Before You See Your First Client begins where courses, workshops, training seminars, and textbooks leave off, providing a candid behind-the-scenes look at the fields of therapy, counseling and human services. In a reader-friendly and accessible style, Dr. Howard Rosenthal offers his readers 55 useful and practical ideas for the implementation, improvement, and expansion of one's mental health practice. Based on the author's own personal experiences, the book is written in an intimate and personal style to which inexperienced and beginning therapists can easily relate.
`This chunky little book is packed with interesting approaches to the currently fashionable area of client assessment.... This is a book for any counsellor or counsellor trainee′s shelf, a necessary reference for the sound professional′ - Counselling News `The comprehensive series of essays... is a timely contribution.... This book is about being professional and effective... a valuable multimodal life inventory for use with clients is provided′ - Counselling, The Journal of The British Association for Counselling What information will help you assess the therapeutic needs of a client? Could you identify a suicidal client? How can you tell whether or not you are working with appropriate clients? Answering these and other questions, this book sheds light on a crucial, but often neglected, area of counselling. The authors provide clear guidelines, backed up by practice points, which clarify the assessment, monitoring and evaluation of clients. The book adopts a broad approach, transcending specific counselling theories and covering the main issues involved at key stages in the client/counsellor relationship - from the initial contact, through monitoring of the therapeutic programme, to ending the counselling process. Areas examined include: assessing the best type of therapy for each client; identifying the client′s therapeutic goals; history taking; referral; and evaluating goal achievement. Gladeanna McMahon is presenter of the ITV programme Dial A Mum.
Before You See Your First Client begins where courses, workshops, training seminars, and textbooks leave off, providing a candid, behind-the-scenes look at the fields of therapy, counseling, and human services. The classic edition includes a new preface from the author reflecting on changes in counseling and in his own life during the last 20 years. In a reader-friendly and accessible style, Dr. Howard Rosenthal offers his readers 55 useful and practical ideas for the implementation, improvement, and expansion of one's mental health practice. Based on the author's own personal experiences, the book is written in an intimate and personal style to which inexperienced and beginning therapists can easily relate.
The must-have guide to honestly and sensitively answering your clients' questions Written to help therapists view their clients' questions as collaborative elements of clinical work, What Do I Say? explores the questions some direct, others unspoken that all therapists, at one time or another, will encounter from clients. Authors and practicing therapists Linda Edelstein and Charles Waehler take a thought-provoking look at how answers to clients' questions shape a therapeutic climate of expression that encourages personal discovery and growth. Strategically arranged in a question-and-answer format for ease of use, this hands-on guide is conversational in tone and filled with personal examples from experienced therapists on twenty-three hot-button topics, including religion, sex, money, and boundaries. What Do I Say? tackles actual client questions, such as: Can you help me? (Chapter 1, The Early Sessions) Sorry I am late. Can we have extra time? (Chapter 9, Boundaries) I don't believe in all this therapy crap. What do you think about that? (Chapter 3, Therapeutic Process) Why is change so hard? (Chapter 4, Expectations About Change) Will you attend my graduation/wedding/musical performance/speech/business grand opening? (Chapter 20, Out of the Office) Where are you going on vacation? (Chapter 10, Personal Questions) I gave your name to a friend . . . Will you see her? (Chapter 9, Boundaries) Should I pray about my problems? (Chapter 12, Religion and Spirituality) Are you like all those other liberals who believe gay people have equal rights? (Chapter 13, Prejudice) The power of therapy lies in the freedom it offers clients to discuss anything and everything. It's not surprising then, that clients will surprise therapists with their experiences and sometimes with the questions they ask. What Do I Say? reveals how these questions no matter how difficult or uncomfortable can be used to support the therapeutic process rather than derail the therapist client relationship.
Designed for psychotherapists and counsellors in training, An Introduction to the Therapeutic Frame clarifies the concept of the frame - the way of working set out in the first meeting between therapist and client. This Classic Edition of the book includes a brand new introduction by the author. Anne Gray, an experienced psychotherapist and teacher, uses lively and extensive case material to show how the frame can both contain feelings and further understanding within the therapeutic relationship. She takes the reader through each stage of therapeutic work, from the first meeting to the final contact, and looks at those aspects of management that beginners often find difficult, such as fee payment, letters and telephone calls, supervision and evaluation. Her practical advice on how to handle these situations will be invaluable to trainees as well as to those involved in their training.
