Reality therapy emphasizes which of the following core principles?

• A. Dream analysis
• B. Personal accountability
• C. Free association
• D. Transference

Answer: (B)

Taking responsibility for one’s actions is a central element of Reality Therapy. This approach, rooted in Choice Theory, holds that people control their own behavior and meet their needs through the choices they make in the present. The emphasis is on what the client can do now to improve situations, rather than analyzing past unconscious events. A practical framework often used is the WDEP process—identifying what the person wants, what they are currently doing, whether that behavior helps meet their needs, and planning concrete changes. This focus on personal accountability explains why the correct answer is the best fit. Dream analysis and free association come from psychoanalytic traditions that explore unconscious motives, not Reality Therapy, and transference refers to the unconscious shifting of feelings onto the therapist, a psychodynamic concept not central to Reality Therapy.