Imagine a professional coach expecting an athlete to perform at their best without some key information such as nutrition. While they both may be naturally talented and knowledgeable about every possible aspect of their chosen sport, without knowing how the body works and the fuel it needs, they will fall short of their potential. Yet when it comes to the professions of helping others and promoting mental health, we expect professionals and clients to operate much in the same way. Just as health professionals have been advocating food guidelines and are instrumental in providing information that prevents illness and promotes health, Choice Theory has been providing the framework for what is the mental health equivalent to a food guide since 1965. Seems to be one of the best-kept secrets ever, until now.

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I was forty years old and being told I had PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder from being a young child of just 10. Can you imagine, I had lived with this out of my awareness for 30 years already and in a couple of hours of meeting me, I am given a diagnosis.

You see that is what conventional psychiatrists do. They search for symptoms, create a diagnosis and then prescribe medication. It is the way they are trained in the medical model to treat people. Sometimes those medications can create worse symptoms. No, I did not take any medication. Anyway, I digress.

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At the time of this blog posting, Christmas has come and gone and New Year’s is just around the corner. Mixed feelings of happiness, excitement and in some cases, stress, fill the air with the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season. 

The true meaning of “Holiday” is a day or specific time period set aside on which normal activities such as business and/or work are suspended or reduced. It is a time for rest and relaxation, a time to reflect and re-boot… sort of speak. For many though, they hurry through the holidays going from one place to the next, focused on running the next errand, looking for ways to make everyone happy and believing there will never be enough time to do all the things that need to get done. Yet, there is all the time in the world if they just take a moment to realize that “we are the creators of this life we choose to live”. 

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Mike Rice, a therapist working in the United States, certified in Choice Theory and Reality Therapy, who is recognized for his work on addiction problems, says that applying the principles of Choice Theory and Dr. Glasser's Reality Therapy to help people learn to become happier is very helpful. Mr. Rice is the author of four (4) books, the most recent of which, launched in 2011: Choice Theory with addicted Population.

He has authored three others, also based on the Theory of Choice, include A choice Theory Approach to Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Happiness is just a bowl of choices and Till Death do us part or Till you piss me off whichever comes first. Since December 15, 2013, Mr. Mike Rice is President of the William Glasser Institute for the Western Region of the United States, which includes Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico.

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In the current context of globalization, the speed of change is pervasive and often leads to significant challenges in the lives of human beings. Increasingly, global competition creates economic and social issues that have a significant impact on how people manage and maintain a healthy life-career balance.

Organizational transitions, business closures, job losses, technological changes are but a few examples of factors that exponentially increase the potential for financial and emotional destabilization in individuals. They increase the risk of loss of self-control and the development of physical or mental illnesses.

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