Talk:Choice theory

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Why have the "external links" been removed from the article? I would like to see that edit reverted by an admin. frankatca Oct. 25, 2005

1. I find psychotherapy accurate but somewhat limiting since there is a VERY much broader use of Choice Theory, particularly in counseling and training. For example, see the soon-to-be created Better Choices, Inc. program described at: http://BetterChoicesNow.Org that is devoted entirely to the huge problem of reducing recidivsim, i.e. parolees returning to prisons, repeatedly. The Better Choices program is stictly one of education, NOT counseling and not therapy, i.e. TEACHING Choice Theory as a route to giving the largely angry and unhappy people who populate our prisons insight into building better relationships with the people who matter most in their lives, taking responsibility for their CHOICES, behavioral choices, that will make a difference in how they ACT and THINK, and ulitmately will save SOME percentage of them from returning to prison. As a society that matters: in Massachusetts where I live, just a 1% reduction in recidivism equates to something of the order of $1 million a year in savings to the state and its taxpayers.

frankatca

1. I categorized this under 'psychotherapy' instead of 'psychology' because from what I've read about it, most of its application is in therapy. Very few articles on psychology need to be at the top level category; most should fall under 'self', 'personality', 'memory', 'cognition', 'social psychology', 'psychotherapy', etc. Maybe 'psychotherapy' is the wrong subcategory?
2. I also categorized this under 'popular psychology' since nearly all the author's publications have been books, and very few peer-reviewed articles, at least according to PsycINFO and scholar.google.com.

--Johnkarp 18:00, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)

1. I categorized this under 'psychotherapy' instead of 'psychology' because from what I've read about it, most of its application is in therapy. Very few articles on psychology need to be at the top level category; most should fall under 'self', 'personality', 'memory', 'cognition', 'social psychology', 'psychotherapy', etc. Maybe 'psychotherapy' is the wrong subcategory?
2. I also categorized this under 'popular psychology' since nearly all the author's publications have been books, and very few peer-reviewed articles, at least according to PsycINFO and scholar.google.com.

--Johnkarp 18:00, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)

1. This is a tough call. Glasser himself would agree that Choice Theory has a place in counseling, and indeed he has a book on such, and by extension "therapy"; however that term is somewhat limiting. If you read his book CHOICE THEORY what you will find is a far more comprehensive theoretical basis for behavior that is overarching with respect to psychology, counseling and therapy.

1. It is fair to say that although Glasser is widely admired he is hardly taken as "seriously" as Jung, Freud, and a host of others. Most iconolclasts are fair game for traditionalists.
   
2. Dr. Glasser's most recent jeremiad is aimed at the psychiatric and mental health community in a small booklet published by the Glasser Institute entitled: Treating Mental Health as a Public Health Problem: A New Leadership Role for the Helping Professions. ( See: http://www.wglasser.com/A%20New%20Booklet%20with%20scanned%20booklet%20cover.pdf )

Where he says, in part:
"Since I wrote my first book in 1961 and gave it the title, Mental Health or Mental Illness, I have been thinking about the section of that book that I called Mental Hygiene. By using that term, I was following the dictionary definition of hygiene which is the establishment and maintenance of health. In this instance, mental hygiene would translate into mental health.
"But today, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers and counselors, all of whom call themselves mental health professionals, only pay lip service to that term. Mental Health, as an important concept, completely separate from mental illness, plays no part in what they actually do.
Relying almost completely on the DSM-IV, all these professionals use the medical model to diagnose and treat what they call mental illnesses and disorders.
"In the booklet I have just published, Treating Mental Health as a Public Health Problem, I do something mental health professionals rarely do. I define mental health as an entity completely separate from mental illness. Then I explain that as long as we use the Medical model we have been using for years, we will be unable to deliver the mental health so many people desperately need at a cost they can afford.
"What I will explain in the booklet is that there is another model much better suited to delivering mental health than the Medical model. This is the Public Health Model that has been successfully delivering physical health to millions of people for hundreds of years. I also explain how this model could be expanded into a low cost Public Mental Health Delivery Model that could easily be put into practice by all mental health professionals. All the Mental Health Associations that dot the country could use this model by hiring mental health professionals to deliver mental health without diagnoses and without drugs directly to people who contacted the Association.
"I urge all mental health professionals who are interested in delivering mental health directly to their clients to read this booklet..."

frankatca Frank Ferguson f2@cainc.com Feb. 19, 2005

I do not know whether this is an appropriate place to say, but to my knowledge, majority of people think of economics or decision analysis when they hear the term "choice theory".

Anonymous Apr 22, 2005