The highly anticipated follow-up to Brief Therapy Client Handouts?now with even more practical, therapeutically sound strategies for helping clients change behaviors and address problems. Building on the success of Brief Therapy Client Handouts, this unique sourcebook provides a comprehensive collection of over 200 jargon-free, ready-to-use psycho-educational handouts, including concise articles, exercises, visual aids, self-assessments, and discussion sheets that support your clients before, during, and between sessions. Featuring a strong focus on mindfulness and cognitive therapy, More Brief Therapy Client Handouts incorporates sensitively written handouts addressing timely topics such as positive counseling strategies, psycho-spirituality, and using trance for pain management and weight loss. This exceptional resource features: A helpful Therapist Guide opens each chapter with learning objectives and creative suggestions for use of material More handouts devoted to parents, couples, families, and children Strategies and tasks within each handout for clients to do on their own or in the therapist's office as part of the session Assessment questionnaires targeting specific issues, including personality traits, automatic thoughts, core beliefs, symptoms of panic, and repetitious thoughts and behavior Exercises and worksheets such as Power Thinking Worksheet, Thought Record and Evaluation Form, Thought Changer Forms, Self-Talk Record, Selves and Parts Record, and Daily Food Log Practical and empowering, More Brief Therapy Client Handouts helps you reinforce and validate ideas presented in therapy and reassure clients during anxious times in between sessions. With a user-friendly design allowing you to easily photocopy handouts or customize them using the accompanying CD-ROM, this therapeutic tool will save you precious time and maximize the full potential of the material.
A practical guide for providing exceptional client service Most advertising and marketing people would claim great client service is an elusive, ephemeral pursuit, not easily characterized by a precise skill set or inventory of responsibilities; this book and its author argue otherwise, claiming there are definable, actionable methods to the role, and provide guidance designed to achieve more effective work. Written by one of the industry's most knowledgeable client services executives, the book begins with a definition, then follows a path from an initial new business win to beginning, building, losing, then regaining trust with clients. It is a powerful source of counsel for those new to the business, for industry veterans who want to refresh or validate what they know, and for anyone in the middle of the journey to get better at what they do.
Lessons from the personal experience and reflections of a therapist. The difficulty and cost of training psychotherapists properly is well known. It is far easier to provide a series of classes while ignoring the more challenging personal components of training. Despite the fact that the therapist's self-insight, emotional maturity, and calm centeredness are critical for successful psychotherapy, rote knowledge and technical skills are the focus of most training programs. As a result, the therapist's personal growth is either marginalized or ignored. The Making of a Therapist counters this trend by offering graduate students and beginning therapists a personal account of this important inner journey. Cozolino provides a unique look inside the mind and heart of an experienced therapist. Readers will find an exciting and privileged window into the experience of the therapist who, like themselves, is just starting out. In addition, The Making of a Therapist contains the practical advice, common-sense wisdom, and self-disclosure that practicing professionals have found to be the most helpful during their own training.The first part of the book, 'Getting Through Your First Sessions,' takes readers through the often-perilous days and weeks of conducting initial sessions with real clients. Cozolino addresses such basic concerns as: Do I need to be completely healthy myself before I can help others? What do I do if someone comes to me with an issue or problem I can't handle? What should I do if I have trouble listening to my clients? What if a client scares me?The second section of the book, 'Getting to Know Your Clients,' delves into the routine of therapy and the subsequent stages in which you continue to work with clients and help them. In this context, Cozolino presents the notion of the 'good enough' therapist, one who can surrender to his or her own imperfections while still guiding the therapeutic relationship to a positive outcome. The final section, 'Getting to Know Yourself,' goes to the core of the therapist's relation to him- or herself, addressing such issues as: How to turn your weaknesses into strengths, and how to deal with the complicated issues of pathological caretaking, countertransference, and self-care.Both an excellent introduction to the field as well as a valuable refresher for the experienced clinician, The Making of a Therapist offers readers the tools and insight that make the journey of becoming a therapist a rich and rewarding experience.
What is it that makes some therapists so much more effective than others, even when they are delivering the same evidence-based treatment? This instructive book identifies specific interpersonal skills and attitudes--often overlooked in clinical training--that facilitate better client outcomes across a broad range of treatment methods and contexts. Reviewing 70 years of psychotherapy research, the preeminent authors show that empathy, acceptance, warmth, focus, and other characteristics of effective therapists are both measurable and teachable. Richly illustrated with annotated sample dialogues, the book gives practitioners and students a blueprint for learning, practicing, and self-monitoring these crucial clinical skills.
An examination of projective identification and its clinical uses from a Kleinian perspective. The author puts forward the hypothesis that identification is the patient's way of mastering significant trauma.
