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William Glasser Information

William Glasser, M.D. (born May 11, 1925) is an American psychiatrist.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he is the developer of reality therapy and choice theory. His ideas, which focus on personal choice, personal responsibility and personal transformation, are considered controversial by mainstream psychiatrists, who focus instead on classifying psychiatric syndromes, and who often prescribe psychotropic medications to treat mental disorders. Glasser is also notable for applying his theories to broader social issues, such as education, management, and marriage, to name a few. Glasser notably deviates from conventional psychiatrists by warning the general public about the potential detriments caused by the profession of psychiatry in its traditional form because of the common goal to diagnose a patient with a mental illness and prescribe medications to treat the particular illness when, in fact, the patient may simply be acting out of unhappiness, not a brain disorder. Glasser advocated the consideration of mental health as a public health issue.

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Work

A practicing psychiatrist, he has also authored and co-authored numerous and influential books on mental health, counseling, and the improvement of schools, teaching, and several publications advocating a public health approach to mental health versus the prevailing "medical" model.

During his early years as a psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in LA, he met Dr. G. L. Harrington, an older psychiatrist who Glasser credits as his "mentor." Glasser founded The Institute for Reality Therapy in 1967, which was renamed The Institute for Control Theory, Reality Therapy and Quality Management in 1994 and later The William Glasser Institute in 1996. The institute is located in Tempe, Arizona, and has branch institutes throughout the world.

By the 1970s Dr. Glasser called his body of work Control Theory. By 1996, the theoretical structure evolved into a comprehensive body of work renamed Choice Theory, mainly because of the confusion with perceptual control theory by William T. Powers, developed in the 1950s.

Reality therapy organizations

In the USA, the Glasser Institute is organized with regional groups in New England, the Sunbelt, and the West Coast.

In July, 2010, William Glasser Association International was established with an interim governing board charged with setting up the organization to coordinate worldwide activities and conferences, the first of which is June 6–9, 2012, in Los Angeles.

Outside the USA, the Glasser Institute has active independent national organizations in Canada, the UK, throughout Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Australia and New Zealand.

The Institute for Reality Therapy UK (IRT UK), with its own administration executive, co-ordinates the faculty workshops and practicums in the United Kingdom on behalf of the WGI, leading up to, and including Reality Therapy Certification (RTC). The IRT UK strives to promote and develop choice theory, reality therapy, and lead management in the UK, offering guidance and support to its membership made up of a body of like-minded individuals, committed to their own personal and professional advancement. Support is offered by a team of training and practicum supervisors. Members of the institute subscribe to the 'ethos' that choice theory, reality therapy, and lead management guide and support their relationships both on a personal and professional basis, and that reality therapy should be taught with integrity and adherence to fundamental concepts as described by Dr. William Glasser and others who write, teach, and are associated with the WGI.

Bibliography

with co-author Carleen Glasser, M.Ed.

Other:

Chapters in books edited by others

Sources

External links

Persondata
Name Glasser, William
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth May 11, 1925
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

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