Aaron was the highly intelligent eleven-year-old son of an unemotional, overly intellectual divorced woman who worked as a mathematician at one of the Los Angeles missile and space laboratories, and a father who lived in another part of the country and had no contact with him. Aaron was often left home in the care of a neighbor while his mother went away on weekends with her boyfriend.

One way to describe Aaron and his behavior is to say that although he was pleasant in appearance, he was the most obnoxious child the counselor had every met. He ran pell-mell from game to game and toy to toy in the counselors office, never letting the counselor help him to enjoy what he was doing. He seemed to be almost desperately avoiding the counselor’s offer to play as if her joining in the play might deprive him in some way of some of his pleasures. He acted aggressively in a completely haphazard, unpredictable way, crying for the counselors attention but turning nasty and withdrawing when she gave him some warmth. He discussed his mother in a highly critical way, describing her as hostile and rejecting. Criticizing the previous counselors at the clinic in their treatment of him as well as the clinic toys, playrooms, and lack of entertaining facilities, he also rattled on about all the destructive things he did and was planning to do at home.

He blamed his failure to be happy on his mother, her boyfriend, his missing father, or his previous counselors. His school did not escape his critical wrath: it was very bad, his teachers did not understand him, and the other kids picked on him. All he felt was that no one really cared; he was involved with no one; and he acted almost totally on impulse.

In his attempt to get attention and perhaps limits, he tried everything, producing grossly inconsistent behavior. Vocally and physically aggressive at times, he might with equal suddenness become withdrawn and almost detached from reality. He would start a game, then destroy it if he suffered even one minor setback. He walked away from outdoor play with the counselor and then would come back to beg her for candy. He would run away, hide, and try to make the counselor look for him all over the clinic. Continually begging for ice cream or for money, he became detached when he was refused. He made it a point to never talk about anything meaningful, including what he was feeling and doing. If these came up naturally in conversation he would stop suddenly and run, scream, or talk gibberish. Several times in the session he would tell the counselor that his mother did not like him.

His mother was an impersonal, detached individual who raised Aaron as an object rather than a person. Instead of reacting to his behavior and setting some limits, she discussed it with him objectively. Essentially a cold woman, she did contribute to his frustration. Basically Aaron felt unworthy and unloved. From material in the record it was apparent that the school had given up trying to reach this intelligent boy and was just trying to live with him. He made fair grades in subject matter, but he was a disrupting influence in the classroom and in all his social contracts. The other children in school and around his neighborhood shunned him like the plague, precipitating further anger and obnoxious behavior, which in turn caused them to shun him even more. At home or in school he interrupted their play, destroyed their creative attempts, and broke into their recitations in class with snide remarks.

PRACTICE APPLYING REALITY THERAPY TO AARON

Please read the case of Aaron Pasted above!

You are to APPLY the case information to the Reality Therapy concepts below. It might be helpful for you to imagine that you are Aaron so that you can hypothesize about what may be going on for him according to this theory.

Please post/write answers to the following questions:::::::::::::

1. RT believes that most behaviors
(i.e., actions, thoughts, and feelings) are choices. List two actions or behaviors, two thoughts and two feelings that Aaron is choosing.For example, he is choosing to act aggressively, nasty and withdraws when the counselor gave him some warmth.

2. RT believes that behavior is purposeful and is aimed at satisfying the five universal needs (i.e., love and belonging, power/achievement, fun/enjoyment, freedom/independence, and survival).
For each of these five needs, discuss both how Aaron IS meeting and IS NOT meeting each of them.

2a. Survival – To what degree is Aarron getting his needs met for food, clothing and shelter?

2b. Belonging – What does Aaron do to meet his needs for meaningful relationships? In what ways does he feel a sense of belonging?

2c. Power or achievement – When does Aaron feel a sense of power? In what areas of his life is he making significant achievements? When does he feel recognized?

2d. Freedom or independence – To what degree does he feel in charge of his life and moving in the direction that he wants?

2e. Fun or enjoyment – What activities does he do for fun? Does he have as much fun as he might like?

3. What do you think he might say is the KEY unsatisfying present relationship in his life?