Doing Counseling

Practical and accessible this guide to doing research within psychotherapy and counselling has been fully revised and updated and includes new chapters on evidence-based practice and practitioner research.

Covering the process of therapy from beginning to end, this engaging text helps students and practitioners use play confidently and effectively with children, adolescents, and adults struggling with emotional or behavioral problems or life challenges. With an accessible theory-to-practice focus, the book explains the basics of different play therapy approaches and invites readers to reflect on and develop their own clinical style. It is filled with rich case material and specific examples of play techniques and strategies. The expert authors provide steps for building strong relationships with clients; exploring their clinical issues and underlying dynamics; developing and working toward clear treatment goals; and collaborating with parents and teachers. A chapter on common challenges offers insightful guidance for navigating difficult situations in the playroom.

Filled with vivid clinical vignettes and step-by-step descriptions, this book demonstrates the nuts and bolts of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). DBT is expressly designed for--and shown to be effective with--clients with serious, multiple problems and a history of treatment failure. The book provides an accessible introduction to DBT while enabling therapists of any orientation to integrate elements of this evidence-based approach into their work with emotionally dysregulated clients. Experienced DBT clinician and trainer Kelly Koerner clearly explains how to formulate individual cases; prioritize treatment goals; and implement a skillfully orchestrated blend of behavioral change strategies, validation strategies, and dialectical strategies. See also Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Clinical Practice, Second Edition: Applications across Disorders and Settings, edited by Linda A. Dimeff, Shireen L. Rizvi, and Kelly Koerner, which presents exemplary DBT programs for specific clinical problems and populations.

Marriages are in trouble today. That is clear. Effective mothods of combating this trend are less evident. Counselors, pastors and social workers need more than mere theories or mere moralizing. They need a practical and comprehensive model for understanding couples and their problems. They need a throughly Christian perspective that is biblical, compassionate and human. Everett Worthington provides this in an integrated, biblically based theory of marriage and marriage therapy with analysis at three levels: the individual, the couple and the family. The model he has constructed, with techniques drawn from the major psychological schools, is standard enough to guide counselors in actual interventions and powerful enough to produce change. A thoroughgoing overview of the assessment process includes practical, workable guidelines for: creating realistic, mutually-agreeable goals for counselor and clients; estimating the number of sessions needed to reach those goals; and planning the actual assessment, intervention and termination sessions. Next Worthington offers specific techniques for enhancing cooperative change, intimacy, communication, conflict resolution and forgiveness within the marriage. But keeping couples from slipping back into old patterns is one of the counselor's most difficult tasks. So Worthington concludes with suggestions for solidifying change and effectively concluding the counseling relationship. Here is a text that will be a standard for counselors, pastors and mental health professionals in the years to come.

This breakthrough edition of Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: An Integrative Approach, by Elsie Jones-Smith, sets a new standard in counseling theories books. The Second Edition goes beyond expert coverage of traditional and social constructivist theories with coverage of more contemporary approaches to psychotherapy, including individual chapters on spirituality and psychotherapy, strengths-based therapy, neuroscience and neuropsychotherapy, motivational interviewing, and the expressive arts therapies. In every chapter, the case study of a preadolescent boy demonstrates how each theory can be applied in psychotherapy. Up to date and easy to read, the book engages readers with inner reflection questions that help them apply the theories to the lives of their clients and shows them how to develop their own integrative approach to psychotherapy.

Motivation is key to substance use behavior change. Counselors can support clients' movement toward positive changes in their substance use by identifying and enhancing motivation that already exists. Motivational approaches are based on the principles of person-centered counseling. Counselors' use of empathy, not authority and power, is key to enhancing clients' motivation to change. Clients are experts in their own recovery from SUDs. Counselors should engage them in collaborative partnerships. Ambivalence about change is normal. Resistance to change is an expression of ambivalence about change, not a client trait or characteristic. Confrontational approaches increase client resistance and discord in the counseling relationship. Motivational approaches explore ambivalence in a nonjudgmental and compassionate way.

Clinical psychology is a quickly growing profession, yet it is a challenging one: the preparation is arduous, the training is highly selective, and the results – an established and financially successful practice – are not easy to achieve. This book explains how to prepare for and surmount all of the hurdles presented to those who hope to eventually develop a lucrative and rewarding practice in clinical psychology. It is the first of its kind to focus primarily on financial success, though it does also look at the personal stresses and rewards of the profession. The author provides tips from his own experience and from other financially successful private practice psychologists and offers business techniques and pointers that are not explained in training programs. Undergraduate students contemplating a career in psychology will find advice on preparing for the GRE, applying to graduate schools, and getting involved in research and clinical work. For graduate students, an overview of a graduate clinical psychology program, preparing and completing a dissertation, and gaining experience in psychological testing are provided. Chapters then focus on how to build and manage a private practice, the best ways to manage personal and business finances, and how to practice good self-care. Additionally, the book includes a chapter by an expert on student-loan repayment that examines how to best work through the process of paying back student loans while building a practice.

Reach ALL students and prove how critical your counseling program is! For school counselors, using data effectively doesn’t have to be a burden. Data can make the difference for today’s embattled school counseling programs, and this insightful book shows how to collect and manage it. School counseling scholar and advocate Dr. Trish Hatch describes how K–12 counselors can replace "random acts of guidance" with intentional, well-timed interventions, based on student data. Aligned with current research and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards, this essential resource includes a complete set of tools and templates for data collection, action-planning and reporting. Readers will learn how to Develop a robust counseling curriculum that supports the Common Core Standards and drop-out prevention Measure progress through pre- and post-assessments Deliver compelling reports that demonstrate your program’s impact This well-timed book is designed to help school counseling programs make the most of limited resources and measurably demonstrate how their work improves school performance. "Trish Hatch provides extensive examples of how school counselors can enhance student achievement and well-being through the use of data. Not only does she provide useful examples and a framework from which counselors can explore data, she helps counselors understand some of the very common barriers to change within school systems." —Jennifer Betters-Bubon, Assistant Professor UW Whitewater, WI "As practicing school counselors, we rarely find a text that tells us what to do, why we should do it, and how to do it. Priceless!" —Franciene Sabens, School Counselor Chester High School, IL Looking for more resources on data in school counseling? Check out the online course Data! Data! Data!