Choice Theory Conference

It was my privilege yesterday to attend the Choice Theory Education Conference at the Hilton in Sacramento. I staffed a LifeRing literature table there, met with LifeRing convenors and future convenors, attended some of the sessions, and met some of the leading figures in the choice movement.

Georgellen Hofine, one of the oldest students of Choice Theory founder Dr. William Glasser (photo), personally welcomed me to the gathering. LifeRing keynote speaker and DVD author Dr. B. J. Davis was the closing speaker on the conference program, and I much enjoyed listening to his presentation and chatting with him informally.

Choice Theory advocates Resa Stendel Brown and Jack Harnden spoke about the application of Choice Theory in education. Author Mike Rice gave a talk on addiction. B. J. Davis, in addition to his own discussion of Choice Theory in addiction treatment settings, introduced a DVD showing how Reality Therapy (an earlier name for Choice Theory) was applied in a prison setting.

I took time out to meet and chat with convenors of the LifeRing meetings in Placerville and one of the Sacramento locations. One of the conference participants expressed determination to start a LifeRing meeting in Lodi. Two of the treatment professionals in attendance spoke of plans to start LifeRing meetings at their centers in the Sacramento area.

It was a very positive crowd, including quite a few people with an interest in addiction recovery, and I should have brought more books, as Empowering Your Sober Self sold out by noon.

The only shadow over the event was the news that Dr. Glasser himself, who had been scheduled as keynote speaker, had been admitted to the hospital with a cardiac issue. There is as of this writing no further news on his condition.