On Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:48:03 -0800, Christopher D. Green wrote:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_therapy
>Sounds like a bit of Ellis, and bit of Maslow, and a bit of Beck, all
>wrapped in an easily-salable package.
Scott Lilienfeld can correct me about the historical and theoretical aspects
about what I'm about to say but I think that there is a stream of development
in cognitive therapy that some might find odd or questionable. One way to
view the development of cognitive therapy is to see Albert Ellis as being a
key figure in formulating basic concepts and laying out a theoretical framework
what would go on to be used by people like Aaron Beck in his cognitive
formulation of depression which in turn would influence clinicians during the
1960s and as the limitations of behavior therapy became apparent, in the
1970s the development of a research based cognitive-behavioral therapy
approach which, in part, validated some of the ideas by Ellis and Beck and
others. Ongoing clinical research has attempted to identify what components
of cognitively oriented therapy are critical and, I believe, that
"transtheoretical
approach" is/was attempting to develop a comprehensive framework that would
explain why different cognitive therapies as well as other effective therapies
that derive from other theoretical frameworks (such as Interpersonal Therapy
or IPT).
However, an outside observer might see that, especially in the 1950s, there
was a mish-mash of theoretical approaches and conceptions that operated
within and outside of academia. One theoretical approach was suggested by
Alfred "Count" Korzykski's "General Semantics" approach which was presented
in his book "Science and Sanity". The General Semantics approach was a
popular theory, at least informally, and a number of people subscribed to it
to varying degrees. The General Semantics society put out a journal/magazine
titled "ETC" which had a number of well-known scientists publish in it.
For more on General Semantics, see the Wikipedia entry (standard disclaimers
apply):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_semantics
The journal ETC is still being published and its website is:
http://www.generalsemantics.org/index.php/browse/pubs/review.html
Journal databases seem to have info on articles in ETC from the early
1980s-1990s
but there are databases that may have all issues back to 1943. There may still
be bound copies of the journal in libraries (a search of WorldCat suggests that
a number of colleges have ETC in its collections but usually not the "major"
universities). Albert Ellis has a number of articles published in ETC (as well
as
elsewhere) including these relatively recent ones:
Ellis, A. (2007). GENERAL SEMANTICS AND RATIONAL-EMOTIVE THERAPY: 1991 ALFRED
KORZYBSKI MEMORIAL LECTURE. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 64(4), 301-319.
Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Ellis, A. (1990). HOW TO THINK SCIENTIFICALLY ABOUT YOURSELF, OTHER PEOPLE, AND
YOUR LIFE CONDITIONS. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 47(2), 135-141.
Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
I make these points because some people may only be familiar with the General
Semantics approach from reading Martin Gardner's "Fads and Fallacies in the
Name of Science" which is provided in limited preview on books.google.com; see:
http://tinyurl.com/yfvnjj6
Gardner debunks Korzybski's theoretical framework and General Semantics as
psuedoscience or, at best, a theory in need of empirical research support. One
might ask "What was Ellis doing being involved in this stuff?" But getting
back to
Glasser and Reality Therapy.
Glasser developed his ideas in this context and even Ellis was involved in
discussing it and comparing and contrasting it with his own approach; for
example, see:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/x3k0277l0j82t3q2/fulltext.pdf?page=1
To make things even more bizarre, at least to show what other outgrowths
there were from the General Semantics perspective, consider the following
account by science fiction writer Jerry Purnelle, a Ph.D. in social psych and
former columnist for Byte magazine, who describes the 1999 "Writers of the
Future Awards" and explains that he is well aware of how they got started
and who has been involved with it though the Awards has been a separate
activity; see:
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/pictures/wotf.html
Curiouser and couriouser. Or busy, busy, busy.
So, what to make of Glasser and Reality Therapy? One would have to
undertake a serious examination of his theories and whether they are in
fact supported by the results of high quality research. Or one could just
dismiss it as being just another one of those "crazy" therapeutic approaches
that is represented, say, the following:
http://www.gooddecisions.com.au/pdfs/TheoreticalRootsNLPcoaching%20.pdf
>I've been reading Barbara Ehrenreich book _Bright-Sided_, a popular
>history of the positive-thinking movement. You might send a copy t
