William Glasser

He breathed his last in his home on August 23, 2013 due to respiratory failure which was caused by pneumonia. He was survived by his wife, two children, nine grandchildren and two great grand-children.

William Glasser was born on May 11, 1925 to Ben and Betty Glasser in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a watch and clock repair person.

A shy young man, he took it upon himself to seek good education to attain a better job so as to elevate his family from the modest means.

After completing his preliminary education, he attended the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland to attain his BS degree in chemical engineering. Attaining his degree in 1945, he set out to work in the field.

Unhappy with his career, he returned to Case Western University the following year i.e., in 1946 to study psychology. However, he was drafted into the army and had to let go off his studies. He was stationed at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

Relieved from his duties in 1947, he returned to the university and continued his studies. He earned an MA in clinical psychology in 1949 and MD in psychiatry in 1953.

He then completed his medical internship at UCLA and psychiatry residencey at the Veterans Administration Hospital, eventually becoming a board certified in 1961.

It was due to his anti-Freudian beliefs that he was rusticated from VA Hospital. He then took up a position at the Ventura School for Delinquent Girls, where he began teaching reality therapy. It was during this time that he met psychiatrist GL Harrington who became his mentor.

Meanwhile in 1956, he set up a private psychotherapy practice in Los Angeles which he maintained until 1986. It was during the 1970s that he was exposed to the control theory system by the works of William T Powers through which he developed a reality therapy and choice theory. The revelations, however, are controversial for their take on choice and behaviour rather than chemical imbalances and mental illness.

During his life, he authored and co-authored various influential books on mental health and counselling. The books even gave details on improvement of schools, teachings and advocated a public health approach to mental health.

In 1995, he came up with his first book, ‘Reality Theory’ in which he asserted that people could find happiness by choosing to behave in a manner that would improve their relationships and enhance their happiness quotient in life. Selling more than 1.5 million copies, the book became a foundation for a series of how-to books about resolving emotional and mental problems by accepting responsibility for them.

He was an American psychiatrist who developed the reality and choice theory.