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This is the eBook of the printed book and may not include any media, website access codes, or print supplements that may come packaged with the bound book.
Students and beginning counselors get step-by-step guidance for developing the skills and techniques they need to effectively help their clients.
This sixth edition of the best-selling Learning the Art of Helping: Building Blocks and Techniques emphasizes the techniques and skills necessary to be effective in the art of helping, from basic building blocks to advanced therapeutic techniques. The text is practical, innovative, and focused on the relationship between helper and client. The author incorporates the latest research on effective treatments, while offering an integrative perspective.
The author’s conversational tone is appealing to students, yet the book is carefully referenced for instructors. The goal is to make beginning helpers become “reflective practitioners.” “Stop and Reflect” sections, exercises, homework, class discussion topics, and Journal Starters support this approach. The sixth edition includes new sections highlighting issues of culture in research, challenges related to gender differences, and helping skills specific to children.
Brief Table of Contents
1. Helping as a Personal Journey
2. The Therapeutic Relationship
3. Invitational Skills
4. Reflecting Skills: Paraphrasing
5. Reflecting Skills: Reflecting Feelings
6. Advanced Reflecting Skills: Reflecting Meaning and Summarizing
7. Challenging Skills
8. Assessment and Goal Setting
9. Change Techniques, Part I
10. Change Techniques, Part II
11. Evaluation, Reflection, and Termination
12. Skills for Helping Someone Who Is Different
Glossary
References
Index
Detailed Table of Contents
Chapter 1 HELPING AS A PERSONAL JOURNEY 1
The Demands of the Journey 1
Becoming a Reflective Practitioner 2
Using Reflection to Help You Overcome Challenging Helping Situations and Enhance Your Learning 3
Using Reflection to Help Clients with Backgrounds Different from Your Own 3
Using Reflection to Accommodate New Information about Yourself 4
Learning to Reflect through Exercises in This Book 6
What is Helping? 6
Psychological Helping 8
Interviewing 8
What Are Counseling and Psychotherapy? 10
Coaching 11
Challenges You Will Face in Learning the Art of Helping 11
The Challenge of Development 12
Taking Responsibility for Your Own Learning 12
Finding a Mentor 14
Finding the Perfect Technique 14
In Limbo 14
Accepting Feedback and Being Perfect 15
Following Ethical Guidelines 15
Individual Differences 17
Who Can Be an Effective Helper? 17
What Can You Bring to a Client? 19
The Nuts and Bolts of Helping 21
Learning Basic Skills and Common Therapeutic Factors 21
Therapeutic Building Blocks 22
Change Techniques 24
The Importance of the Building Blocks 24
The Stages of the Helping Process: A Road Map 24
Summary 26
Exercises 27
Group Exercises 27
Group Discussions 28
Written Exercises 28
Self-Assessment 29
Homework 29
Journal Starters 30
Chapter 2 THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP 31
The Importance of the Therapeutic Relationship in Creating Change 33
What Is a Helping Relationship? Is a Professional Helping Relationship the Same as a Friendship? 34
The Unique Characteristics of a Therapeutic Relationship 36
What Clients Want in a Helping Relationship 38
How Can a Helper Create a Therapeutic Relationship? 38
Relationship Enhancers 39
Other Factors That Help or Strain the Therapeutic Relationship 45
Facilitative Office Environment 45
Distractions 46
Appearing Credible and Taking a Nonhierarchical Stance 46
Therapeutic Faux Pas 47
Transference and Countertransference 50
Summary 56
Exercises 57
Group Exercises 57
Small Group Discussions 57
Homework 58
Journal Starters 59
Chapter 3 INVITATIONAL SKILLS 60
Listening to the Client’s Story 61
Nonverbal Communication between Helper and Client 64
Regulation 64
Intimacy 65
Persuasion 65
