1.20 Understand the basics of reality therapy:

Summary of Key Concepts

Reality Therapy (William Glasser)

• Core Belief:

  • Humans act on a conscious level and strive for both physical and psychological health.

  • Focuses on satisfying basic needs through conscious choices, rejecting instincts and the unconscious.

  • Old Brain: Focuses on survival and physical needs.

  • New Brain: Focuses on psychological needs like belonging, power, freedom, and fun.

• Components of Behavior: Thinking, feeling, doing, and physiology.

• Nine Basic Steps in Reality Therapy:

  1. Build a friendly relationship with the client.

  2. Identify what the client wants.

  3. Assess the client’s current actions toward achieving their goals.

  4. Evaluate the effectiveness of current behaviors.

  5. Develop a plan for improvement.

  6. Secure a commitment to the plan.

  7. Avoid accepting excuses for failure.

  8. Impose reasonable consequences for non-compliance, if applicable.

  9. Revise or create new plans as necessary until the client takes control of their life.

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Theories

1. Sigmund Freud:

   • Structures of Personality:

     • Id: Instincts; operates on pleasure principle.

     • Ego: Executive branch; operates on reality principle.

     • Superego: Moral conscience; considers right and wrong.

   • Psychosexual Stages:

     1. Oral (0–18 months): Focus on oral pleasures (e.g., sucking).

     2. Anal (18 months–3 years): Focus on control of elimination.

     3. Phallic (3–6 years): Focus on genitals; includes Oedipus complex.

     4. Latency (6–puberty): Dormant sexual feelings.

     5. Genital (puberty onward): Mature sexual relationships.

   • Defense Mechanisms: Strategies like repression, denial, projection, rationalization, and sublimation to cope with anxiety.

2. Carl Jung:

   • Collective Unconscious: Shared reservoir of memories and archetypes.

   • Archetypes: Universal symbols (e.g., hero, shadow, anima/animus).

   • Personality Types: Introversion vs. extraversion.

3. Alfred Adler:

   • Inferiority Complex: Root of personality struggles.

   • Lifestyle: Shaped by early worldview and guiding fictions.

   • Birth Order: Influences personality traits (e.g., firstborns tend to be achievers).

Psychosocial Development

Erik Erikson (1902 – 1994) was trained as a lay psychoanalyst and his contribution to personality theory was the epigenetic principle. This principle states that human development progresses in sequential stages, and that each stage must be satisfactorily 50 resolved for development to proceed unimpaired to the next. If problems occur at any stage, they will influence and affect development that follows. Erikson's eight stages stretch across the life span, and unlike Freud, who believed everything critical in human development occurred in childhood, Erikson held that significant developmental challenges existed throughout the life cycle. o

Stages of Development: ▪ Trust vs mistrust (0 to 1 year) ▪ Autonomy vs shame and doubt (1 to 3 years) ▪ Initiative vs guilt (3 to 5 years) ▪ Industry vs inferiority (5 to 11 years) ▪ Identity vs role diffusion (05 to adolescence) ▪ Intimacy vs isolation (21 to 40 year) ▪ Generativity vs stagnation (40 to 65 years) ▪ Integrity vs despair (65 to death)

Tips for Memorization

1. Use Acronyms and Mnemonics:

   • For Reality Therapy steps: WEEP ACCR (Wants, Evaluate, Effective Plan, Commitment, Consequences, Responsibility).

   • For Freud’s stages: OAPLG (Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital).

2. Create Visual Aids:

   • Flowcharts for Freud’s psychosexual stages and Reality Therapy steps.

   • Diagrams showing Id, Ego, and Superego interactions.

3. Practice Explanation with Real-Life Examples:

   • Describe how defense mechanisms like repression or rationalization might show up in daily scenarios.

4. Group Similar Concepts:

   • Contrast Reality Therapy’s focus on conscious choice with Freud’s focus on unconscious drives.

Quiz

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is a psychological need in Reality Therapy? a) Food
   b) Belonging
   c) Shelter
   d) Safety

2. Which Freudian structure operates on the reality principle? a) Id
   b) Ego
   c) Superego
   d) Unconscious

3. What is the term for universal symbols in Jung’s theory? a) Archetypes
   b) Shadows
   c) Complexes
   d) Fictions

4. What personality traits are commonly associated with firstborn children, according to Adler? a) Conforming and high-achieving
   b) Manipulative and outgoing
   c) Spoiled and entertaining
   d) Rebellious and anxious

5. Which of these is a defense mechanism? a) Projection
   b) Anxiety
   c) Rationalization
   d) Both a and c

Answer Key

1. b) Belonging

2. b) Ego

3. a) Archetypes

4. a) Conforming and high-achieving

5. d) Both a and c