Working without an established model is like driving a car without a roadmap. Although you might be a competent driver and proficient at parallel parking, without a roadmap you are likely to get lost. Very, very lost. And quickly.
In this final chapter of the book, Glasser briefly delves into the arena of Reality Therapy in schools, which he is now famous for in the educational field. He discusses how his work with educators allows them to deal with troubled children in the classroom more effectively, and normally without expending any extra energy.
It would be great if the educational system taught children more about life skills. Why aren’t there classes on self-confidence and organizing your time so you can complete homework and chores around the house? How about a class on balancing finances so that money earned from part-time jobs isn’t all spent on non-essential items like junk food and video games?
This chapter regarding private practice and Reality Therapy give good insight into the world of patients who are relatively more functional than those previously discussed. They have not been incarcerated for any crimes, or because they have been determined to be an immediate danger to themselves or others.
In this chapter, Dr. G.L. Harrington discusses his work at a VA Hospital with the implementation of Reality Therapy into his program. He achieves some incredible breakthroughs with psychotic patients, some of whom have been locked up for years without any previous expectation of release into society. Using Reality Therapy Harrington helped one particular patient recover from hallucinations, become a functional, responsible member of the ward and then transfer to outpatient treatment. He was released into society after more than 15 years of suffering without a permanent, effective solution.
I especially liked this chapter, where Glasser discusses his work at Ventura with juvenile delinquent girls. He has numerous case studies showing how the girls go from being angry, depressed, unmotivated and non-communicative to successfully leaving the program, becoming upstanding members of society and writing him letters as if he's their best friend. That's quite an accomplishment, especially considering how many other detention facilities most of them had already been to before joining him.
One of my favorite excerpts from this chapter is when Glasser is outlining the rules of Reality Therapy and states "Because we do not accept the concept of mental illness, the patient cannot become involved with us as a mentally ill person who has no responsibility for his behavior." What a concept! It must have been great for Glasser's patients to finally have someone hold them accountable. If all that was ever expected of them was to be irresponsible, to act imbalanced, violent or depressed, it would be very difficult for them to be anything more.
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