Posts tagged “2nd International Glasser Conference”
July 25, 2014 4 Comments

The Future of Choice Theory Is In Our Hands

In the last Better Plan post I shared the questions that people would ask William Glasser himself, if he were still with us. (If you have insights or answers to one of the questions, please share them with us.) Today I will post the results of the other assignment I gave during the Toronto talk, that being – What suggestions do you have to get Glasser’s ideas out to the public more effectively?

Those in attendance at the Toronto talk were asked to work with a partner and think of things that could be kept in mind as the organization moves forward. If there was more than one suggestion for the same idea I placed an “x” after that idea. Some ideas have quite a few x’s by them. If we had more time in Toronto we could have refined these ideas even more. However, here they are in their more raw form.

TED talks. x x x x x x x x x

Create a YouTube channel with strategic key words that will attract people when they do searches. x x x x x x

Use social media more. Facebook. Twitter. Blogs. x x x x x x

Writing reviews on Champion of Choice. x x x x

Choose a business model and concentrate our efforts to market choice theory, including hiring people who know marketing. Develop a recognizable brand and logo. x x x

Establish and support the William Glasser Foundation. x x

Model the theory and walk our talk. x x

Training to certification must be quicker for the millennial generation. x

Research. x

Create partnerships with different people, communities, or businesses. x

Let people know about mentalhealthandhappiness.com. x

Be clearer about what is required to be certified.

Keep reality therapy in the discussion – don’t limit it to choice theory.

Reach out to universities and textbook writers. Get the word out to academics.

Develop a graduate curriculum for reality therapy.

Develop a reality TV show on reality therapy and choice theory.

Talk shows – Ellen, Oprah, Saturday Night Live, etc.

Market “Choice Theory in Motion” more aggressively.

Create a database of supporting evidence (annotated) of studies supporting choice theory.

Create marketing for Take Charge of Your Life.

WGI members need to be attending and presenting at other conferences, like the ACA.

Make a movie of Champion of Choice.

Never give up.

Write a book about Rochester School and the experiences we had implementing choice theory in our community.

Find a young person to be his (Bill’s) champion.

Focus on youth.

Providing funding to offer training to principals and teachers.

Produce a film or documentary on Bill and his ideas.

Massive book launches.

Effective one-day workshops.

Filming teachers who are effectively applying RT/CT in the classroom and publishing these examples.

A focused voice from each discipline using choice theory.

We’re getting too old as an organization. We need to connect to youth.

#choice theory

Create a presence on maternity wards and geriatric centers – e.g. material that would help new parents

Introduce CT concepts in the school system at an early age – embed in the curriculum.

There are some very good ideas here. Some of them we can do as individuals, while some of them would need to be addressed at an organizational level. Do you want to lobby for one of these ideas? Respond in the box below and let us know what you are thinking. Thank you to each set of partners during the Toronto talk who came up with these suggestions.

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“If you don’t like something, change it;
if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.”
Mary Engelbreit
July 24, 2014 1 Comment

Questions for Bill

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It’s hard to believe that two weeks ago today the 2nd International Glasser Conference was just beginning, and that I kicked off the conference by talking about his just published biography – Champion of Choice. Thanks to Banning Lary, that talk was posted in the last blog. I still have such positive memories about the conference and the time I was able to spend with so many of you. Although traveling can be a hassle and expensive, I am so glad I attended. Thank you to WGI – Canada for such a wonderfully planned event.

Carleen Glasser speaking at the Toronto conference.

Carleen Glasser speaking at the Toronto conference.

During the talk I had people work with a partner and answer a couple of questions. The first invited those in attendance to consider – If Bill were still with us, what question would you like to ask him? The second question asked – What can the organization or individuals do to get the choice theory word out to the public better? Today’s blog is going to focus on the first one and share some of the questions that are on your heart and mind.

Some of you will know the answers to some of these questions. If so, I invite you to respond to this post and share your knowledge. Some of the questions are answered or commented on in the biography. If so, I will indicate that. And some of the questions we can only wonder what Bill might say. The questions definitely invite us to think and reflect.

There were too many questions to list all of them, but here are a few –

In looking back on your life do you have any regrets? (A number of you asked this question in one form or another.)

What is the role of the unconscious mind in choice theory? (At first glance, I thought this question had an obvious answer, since Bill consistently wanted us to focus on the conscious mind. That being true, though, this question is still valid.)

What would you suggest that we do to promote choice theory in education and to get it into all the schools?

How did you come to realize that external control doesn’t work? (In the biography.)

How can RT/CT help understand autism?

How did your childhood, and specifically your relationship with your mother, contribute to your outlook, beliefs, and success? (In the biography.)

What would you like to say that you’ve never said before?

Do you think homosexuality is genetic or by choice? (In the biography.)

How difficult was it to apply your theories to your personal life? (In the biography.)

Which components of the choice theory framework are the most important?

