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Abstract: Perceived Locus of Control and Self-Evaluation
Perceived locus of control is a traditional and helpful principle used in counseling and psychotherapy for decades. This major contribution of Julian Rotter is a significant part of the effective use of reality therapy. This article illustrates how a reality therapist can assist clients to move from a sense of powerlessness to the belief that they have more inner control than previously believed. The author illustrates this process with a client and suggests that the principles of perceived locus of control and reality therapy have implications for use on a societal basis.
First, William Glasser, MD, entrusted a legacy of major importance to practitioners, university instructors, trainers and researchers for the general well being of people around the world (Glasser, W, 1998). His legacy is four-fold: first - he developed choice theory that can be described as a negative input, behavioral choice-driven output and goal directed system for satisfying the internal human needs or genetic motivators. He explored and gathered these ideas from many sources altering them significantly by including the human need system and the emphasis on choice or power over behaviors generated from within the human person (Wubbolding, 2017a).
Second, he formulated a delivery system for implementing choice theory that the world knows as reality therapy (Glasser, 1965, 2000). It is a practical system that emphasizes skills for helping clients, students and others deal more effectively with decisions and to discover more satisfying and achievable goals. Glasser C & Glasser W (2008) have described the connection between choice theory and reality therapy as the relationship between the train track that provides direction (choice theory) and the train that operationalizes the theory (reality therapy). These two contributions have been applied to management (Pierce, 2007), parenting (Buck, 2013), and extensively to education.
Third, his contribution has not been merely intellectual. It is also organizational. He founded the William Glasser Institute, now known as the Glasser Institute for Choice Theory. This organization sponsors trainings that lead to certification, and the recognition that individuals have completed enough training to present themselves as reality therapy certified (RTC). Wubbolding (2019) described the fourth component of his legacy as "the dynamism of Glasser's thinking. He continually changed and developed his ideas ....