Counseling with Choice Theory

In this plainspoken, welcome follow-up to his 1965 bestseller Reality Therapy, no-nonsense psychiatrist Glasser revisits some familiar psychological terrain and presents a series of candid chats with composite characters closely drawn from his patients. His reality theory emphasizes the importance of conscious choice and personal responsibility as effective alternatives to drugs or electroshock therapy for redirecting the destructive behaviors often labeled as mental illness. Glasser repeatedly stresses the importance to his clients of meaningful, loving relationships to sustaining good emotional and mental health; those clients include a teenage girl infatuated with promiscuity, a suicidal husband who dreams of becoming the woman he sees when he looks in the mirror, a battered wife fearful of freedom, a potentially explosive teenage boy raised on harsh words and cruelty, and an obsessive-compulsive man transfixed with his similarity to the nasty Jack Nicholson character in the film As Good as It Gets. Wasting no time on exploring dreams or childhood trauma, Glasser hones in on the obstacles to each patient’s intimate relationships or normal functioning. While some of the results are extremely positive, not all of the conflicts are resolved favorably or predictably.

Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach

“Greene and Ablon have done it again. This book illustrates their clinical acumen, conceptual sophistication, and scientific rigor–all at the same time! This is an uncommonly useful book for students and for therapists at all levels of experience. The authors’ collaborative problem-solving approach takes into consideration the delicate dance between poorly regulated children and their frustrated and sometimes poorly equipped parents. These children and their families require special interventions, and this innovative book goes a long way to helping us in our clinical practice, teaching, and research.”–Thomas H. Ollendick, PhD, Child Study Center and Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech.

For Parents and Teenagers: Dissolving the Barrier Between You and Your Teen

Dr. William Glasser — a world-renowned psychiatrist who has healed shattered families and changed lives with his advice — urges parents and teachers to reject the “common sense” that tells them to “lay down the law” by grounding teens, or to try to coerce teens into changing their behavior. These strategies have never worked, asserts Dr. Glasser, and never will.

Instead he offers a different approach, one based upon Choice Theory. Dr. Glasser spells out the seven deadly habits parents practice, and then shows them how to accomplish goals by changing their own behavior. Most important, however, is the groundbreaking method that all parents and teachers can use with confidence to maintain strong and loving relationships with today’s teenagers.

The Gift of Therapy

The Gift of Therapy is the new book from the bestselling author of Love’s Executioner. The culmination of master psychiatrist Dr Irvin Yalom’s forty-five years’ work as a therapist, this book illustrates through real case studies how patients and therapists alike can get the most out of therapy. Presented as eighty-five ‘tips’ for ‘beginner therapists’, Yalom shares his own fresh approach and the insights he has gained while treating his patients. Personal, and sometimes provocative, Yalom includes some unorthodox suggestions: Let the patient matter to you; Acknowledge your errors; Create a new therapy for each patient; Three kinds of therapist self-disclosure; Revealing the therapist’s personal life: use caution; Full interpretation of a dream? Forget it!; Freud was not always wrong. This is an entertaining, informative and insightful read for both beginner (and experienced) therapists, patients, students and everyone with an interest in the subject.