Chapter 9: Choice Theory and Reality Therapy
Choice Theory/Reality Therapy Beliefs Pretest
This pretest is designed to assess how consistent your current beliefs about human problems, therapy process, and therapy interventions are with choice theory/reality therapy (CT/RT) practice. Read and briefly reflect on the following statements, and then circle the number that best represents how much you agree or disagree with each statement.
- Humans act, not on the basis of external rewards and punishments, but based on internal values and things we want or wish for.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
- The only person whose behavior you have complete control over is your own. Moreover, the only person’s behavior that you should seek to control is your own.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
- People are motivated to satisfy their five basic human needs. These needs include survival, love and belonging, power or achievement, freedom, and fun.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
- Humans are guided or motivated to gain or keep what we value or possess. These internal values and possessions are referred to as “your quality world” or “world of wants” and include people, things or experiences or activities, and ideas or systems of belief.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
- Humans constantly act, think, feel, and experience their physiology. We have control over and can choose our actions and thoughts, and when we do, our feelings and physiology are indirectly influenced. This is how we can choose or control our emotions and physiology.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
- Much of therapy involves teaching clients how to make choices that focus on attaining their inner needs and values, without seeking to control others.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
- Therapy also involves detailed planning for how clients can achieve what they want. A good plan is very specific and doable.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
- Much of human suffering and even mental disorders are caused by or made worse by the acting and thinking choices people make. People have more control over their emotions and physical states than they think—which is the focus of much of therapy.
0 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 4 - - - - - 5 - - - - - 6 - - - - - 7 - - - - - 8 - - - - - 9 - - - - - 10
Completely Disagree On the Fence Completely Agree
Scoring and Application
To get your total score, add all your circled numbers together. There are eight statements. The highest possible score is 80. The lowest possible score is 0. Calculate your score now:
A score of 80 could mean you believe you intentionally choose your every action, thought, feeling, and physiology to get virtually everything you want in life (in which case we hope you ARE getting everything you want!). A score of 0 would suggest you feel you’re living life like a rat trapped in a Skinner Box . . . with no ability to make choices and control your own destiny. Fortunately, both these extremes are highly unlikely.
Generally, higher scores indicate that your views are compatible with CT/RT and suggest you might want to seek out Robert Wubbolding at the International Center for Reality Therapy to obtain reality therapy training and certification. However, before you book the next flight to Cincinnati, you should recognize that scores on this and other questionnaires change as a function of time, knowledge, and experience. Your scores may change considerably as you learn about CT/RT theory and practice and then change more as you learn about other approaches.
For now, based on your CT/RT beliefs pretest score, consider the following possibilities:
- If your score is 64–80, your current views about therapy are extremely consistent with the CT/RT perspective. This means your values, your way of seeing the world, and your personality naturally lean toward a CT/RT perspective. A CT/RT approach may be an excellent fit for you, but you also may be naïve about CT/RT theory. Although your scores are high now, they could drop after you learn more about CT/RT thinking or after you learn more about other therapy approaches. If your scores are in the 64–80 range, we encourage you to be open to criticisms of the CT/RT perspective (partly because it’s good to seek balance and partly because it’s especially good to know weaknesses of the approach you’re drawn toward).
- If your score is 45–63, you have a mildly positive attitude toward CT/RT ideas. This is a nice attitude; it could mean you’re open to CT/RT ideas, but perhaps not quite sure what to think of them yet. Hopefully, as you learn more about CT/RT theory and practice, you’ll find yourself feeling more positive or more negative, depending on the fit between you and the theory and application. As you gather more information and experience your scores (and attitude) will likely move in one direction or another.
- If your score is 36–44, you’ve got a neutral attitude toward CT/RT theory and practice. You don’t have a strong opinion in favor of or against CT/RT ideas. This could mean that you don’t care much about this approach one way or another or it might mean that you don’t have enough information or experience to know how you really feel. If your score is in this range we recommend that you be open to learning what you can while noticing and tracking your reactions to learning about CT/RT approaches.
- If your score is 17–35, you’ve got a moderately negative attitude toward CT/RT theory and practice. You may already know quite a lot about this approach and have decided you don’t like it. Or CT/RT theory may be a poor fit for your values—or it may clash with your personality. Whatever the case, don’t let your negative attitude close you off from gaining new knowledge about this interesting approach to therapy.
- If your score is 16 or below, you’re definitely not a fan of CT/RT approaches. The challenge for you will be to not write off this approach from the beginning. It may be a struggle for you to be open to learning anything from reading the textbook chapter or from practicing or observing this approach. To address this apparent incompatibility between you and CT/RT approaches, we strongly encourage you to push yourself to see at least some positive dimensions of CT/RT theory and practice. Being open to different perspectives (at least a little bit open) is a character trait required of mental health and human services professionals.