The term choice theory is closely associated with the work of Dr. William Glasser, MD, author of the book so named, and is the culmination of some 50 years of theory and practice in psychology and counseling. Choice theory is also a discipline of analyzing the mathematical nature of the choice behavior of economic agents in microeconomics. For choice theory in economics, see rational choice theory. Dr. William Glasser, M.D. William Glasser, M.D. is an American psychiatrist born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1925, and developer of Reality Therapy and Choice Theory. ... MD or md may stand for: Air Madagascar IATA code make dir (Microsoft DOS) or meta device (UNIX) in computing Managing Director, or CEO Maryland state code McDonnell Douglas aircraft McDonalds, a fast food restaurant Medicinæ Doctor, Doctor of Medicine (academic degree) Mendelevium (Md), symbol for the chemical element... Psychology (Gk: psyche, soul or mind + logos, speech) is an academic and applied field involving the study of the mind, brain, and behavior, both human and nonhuman. ... Psychotherapy is a set of techniques believed to cure or to help solve behavioral and other psychological problems in humans. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Decision theory. ...

Choice Theory posits that behavior is central to our existence and is driven by five genetically driven needs, similar to those of Maslow: Abraham Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was a psychologist. ...

• Survival (food, clothing, shelter, breathing, personal safety and others)

and four fundamental psychological needs: Shelter can refer to several things: Look up shelter on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

• Belonging/connecting/love
• Power
• Freedom, and
• Fun

Choice Theory posits the existence of a "Quality World" in which, starting at birth and continuing throughout our lives, we place those things that we highly value: primarily the people who are important to us, things we prize, and systems of belief, i.e. religion, cultural values and icons, etc. Glasser also posits a "Comparing Place" in which we compare the world we experience with our Quality World. We behave to achieve as best we can a real world experience consonant with our Quality World. A cartoonish version of the heart, a frequent modern symbol of love. ... Look up Power in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Power has many meanings, all of which imply control or force. ... Freedom as concept may refer to: Freedom (philosophy) Freedom (political) Freedom (as a proper noun) may refer to: Freedom Magazine, a Scientology publication Freedom newspaper, a British anarchist newspaper Space Station Freedom, the name of a NASA project which later became the International Space Station Freedom Yachts, a company based... The Savior (1410s, by Andrei Rublev) For other senses of this word, see icon (disambiguation). ...

Behavior ("Total Behavior" in Glasser's terms) is made up of these four components: acting, thinking, feeling and physiology. Glasser suggests that we have considerable control or choice over the first two of these, and little ability to directly choose the latter two. As these four components are closely intertwined, the choices we make in our thinking and acting greatly affect our feeling and physiology. Acting is the work of an actor, a person in theatre, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play. ... Thought or thinking is a mental process which allows beings to model the world, and so to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires. ... A feeling can refer to: sensation related to one of several senses (tactition, thermoception, nociception, equilibrioception, proprioception); See also: touch, qualia emotion; intuition; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, feeling means you tend to put a higher priority on personal factors than impersonal factors; Feelings, the name of a 1997 David Byrne... Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ...

The source of much unhappiness are the failing or failed relationships with those who are important to us: spouses, parents, children, friends & colleagues. The symptoms of unhappiness are widely variable and are often seen as mental illness. Glasser believes that "pleasure" and "happiness" are related but are far from synonymous. Sex, for example, is a "pleasure" but may well be divorced from a "satisfactory relationship" which is a precondition for lasting "happiness" in life. Hence the intense focus on the improvement of relationships in counselling with Choice Theory-- the "new Reality Therapy". See: relational model personal relationship mathematical relationship, including: inverse relationship direct relationship relation (mathematics). ... Marriage is a relationship that plays a key role in the definition of many families. ... A male Caucasian toddler child A child (plural: children) is a young human. ... Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up Sex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... People often show that they are happy by smiling. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: life, living Life is a multi-faceted concept that may refer to the ongoing process of which living things are a part or the period between fertilisation or mitosis and death. ...

Choice Theory posits that most mental illness is, in fact, an expression of unhappiness and that we are able to learn how to choose alternate behaviors that will result in greater satisfaction. Reality Therapy is the counselling process focussed on helping clients to learn to make those choices. Reality Therapy is a particular approach in psychotherapy and counselling. ...

The Ten Axioms of Choice Theory

1. The only person whose behavior we can control is our own.
2. All we can give another person is information.
3. All long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems.
4. The problem relationship is always part of our present life.
5. What happened in the past has everything to do with what we are today, but we can only satisfy our basic needs right now and plan to continue satisfying them in the future.
6. We can only satisfy our needs by satisfying the pictures in our Quality World.
7. All we do is behave.
8. All behavior is Total Behavior and is made up of four components: acting, thinking, feeling and physiology
9. All Total Behavior is chosen, but we only have direct control over the acting and thinking components. We can only control our feeling and physiology indirectly through how we choose to act and think.
10. All Total Behavior is designated by verbs and named by the part that is the most recognizable.