Becoming a Skilled Counselor

The Practice of Helping: Fundamental Knowledge and Skills is a core text on counseling skills/interventions. The book is the first in the series, Counseling and Professional Identity in the 21st Century. The book covers the knowledge and skills essential for anyone in the helping professions and covers the critical skills of the helping relationship and current models of helping. The books in this series are conceptualized to address specific competencies identified by CACREP (Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs). This text is unique in its focus on the process of delivery. It allows students to conceptualize clients as a fluid and dynamic model rather than as a linear step-by-step process. It employs a process of practice and feedback throughout each chapter to reinforce key concepts. Each chapter is structured to first introduce the key constructs and empirical support. Then this is followed by a detailed case illustration, in depth verbatim transcripts of client/therapist dialogue, followed by guided practice exercises. Throughout the book there is a focus on mindfulness, intentionality and reflection which aids a student in their journey of self-discovery and professional identity development.