Nonverbal Skills in the Helping Relationship 65
Eye Contact 66
Body Position 66
Attentive Silence 67
Voice Tone 67
Facial Expressions and Gestures 68
Physical Distance 68
Touching and Warmth 69
Opening Skills: How to Invite 71
Saying Hello: How to Start the First Session 72
How to Start the Next Session 72
Encouragers 73
Questions 74
Summary 79
Exercises 80
Group Exercises 80
Small Group Discussions 82
Written Exercises 83
Self-Assessment 84
Homework 84
Journal Starters 84
Chapter 4 REFLECTING SKILLS: PARAPHRASING 85
Reasons for Reflecting 86
Reflecting Content and Thoughts, Reflecting Feelings, and Reflecting Meaning 86
The Skill of Paraphrasing: Reflecting Content and Thoughts 89
How to Paraphrase 89
Paraphrasing: What It Is and What It Isn’t 90
When to Paraphrase and the Nonjudgmental Listening Cycle 91
Common Problems in Paraphrasing 94
Simply Reciting the Facts 94
Difficulty Listening to the Story because of “Noise” 94
Worrying about What to Say Next 95
Being Judgmental and Taking the Client’s Side 95
Being Judgmental of the Client 96
Turning a Paraphrase into a Question 96
Summary 97
Exercises 97
Group Exercises 97
Small Group Discussions 98
Written Exercises 99
Self-Assessment 99
Homework 99
Journal Starters 100
Chapter 5 REFLECTING SKILLS: REFLECTING FEELINGS 101
The Importance of Understanding Emotions 101
The Skill of Reflecting Feelings 102
The Benefits of Reflecting Feelings 102
Why It Is Difficult to Reflect Feelings 103
How to Reflect Feelings 104
Step 1: Identifying the Feeling or Feelings 104
Step 2: Putting the Emotion into Words 104
Common Problems in Reflecting Feelings and Their Antidotes 110
Asking the Client, “How Did You Feel?” or “How Did That Make You Feel?” 112
Waiting Too Long to Reflect 112
Making Your Reflection a Question 112
Combining a Reflection and a Question: The Error of the Compound Response 113
Focusing on Other People 113
Interrupting Too Soon and Letting the Client Talk Too Long 114
Confusing the Words Feel and Think 115
Missing the Mark: Overshooting and Undershooting 115
Letting Your Reflecting Statements Go On Too Long 116
Summary 117
Exercises 117
Group Exercises 117
Written Exercises 119
Self-Assessment 120
Homework 120
Journal Starters 120
Chapter 6 ADVANCED REFLECTING SKILLS: REFLECTING MEANING AND SUMMARIZING 121
Meaning, Uncovering the Next Layer 122
Why Reflect Meaning? 124
Challenging the Client to Go Deeper: The Inner Circle Strategy 126
Worldview: Meanings Are Personal 129
How to Uncover Meaning in the Story 130
Reflecting Meaning 130
Using Open Questions to Uncover Meaning 133
Summarizing 134
Focusing Summaries 135
Signal Summaries 135
Thematic Summaries 136
Planning Summaries 136
The Nonjudgmental Listening Cycle Ends with Summarizing 137
What Happens after the Nonjudgmental Listening Cycle? 138
A Questioning Cycle Typically Found Early in Training 138
Summary 140
Exercises 141
Group Exercises 141
Small Group Discussions 142
Written Exercises 143
Self-Assessment 145
Homework 145
Journal Starters 146
Chapter 7 CHALLENGING SKILLS 147
When Should We Use the Challenging Skills? 149
Giving Feedback 150
Why Is Feedback Important? 150
How to Give Feedback 151
Confrontation 154
What Is a Discrepancy? 154
Why Should Discrepancies Be Confronted? 154
Cognitive Dissonance and Confrontation: Why Confrontation Works 155
Types of Discrepancies and Some Examples 156
How to Confront 158
Steps to Confrontation 159
Common Problems in Confrontation and Their Antidotes 161
Final Cautions about Confrontation 162
Other Ways of Challenging 163
Relationship Immediacy 163
Teaching the Client Self-Confrontation 164
Challenging Irrational Beliefs 165
Humor as Challenge 166
Summary 167
Exercises 168
Group Exercises 168
Small Group Discussions 169
Written Exercises 170
Self-Assessment 170
Homework 174
Journal Starters 174
Chapter 8 ASSESSMENT AND GOAL SETTING 175
Why Assessment? 176
Assessment Is a Critical Part of Helping 177
Reasons to Spend Time in the Assessment Stage 178
