Choice Theory Thoughts

What a busy week! I almost didn't succeed in getting my blog post in for this week, but I decided that instead of dusting, I'd fit this in. It's been a busy week at school with assignments, and also with my room mate. He and I decided that we needed a pet for our apartment. Since we're not allowed to have pets like a dog or cat (which we would prefer), we decided on two goldfish. They have been very distracting, and great for my procrastination.

One thing we've been learning about this week in my Counseling Skills for the Classroom Teacher is Choice Theory. This is a theory by William Glasser based on, as the title said, choices. We have been learning the basics of the theory, which is most easily understood through a diagram we were given in class. I couldn't find a very good image online, but below is one I found online that shows the entire diagram, just in a very small version.

The diagram shows the relationship between the Read World and our Quality World. Based on our values, beliefs, and life experiences, everyone's Quality Worlds are different. We all have images in our Quality Worlds that make up what we want in life. To obtain the things we want in our Quality World, we have to choose how we behave that will help us obtain what we want. The bottom part of the diagram shows that the scales are equal, so the behavior one has chosen is satisfactory to reaching what one believes to be the Quality World. In the top area of the diagram, the scales are unequal, and the person has chosen the wrong behavior, and therefore the arrow points back in, showing that another behavior needs to be chosen. It's almost like a "Try Again" option.

Glasser's Theory also focuses on the Five Basic Needs. These are Belonging, Power, Fun, Survival, and Freedom. These fit into what we want our Quality Worlds to be, as we all place these needs at difference important levels. In class, we all filled out forms showed each of the needs and asked where we would place their importance on a 1 to 5 scale. It was interesting to see where everyone's answers fell and how different everyone believed the importance of each need to be in our lives. Our professor reminded us after, that when we are counseling our students, that we need to think about what needs are most important to them, and think about their behavior and how to help them with this in mind.

I really like a lot of things about the Choice Theory model. I think it almost empowers people to think that their choices are making a difference in their happiness. As I've been reading the book, Choice Theory, written by Dr. William Glasser, I have come across a few things that I disagree with. The book says that we choose to be depressed, anxious, or happy. While I think in many cases, the choices we make can effect these, I do believe there is a scientific aspect that Glasser often ignores. Chemical imbalances are very real, and we can not choose to have a balance or unbalance. I don't want to take a stance on whether or not medication is right or not right, however, I think that in some cases people do need it and according to this theory, people do not need medications, just different choices.

We are only halfway through the course and I haven't completed the reading of the book yet, so as we continue on my views on this may change. However, this is my opinion to this point in the course. We are learning a lot of useful techniques of how to talk to students. I like that my professor has made the course very hands-on and applicable to the classroom. Even though role-playing the counseling situations is difficult, it's definitely going to be useful later on!