Effective Counseling Skills

Book excerpt: Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN): 2012912261 The main body of this second edition serves as the counselor training and examination manual of the College of Mental Health Counseling and gives away the secrets of effective counselors and therapists. The practical skills and concepts distilled in the present form, are the contributions of countless colleagues and clients who over the years have challenged the creative energies of the author. Effective Counseling Skills is designed to achieve the primary purpose of making counseling skills public knowledge in the belief that the health of society is improved when counseling is known to the most people. The style of the manual is conversational with numerous examples of the practical wording of therapeutic statements. Major topic areas in the main content include an explanation of the client's personal history, suicide prevention, how to begin and deepen the counseling process, helping the client learn healthy ways of relating, moving the client from childhood to maturity, skills for healing grief, and working with couples who want to make progress with issues of conflict, infidelity, addiction, and other common problems. Practical ways to build and manage a counseling practice are presented. A detailed index and table of contents make the volume easy to use as a guide for both the practitioner as well as people seeking help.