Reality Therapy and Virtual Reality Therapy

Dr. William Glasser, MD, a psychiatrist and author of numerous books on counseling and the improvement of schools and teaching, founded the William Glasser Institute in Chatsworth, California. His first book Reality Therapy, published in the 1960s, established the principles from which his subsequent theory evolved.

By the 1970s Dr. Glasser called his body of work "Control Theory" and by the mid-1990s the theoretical structure evolved into a comprehensive body of work that is called Choice Theory. The successful application of Reality Therapy is dependent on the counselor's familiarity with, and knowledge of, Choice Theory. In fact, teaching Choice Theory to counselees is now part of Reality Therapy.

In 1967 William Glasser founded the Institute for Reality Therapy and in 1996 this has been renamed as The William Glasser Institute.

The focus of Reality Therapy is to help counselees take ownership of their behavior and responsibility for the direction their lives take. Reality Therapy holds as its basic premise the notion that regardless of what has happened to us in our lives, or what we have done in the past, we are living and making choices here and now.

The core of Reality Therapy is the idea that regardless of what has "happened" in our lives, or what we have done in the past, we can choose behaviours that will help us meet our needs more effectively in the future.

In Reality Therapy they are classified under five headings:

Power - which includes achievement and feeling worthwhile as well as winning.
Love & Belonging - this includes groups as well as families or loved ones.
Freedom - includes independence, autonomy, your own 'space'.
Fun - includes pleasure and enjoyment.
Survival - includes nourishment, shelter, sex.

Reality Therapy Technique

The practice of Reality Therapy is an ongoing process made up of two major components:

Creating a trusting environment; and
Using techniques which help a person discover what they really want , reflect on what they are doing now, and create a new plan for fulfilling that 'want' more effectively in the future.

Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT)

The first research for VRT was done in the early 1990s. Virtually Better, the company Zimand works for, was founded in 1995. VRT was first used for people who had a fear of heights.

VRT is becoming increasingly popular for those who are willing to invest the time and money into the process.

The treatment costs between $100 and $300 an hour. Typical treatments are completed in eight one-hour sessions.

"Virtual Reality Therapy is only part of cognitive behavioral therapy," said Elana Zimand, director of clinical services at Virtually Better, Inc., a start-up company co-founded by Rothbaum that markets VRT.

Zimand said the treatment is generally used for anxiety disorders. The length of treatment is based on the severity of the phobia.

The therapy consists of a few sessions with a psychologist to determine the origin of the fear. Zimand said the VRT portion of the therapy begins after she has a sufficient understanding of the phobia.

Using a platform and a headset, a patient is immersed in a computer-generated environment designed to reproduce a real-world setting. Real digital video is incorporated into the virtual environment to promote a sense of reality. In the public speaking scene, the speaker can elicit different reactions from the audience, such as hostility or interest, in order to make the situation seem more real.