SIAS.

Student Name: Daniel Lalzuitluanga. PGDCP

Comparison and difference between Reality Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour

Therapy.

Reality therapy is a client-centered form of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy that focuses

on improving present relationships and circumstances, while avoiding discussion of past
events. This approach is based on the idea that our most important need is to be loved, to feel
that we belong, and that all other basic needs can be satisfied only by building strong
connections with others.

Reality therapy teaches that while we cannot control how we feel, we can control how we
think and behave. The goal of reality therapy is to help people take control of improving their
own lives by learning to make better choices.

Whereas:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps

people learn how to identify and change destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a
negative influence on behavior and emotions.1

Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on changing the automatic negative thoughts that can
contribute to and worsen emotional difficulties, depression, and anxiety. These spontaneous
negative thoughts have a detrimental influence on mood.

Through CBT, these thoughts are identified, challenged, and replaced with more objective,
realistic thoughts.

CBT is about more than identifying thought patterns; it is focused on using a wide range of
strategies to help people overcome these thoughts. Such strategies may include journaling,
role-playing, relaxation techniques, and mental distractions

Whereas:

Reality therapy focuses on present issues and current behavior as they affect you now and
will affect your future. Little or no time is spent delving into the past. Since reality therapy is
solution-oriented, you will examine how your behavior is interfering with your ability to
form stronger relationships and figure out what kind of changes you can make in your
behavior to get what you want out of life. You can learn how to reconnect with people from
whom you have become disconnected and how to make new connections. If you try to make
excuses or blame someone else for your behavior, the therapist will show you how that kind
of thinking results in behavior that prevents you from improving relationships and reaching
your goals. You have the opportunity to learn and practice new behavior and techniques in
the privacy of the therapist’s office before you employ them in your life outside of therapy.

Whereas:
Cognitive behavioral therapy is highly goal-oriented and focused, with the therapist taking a
very active role. People work with their therapist toward mutually established goals. The
process is explained in detail and people are often given homework to complete between
sessions.

Cognitive-behavior therapy can be effectively used as a short-term treatment centered on

helping people with a very specific problem and teaching them to focus on present thoughts
and beliefs.1 CBT is used to treat a wide range of conditions including:

• Addictions
• Anger issues
• Anxiety2
• Bipolar disorder
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Panic attacks
• Personality disorders
• Phobias5
• Problems with stress

Cognitive behavioral therapy is highly goal-oriented and focused, with the therapist taking a
very active role. People work with their therapist toward mutually established goals. The
process is explained in detail and people are often given homework to complete between
sessions.

Whereas:

Based on the work of psychiatrist William Glaser in the mid-1960s, reality therapy is founded
on the idea that everyone is seeking to fulfill five basic needs, and mental health issues arise
when any of these needs are not being met. The five basic needs are:
1) Power, or a sense of self-worth and achievement
2) Love and belonging, or being part of a family or community of loved ones
3) Freedom, or independence
4) Fun, which includes a sense of satisfaction or pleasure
5) Survival, or the comfort of knowing that one’s basic needs—food, shelter, and sex—are
met.

When one or more of these needs go unfilled, the resulting problems occur in present time
and in current relationships, so it makes sense to act and think in the present time. Reality
therapy is also based on choice theory, the principle that humans choose to behave in certain
ways and that these choices can help or hamper your ability to satisfy essential needs and
reach individual goals. You cannot change or control others, so the only sensible approach to
solving problems is to control yourself and your own behavior by making choices that help
you achieve your life goals.

Whereas:

The underlying concept behind CBT is that thoughts and feelings play a fundamental role in
behavior.1 For example, a person who spends a lot of time thinking about plane crashes,
runway accidents, and other air disasters may avoid air travel as a result.
The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to teach people that while they cannot control every
aspect of the world around them, they can take control of how they interpret and deal with
things in their environment.