What do you still want to accomplish professionally?

What do you wonder about currently?

If you were a politician, what would your first project be?

How long did it take you to move from external control to internal control in living your life? (In the biography.)

In looking back, would you have used other ways or methods to further your ideas?

What does freedom look like for you?

You seem uncomfortable with religion, but have you ever had, or come close to having, a spiritual experience?

Was it you or your ideas that had the greatest influence?

When working with young children who find it extremely difficult to verbalize, or even truly understand their emotions, what successful approaches can be implemented to assist them in terms of their behavior choices?

How did you get to the analogy of the car for Total Behavior? (In the biography.)

How did political and cultural activities of the 1960s affect your theories? (In the biography.)

What other career would you pursue if you had your time over?

What do you think about sexual addiction/compulsion?

What has brought you the most joy in your life?

That last question is a great one to end on. As I said at the outset, some of you have great responses to certain of these questions. I encourage you to take a moment and share your thoughts with the rest of us.

One thing the questions do is remind us how much we miss Bill and how much we wish he was still with us to answer the questions himself. Toronto represented the first international conference without Bill and it will be interesting to see how his ideas move ahead on their own. Of course, his ideas are not alone. They aren’t orphans. His ideas have us to care for them and proclaim them.

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As of July 24, the Amazon reviews for Champion of Choice remains at –

9

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“Happiness is when you feel good about yourself without the need for anyone else’s approval.”
July 22, 2014 3 Comments

Toronto Keynote

The opening keynote address at the 2nd International Glasser Conference, held July 9-12, 2014, in Toronto, Canada, given by Jim Roy, author of Champion of Choice, the recently published biography of William Glasser.

It was good to meet so many of you during the conference in Toronto. Hopefully, the video will bring back good memories of the conference and our time together.

Champion of Choice Reviews
As of this morning, July 22, nine reviews of the Champion of Choice biography have been shared on Amazon. As a simple way to support Bill’s ideas and draw attention to the book, let’s continue to get that number higher.

Big Time Thank You
Many thanks to Banning Lary, who took the video at the conference, edited it, and then set up a channel on YouTube for us to access it. He really edited some nice touches into the video.

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.   Ralph Waldo Emmerson
July 11, 2014 2 Comments

A Selfie from Toronto

I am in Toronto, Canada, attending the 2nd International Glasser Conference, from July 9-13. I was asked to give the opening keynote address, which I did yesterday morning. The following selfie, taken as I began the talk, captures part of the crowd as the conference opened.

Hello from everyone at the 2nd International Glasser Conference in Toronto!

Hello from everyone at the 2nd International Glasser Conference in Toronto!

The energy in the room was very positive, which helped my creativity as I shared details of the writing of Glasser’s biography, as well as stories from his life. (The talk was video-taped, so I am may be able to post that on The Better Plan soon. Feedback from those who have already read the biography has been very positive. Glasser “old-timers” are pointing how there are details about Glasser’s life and his ideas that they did not know about. There is a strong desire to “get the word out” about the book, including other countries like Australia, Ireland, Japan, and Korea. The biography is already being translated into Japanese, and people approached me about translating the book into Korean and Arabic, too.

I brought close to 40 copies of the book to the conference, but they all sold very quickly. I wish I could have brought more copies with me. Those wanting signed copies of the book can get them from me directly. (More on that later.) Of course, the book is also quickly accessible through Amazon.

Carleen Glasser, Maggie Roy, and Sandie Wubbolding.

Carleen Glasser, Maggie Roy, and Sandie Wubbolding.

I was especially frustrated that so many of those attending the conference from other countries were not able to bring copies of the book back home with them. I have checked on shipping costs to Canada and the rates are ridiculous. If I am looking at the websites of the US Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS correctly, it will cost more to ship the book than the cost of the book itself. Not acceptable. My hope is that something can be done to make the cost of the book reasonable to Glasser advocates around the world. We will solve this!

There are so many wonderful things going on at the conference, so many wonderful presentations and breakout sessions. One of the wonderful things is a choice theory curriculum for children out of Australia. Developed by Ivan Honey, the program is called The Amazing Adventures of Doug Dragster. A pilot project is going on right now in Los Angeles, in cooperation with Loyola Marymount University, to determine the extent to which the program teaches children the skills to improve their mental health, resiliency, and well-being. There is actually a really good sale going on until Sunday, July 13. Through Sunday you can download the book for 99 cents; plus all proceeds from the book will go to support the research project that is being done by LMU on the effects of the Doug Dragster curriculum.

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Speaking of Amazon, it’s really important for everyone to submit a review of the Glasser biography, Champion of Choice. It’s easy to do and it will make a huge difference toward getting the word out there about so many of the positive things William Glasser did throughout his life. It doesn’t have to be long.

More tomorrow! In the meantime .  .  .

Ahh . . . Toronto. What a great city!

Ahh . . . Toronto. What a great city!

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