ABSTRACT
Dr. William Glasser is often reticent to talk about his past and his personal life, noting that “where I am now is more important than how I got there, but others may be interested in the journey” (Roy, 2006, p. 55). Glasser was born in 1925, the youngest of three children. He became aware at an early age that there was tension in his family. In the book Choice Theory (1998), Glasser expressed his admiration and love for his father, Ben, but noted that he had some difficulty with his mother, Rebecca. Rebecca had an urge to control others and rule the marriage, which set the tone in their home. Even as a child, Glasser recognized that his parents’ marriage was not healthy for either of them, and he was a witness to events in the household that frightened him. Fortunately, when Glasser was 6 years old, Ben Glasser gave up his resistance to Rebecca’s control and the fighting between his parents stopped. It is likely that these early experiences influenced William Glasser’s view of human nature and the behaviors he adopted to cope with the important people in his life.
