The Skilled Helper A Problem Management and Opportunity Development Approach to Helping

by Egan, Gerard

• ISBN13: 9780495092032
• ISBN10: 0495092037
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-19
• Publisher: Brooks Cole

Summary

Internationally recognized for its successful problem-management and opportunity development approach to effective helping, Egan's text emphasizes the collaborative nature of the therapist-client relationship and uses a practical, three-stage model that drives client problem-managing and opportunity-developing action. Egan masterfully leads readers step-by-step through the counseling process, while giving them a feeling for the complexity inherent in any helping relationship. As readers begin to understand the various steps of the helping model, they are able to improve their competence and confidence measurably. In this new eighth edition, Egan has built upon the strengths of the last edition in which he presented a "positive psychology", solution-focused theme by adding new discussions on evidence-based practice, research, and philosophical perspectives around how helpers know what they know.

Table of Contents

Part One LAYING THE GROUNDWORK	1	(68)
Introduction to Helping	2	(27)
Formal and Informal Helpers: A Very Brief History	3	(1)
What Helping Is About	4	(5)
Challenges for the Helping Professions	9	(12)
The Professional Curriculum	21	(4)
Moving From Smart to Wise: Managing the Shadow Side of Helping	25	(4)
Overview of the Helping Model	29	(18)
Rational Problem Solving and Its Limitations	30	(2)
The Skilled Helper Model: A Problem Management/Opportunity Development Approach to Helping	32	(3)
Stage I: The Current Picture---``What's Going On?''---Help Clients Clarify the Key Issues Calling for Change	35	(1)
Stage II: The Preferred Picture---``What Do I Want?''---Help Clients Identify, Choose, and Shape Problem-Managing Goals	36	(2)
Stage III: The Way Forward---``How Do I Get What I Need or Want?''---Help Clients Develop Strategies and Plans for Accomplishing Goals	38	(1)
The Action Arrow---``How Do I Make It All Happen?''---Help Clients Implement Their Plans	39	(1)
``How Are We Doing?''---Ongoing Evaluation of the Helping Process	40	(2)
Flexibility in the Use of the Model	42	(2)
Problem Management: A Human Universal	44	(1)
Using the Model as a ``Browser'': The Search for Best Practice	44	(2)
Understanding and Dealing With the Shadow Side of Helping Models	46	(1)
The Helping Relationship: Values in Action	47	(22)
The Helping Relationship	48	(1)
The Relationship as a Working Alliance	49	(2)
The Values That Drive the Helping Relationship	51	(11)
Values, Diversity, and Multiculturalism	62	(3)
A Working Charter: The Client-Helper Contract	65	(1)
Shadow-Side Realities in the Helping Relationship	66	(3)
Part Two THE THERAPEUTIC DIALOGUE	69	(128)
Communication: The Skills of Tuning in and Actively Listening to Clients	71	(28)
The Importance of Dialogue in Helping	72	(1)
Visibly Tuning In: The Importance of Empathic Presence	73	(5)
Active Listening: The Foundation of Understanding	78	(11)
Processing What You Hear: The Thoughtful Search for Meaning	89	(4)
Listening to Oneself: The Helper's Internal Conversation	93	(1)
The Shadow Side of Listening to Clients	94	(3)
The Shadow Side of Communication Skills---Part 1	97	(2)
Communicating Empathy: Working Hard at Understanding Clients	99	(22)
The Three Dimensions of Responding Skills: Perceptiveness, Know-How, and Assertiveness	100	(2)
Sharing Empathic Highlights: Communicating Understanding to Clients	102	(7)
Principles for Sharing Empathic Highlights	109	(7)
Tactics for Communicating Highlights	116	(1)
The Shadow Side of Sharing Empathic Highlights	117	(2)
The Importance of Empathic Relationships	119	(2)
The Art of Probing and Summarizing	121	(17)
The Art of Probing	122	(11)
The Art of Summarizing: Providing Focus and Direction	133	(2)
The Shadow Side of Communication Skills---Part 2	135	(3)
Helping Clients Challenge Themselves	138	(21)
Challenge: The Basic Concept	139	(10)
Blind Spots	149	(5)
Linking Challenge to Action	154	(2)
The Shadow Side of Challenging	156	(3)
Challenging Skills and the Wisdom to Use Them Well	159	(24)
Specific Challenging Skills	160	(14)
From Smart to Wise: Guidelines for Effective Challenging	174	(6)
Linking Challenge to Action	180	(1)
Challenge and the Shadow Side of Helpers	180	(3)
Helping Difficult Clients Move Forward: Reluctance, Resistance, and Resilience	183	(14)
Difficult Clients: Reluctance and Resistance	184	(1)
Reluctance: Misgivings About Change	185	(1)
Resistance: Reacting to Coercion	186	(2)
The Role of Psychological Defenses in Reluctance and Resistance	188	(2)
Principles for Managing Reluctance and Resistance	190	(4)
Help Clients Tap Into Their Resilience	194	(3)
Part Three THE STAGES AND TASKS OF THE HELPING MODEL	197	(138)
Stage I: Help Clients Tell Their Stories	199	(34)
An Introduction to Stage I	200	(1)
Task 1: Help Clients Tell Their Stories---``What Are My Concerns?''	201	(16)
Task 2: Help Clients Develop New Perspectives and Reframe Their Stories---``What Am I Overlooking or Avoiding?''	217	(6)
Task 3: Help Clients Work on Issues That Make a Difference---``What Problems, If Managed, Will Help Me Most?''	223	(8)
Is Stage I Sometimes Enough?	231	(2)
Introduction to Stages II and III: Decisions, Goals, and Plans	233	(19)
Help Clients Become More Effective Decision Makers	234	(8)
Solution-Focused Helping	242	(6)
Help Clients Discover and Use Their Power Through Goal Setting	248	(4)
Stage II: Help Clients Set Viable Goals	252	(45)
The Three Tasks of Stage II	253	(1)
Task 1: Help Clients Discover Possibilities for a Better Future---``How Can My Life Be Better?''	254	(1)
Skills for Identifying Possibilities for a Better Future	255	(12)
Task 2: Help Clients Move From Possibilities to Choices---``What Solutions Are Best for Me?''	267	(17)
Task 3: Help Clients Commit Themselves---``What Am I Willing to Pay for What I Want?''	284	(10)
Stage II and Action	294	(1)
The Shadow Side of Goal Setting	295	(2)
Stage III: Help Clients Develop Strategies and Plans to Accomplish Their Goals	297	(38)
Introduction to Stage III	298	(1)
Task 1: Help Clients Develop Strategies for Accomplishing Their Goals	299	(10)
Task 2: Help Clients Choose Best-Fit Strategies	309	(10)
Task 3: Help Clients Make Plans	319	(16)
Part Four THE ACTION ARROW: MAKING IT ALL HAPPEN	335	(21)
Getting There: Help Clients Implement Their Change Programs---``How Do I Make It All Happen?''	336	(20)
Help Clients Move From Planning to Action	338	(6)
Getting Along Without a Helper: Developing Social Networks for Support and Challenge	344	(4)
The Shadow Side of Implementing Change	348	(5)
Resilience Revisited: People's Ability to Hold Themselves Together, Bounce Back, and Grow	353	(2)
Choosing Not to Change	355	(1)
References	356	(27)
Name Index	383	(6)
Subject Index	389