Choice, Responsibility, and Recovery: Reality Therapy in Addiction Counseling
This comprehensive 3-hour training introduces clinicians to William Glasser's Reality Therapy approach for addiction treatment, emphasizing personal responsibility, present-focused intervention, and meeting basic psychological needs through healthier choices rather than substance use. Reality Therapy has demonstrated effectiveness in addiction treatment by significantly improving metacognition and hope in drug-addicted individuals and enhancing self-efficacy in decision-making, action planning, and coping skills among substance-involved offenders. The training aims to equip practitioners to help clients recognize disconnects between substance-seeking behaviors and core needs, facilitate non-judgmental self-evaluation, and develop concrete behavioral change plans addressing psychological needs more healthfully. Learning objectives focus on mastering therapeutic techniques that enable clients to identify their ideal world (internal images of desires), evaluate the effectiveness of their current choices, and establish supportive recovery environments. At the same time, clinicians learn to navigate resistance patterns by applying Reality Therapy to the Stages of Change, integrate motivational interviewing within the Reality Therapy framework, and develop individualized treatment plans balancing client autonomy with accountability. The session begins with foundational principles of Reality Therapy, exploring how substance use represents maladaptive attempts to satisfy needs for belonging, power, freedom, and enjoyment, followed by instruction on the WDEP framework (Wants, Doing, Evaluation, Planning) specifically tailored for addiction contexts. Goals and objectives will be presented through group discussion, interactive case studies examining real-world addiction scenarios, role-playing exercises where participants practice therapeutic conversations, and hands-on experience with the WDEP model. The activities will demonstrate how Reality Therapy's focus on choice theory and present behavior offers empowering recovery pathways through increased self-efficacy, improved interpersonal relationships, and developing internal rather than external control psychology.
Speakers
Dr. Krahwinkel-Bower has been a Counselor Educator since 2014 and has taught all CACREP core classes throughout her career specializing in ethics, social & cultural diversity, diagnosis, & assessment. As an educator, Dr. Krahwinkel-Bower actively follows best practices in the field and her area of foci when doing research includes counselors’ clinical and cultural competence. She also provides clinical supervision for master-level intern students and graduates working towards their licensure as professional counselors. She advocates at the state and national level, attends and presents at regional and national conferences, and volunteers in her local community. Dr. Krahwinkel-Bower is currently an Assistant Professor at Kutztown University and the co-coordinator of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Addiction Counseling master’s programs.
As a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CAADC), Dr. Krahwinkel-Bower has a wealth of experience working with clients of all ages focusing on depression, anxiety, trauma, grief/loss, and addiction. She has experience working in many different types of clinical settings—outpatient, residential facilities for children, foster care, court ordered addiction treatment, nonprofit, & private practice.