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The genius of William Glasser, MD, is illustrated in his many writings from 1960 until his death in 2013. He gave the world a 3-fold legacy (Wubbolding, 2017a).That is, choice theory provides the explanation for human motivation: it explains why people do whatever they do, and why they make choices - both effective and ineffective. Human beings generate behaviors to satisfy their 5-fold need system. Many behaviors are explicitly chosen. Many others are at least partially chosen. Practitioners are advised to treat behaviors "as if" they are choices.
The 2nd component of his legacy is the delivery system - reality therapy. It is a practical, usable system applied to psychotherapy, counseling, education, management, parenting and virtually every human relationship. These two components are inextricably linked. "Choice theory is the train track. Reality therapy is the train" (Glasser & Glasser, 2008).
The 3rd component of the legacy is an organization originally known as the Institute for Reality Therapy, and then subsequently known as the William Glasser Institute. This streamlined entity consisted of William Glasser president, Linda Harshman executive director, and Robert E. Wubbolding director of training. The membership elected an advisory board which provided feedback and suggestions to the official board of directors represented by Dr. Glasser and Ms. Harshman, (Wubbolding, 2017a). Regarding Dr. Glasser's teaching, Wubbolding states, "His listeners expressed astonishment at his non-technical, forthright language and the apparent simplicity of his ideas. However, he always stressed that though the ideas are simple, their implementation requires effort and a commitment to make more effective choices" (p. 17).
The monumental work of Glasser, summarized in his many books (1965, 1981, 1998, 2011) has been applied to a plethora of human relationships and systemic issues by Glasser himself and many others such as (Rice, 2011) addictions, (Buck, 2013) parenting, (Robey, Wubbolding & Carlson, 2012) couples counseling, (Olver, 2011) diversity, (Wubbolding, 1996) (Pierce, 2007) management.
Personal Disclosure
For many years, my professional goal has been to preserve, maintain, and further develop Glasser's legacy so that his name and the systems he developed achieve their rightful place in the history of the helping professions. My second goal is to facilitate the placement of reality therapy within the mainstream of counseling and educational systems. To expedite this process I have...