William Glasser
William Glasser
#### Full Name and Common Aliases
William Henry Glasser was a renowned American psychiatrist, author, and psychologist. He is often referred to as the founder of Reality Therapy.
Birth and Death Dates
Born on May 5, 1925, in Yonkers, New York, Glasser passed away on August 23, 2017, at the age of 92.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Glasser was an American psychiatrist and psychologist. He is best known for his work in psychiatry and psychology, particularly in the development of Reality Therapy and Choice Theory.
Early Life and Background
Growing up during the Great Depression, Glasser's early life was marked by hardship and struggle. His father, a struggling businessman, eventually lost their family home to foreclosure. This traumatic experience had a profound impact on Glasser, shaping his perspective on the importance of economic security and personal responsibility. He went on to study at Columbia University, where he earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees.
Major Accomplishments
Glasser's most significant contribution to psychology was the development of Reality Therapy, which focuses on treating individuals with mental health disorders by setting clear expectations and consequences for their behavior. This approach emphasizes personal responsibility and choice-making skills over traditional talk therapy or medication-based treatments.
Notable Works or Actions
Some of Glasser's notable works include:
_Schools Without Failure_ (1968), which presented the concept of Reality Therapy in educational settings
_Reality Therapy: A New Approach to Psychiatry_ (1965)
* _Positive Addiction_ (1976), which introduced the idea of positive addiction as a means to counterbalance negative addictions
Impact and Legacy
Glasser's work has had a lasting impact on the fields of psychology, education, and social work. His Reality Therapy approach has been implemented in various settings, including schools, hospitals, and community centers. Glasser's ideas have also influenced other notable psychologists and therapists.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Glasser is widely quoted for his insights on personal responsibility, choice-making, and the importance of economic security. His work continues to inspire individuals seeking to improve their mental health and well-being through empowering themselves with knowledge and skills.
Quotes by William Glasser
William Glasser's insights on:
Weak people carry a torch for life, they “enjoy” wallowing in their misery. They do so partly in the hope that someone will feel sorry for them and solve their problems.
Since the obvious purpose of pain, misery, and suffering is to tell you something is wrong, fix it, change it, reform, improve, get help; if you don’t have the strength to do it, you are stuck with the pain. This is not to say that people with strength don’t suffer – they do. They have no immunity to life, but when they feel pain, they get moving or at least they try to do something, and the more strength they have the more successful their efforts are.
While it is possible that we do know what’s right for others, unless they agree with us, trying to force this knowledge on them is usually a disaster.
Kids aren’t stupid; we figure things out. We don’t want to wreck our lives any more than you do. As long as we’re loved, most of us come out okay.
If you look around at your family and friends, you will see that the happiest people are the ones who don’t pretend to know what’s right for others and don’t try to control anyone but themselves.
To achieve and maintain the relationships we need, we must stop choosing to coerce, force, compel, punish, reward, manipulate, boss, motivate, criticize, blame, complain, nag, badger, rank, rate, and withdraw. We must replace these destructive behaviors with choosing to care, listen, support, negotiate, encourage, love, befriend, trust, accept, welcome, and esteem. These.
It is no kindness to treat unhappy people as helpless, hopeless, or inadequate, no matter what has happened to them. Kindness is having faith in the truth and that people can handle it and use it for their benefit. True compassion is helping people help themselves.
Every single major push in education has made it worse and right now it’s really bad because everything we’ve done is de-humanizing education. It’s destroying the possibility of the teacher and the student having a warm, friendly, intellectual relationship.
They have this big book called the ‘DSM-IV,’ you know, that is supposedly written about crazy people, but I think it is a book that is written by crazy people!