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REALITY THERAPY

Aaron was an eleven-year-old boy whose behavior was described by Dr. William Glasser, his psychiatrist, as horrible. In his book, Reality Therapy, Glasser says Aaron was the most obnoxious child he had ever met. The boy would kick, scream, run away and hide, become withdrawn, disrupt his classes and make everyone disgusted with him. Dr. Glasser saw one problem with Aaron that no one else observed: "No one had ever told him that he was doing wrong." No one had ever set limits on what he could do and not do.

The psychiatrist decided to try a completely new tack. The boy would have to behave, to act reasonable, or be punished. He responded remarkably. "Probably because he had been anxious for so long to be treated in a realistic way." Thus he became courteous, well behaved, and his miserable grades went to straight As. For the first time in his life Aaron began to play constructively with other children, to enjoy honest relationships with others, and to stop blaming his troubles on his mother or other people. Dr. Glasser calls this "reality therapy" and says one of an individual’s greatest needs is to be made to realize that he is personally responsible for what he does and that right behavior accomplishes more than wrong behavior.

(From a sermon by Gerald Flury, Proper Training, 8/5/2010)

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