William Gassler

William Glasser, M.D., is a world-renowned psychiatrist born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1925, and developer of Reality Therapy and Choice Therapy. Glasser is notable for having developed a cause and effect theory that explains human behavior. His ideas which focus on personal choice, personal responsibility and personal transformation are considered controversial by mainstream psychiatrists.

Glasser was educated at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, where he received a Bachelor's in 1945 and a Master's degree in clinical psychology in 1948. He received his doctorate in 1953 and completed his psychiatric residency at UCLA and the Veterans Administration Hospital between 1954 and 1957. He was board-certified in psychiatry in 1961 and received an honorary degree in 1990 from the University of San Francisco.

During his early years as a psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles, he met Dr. G. L. Harrington, an older psychiatrist who Glasser credits as his "mentor." Glasser founded The Institute for Reality Therapy in 1967, which was renamed The Institute for Control Theory, Reality Therapy and Quality Management in 1994 and later The William Glasser Institute in 1996. The institute is located in Chatsworth, California, and has branch institutes throughout the world.

Glasser's approach is non-traditional. He does not believe in the concept of mental illness unless there is something organically wrong with the brain that can be confirmed by a pathologist. Early on, he came to the conclusion that genetically we are social creatures and need each other and that the cause of almost all psychological symptoms is our inability to get along with the important people in our lives.

Glasser is also notable because he has used his theories to influence broader social issues such as education, marriage, and recently advocating mental health as a public health issue. Glasser does not believe in punishment. Punishment to him is an external control that can seldom be effective because people understand that they have choices and never internalize the lesson intended by punishment.

In 2003 he received the American Counseling Association's Professional Development Award; in 2004, the ACA's "A Legend in Counseling Award;" in 2005 the Master Therapist designation by the American Psychotherapy Association and the Life Achievement Award by the International Center for