one of our HR values and human needs were major elements of HR Philosophy we called it 5Fs Philosophy (Fun, Freedom, Fortune, Future and Fitness). Based on that we leave our employees to have the Choice and be responsible for their career and future. Our HR department has been highly affected by the Choice theory and its components. Actually one time we discover lack of performance in company”s Call Center, research showed that its due to pictures in their mind that serving people through phone calls doesn”t fit local culture, and the way local community perceived the job. We exerted a lot of efforts to change the pictures in people mind not only Call Center staff, but the whole organization. Through training, changing policies to draw new pictures regarding serving people utilizing Information and Value filters. Also we changed recruiting procedures where by all employees should start in Call Center when they enter the organization, then they’ll be distributed to other departments. I feel we managed to change the picture and reached to great results, thanks to Choice Theory. Now as Management Consultant I have professional personal experience. One main service I provide is Executive Coaching, where by I used Reality Therapy procedures (WDEP) in my Executive Coaching Model which leads to Performance. I combine Reality Therapy techniques with Monitoring Model techniques, which made the Model unique locally.
–Ahmed K AL-Shatti, Kuwait