Choice theory

Domain III · Humanistic, existential & experiential · William Glasser · 1998

What it is

Choice theory is a theory of motivation and behaviour, not a stand-alone therapy. Glasser's own definition, quoted on the institute site, calls it an explanation of how and why people make the choices they make at the time they make them. Reality therapy is the counselling process built on it. In…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Choice theory has no official phase protocol or fixed session count. Glasser presented his counselling through case dialogues, not a manual. The phase structure below comes from current William Glasser International-aligned training material (Krahwinkel-Bower 2026, drawing on Wubbolding 2022). Glasser's books describe counselling that is often brief, but no source gives a standard number of sessions.
• Format. Usually weekly individual sessions of about 50 minutes. The same model is used with couples (the solving circle, Section 4), in groups (WDEP check-ins, needs card sorts) and in psychoeducational workshops (Take Charge of Your Life; Basic Intensive Training is a 3-day course that teaches the concepts and the process through lecture, role-play and self-evaluation).
• The phases overlap and repeat. Current training stresses that WDEP is a structured clinical conversation, not a script, and that the process is not linear: follow the client.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• It is working when the client brings examples of running the process alone.
• Repeated non-completion. Go back to W: the plan may serve the counsellor's picture, not the client's.
• Disagreement is expected and is useful. It is working when members can see several needs behind one behaviour.
• "I'll try" usually signals a plan that is too big. It is working when stated commitment matches what the client does.
• The counsellor quietly taking a side (value imposition). It is working when the client can hold both pictures and choose deliberately.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.