Reality therapy is an internal control system used by counselors and psychotherapists throughout the world. It is a theory and a method expressed in language understandable to both professionals and laymen and used by individuals in a wide range of settings.

Developed by William Glasser in the 1950s and 1960s on the foundational principle that human behavior originates from within the person and is the result of current internal motivations, reality therapy is neither a response to external stimuli nor an attempt to resolve early-childhood conflicts. Glasser and his teacher G. L. Harrington, while working in a mental health hospital, reacted against both their training and current psychiatric practice. They attributed little value to what they believed was the never-ending search for insight and unconscious motivations. ...