Two Informal Methods of Assessment That Every Helper Uses: Observation and Questioning 181
Observation 181
Questioning 183
Conducting an Intake Interview: What to Assess? 184
A. Affective Assessment 184
B. Behavioral Assessment 184
C. Cognitive Assessment 184
1. Developmental Issues 185
2. Family History 186
3. Cultural and Religious/Spiritual Background 186
4. Physical Challenges and Strengths 186
Categorizing Clients and Their Problems 188
Organizing the Flood of Information: Making a Diagnosis 188
Goal-Setting Skills 188
Where Do I Go from Here? Set Goals! 188
Why Must We Set Goals? 190
When to Set Goals 191
What Are the Characteristics of Constructive Goals? 192
Goals Should Be Simple and Specific 192
Goals Should Be Stated Positively 194
Goals Should Be Important to the Client 195
Goals Should Be Collaboration between Helper and Client 195
Goals Should Be Realistic 196
Resources for Identifying and Clarifying Goals 197
The Technique of Using Questions to Identify a Goal 198
Questions That Help Make the Goal More Specific 198
Questions That Help Turn a Problem into a Goal 198
Questions to Determine a Goal’s Importance 199
Questions to Enhance Collaboration on Goal Setting 199
Questions That Help Confirm That the Goal Is Realistic 199
The Technique of Boiling Down the Problem 201
Summary 203
Exercises 204
Group Exercises 204
Small Group Discussions 205
Written Exercises 206
Self-Assessment 206
Homework 206
Journal Starters 207
Chapter 9 CHANGE TECHNIQUES, PART I 208
What Are Change Techniques? 209
REPLAN and the Common Therapeutic Factors 210
Understanding the Factors or Major Components of the REPLAN Model 210
How the REPLAN System Helps You Plan Treatment 211
Using the Common Therapeutic Factors 212
Steps in Treatment Planning Using the REPLAN Model 212
Enhancing Efficacy and Self-Esteem 214
Sources of Low Self-Esteem 216
Silencing the Internal Critic: The Technique of Countering 218
Practicing New Behaviors 221
Role-Playing 223
Giving Homework Assignments as Practice 226
Lowering and Raising Emotional Arousal 230
Reducing Negative Emotions 230
Reducing Anxiety and Stress 231
Raising Emotional Arousal and Facilitating Expression 234
Creating Positive Emotions 236
Summary 237
Exercises 238
Group Exercises 238
Small Group Discussions 240
Self-Assessment 241
Homework 241
Journal Starters 242
Chapter 10 CHANGE TECHNIQUES, PART II 243
Activating Client Expectations, Hope, and Motivation 244
The Demoralization Hypothesis 244
Motivation and Readiness 245
Increasing Expectations and Fostering Hope 246
Providing New Learning Experiences 256
Definitions of New Learning Experiences 256
What Client Problems Are Helped through New Learning? 257
Common Methods for Providing New Learning Experiences 257
Summary 272
Exercises 272
Group Exercises 272
Small Group Discussions 274
Written Exercises 274
Self-Assessment 275
Homework 275
Journal Starters 275
Chapter 11 EVALUATION, REFLECTION, AND TERMINATION 276
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Helping 277
Basic Outcome Evaluation Methods 279
Use Progress Notes to Track Improvement on Goals 279
Use a Global Measure to Detect Overall Improvement 279
Consistently Assess the Client’s View of Progress and the Therapeutic Relationship 280
Use a Specific Measure 281
Use Subjective Scaling and Self-Report to Measure Improvement 281
Use Another Person to Monitor Change 282
Use Client Satisfaction Scales 282
Use Goal-Attainment Measures 282
Termination 283
How to Prevent Premature Termination 283
How to Tell Whether Termination Is Needed 285
How to Prepare a Client for Termination 286
Dealing with Loss at Termination 286
The Helper’s Reaction to Termination 287
How to Maintain Therapeutic Gains and Prevent Relapse Following Termination 287
Follow-Up 288
Booster Sessions 288
Engaging Paraprofessionals 288
Self-Help Groups 288
Continue Self-Monitoring Activities 288
Role-Playing for Relapse Prevention 289
Letter Writing 289
Summary 289
Exercises 289
Group Exercises 289
Small Group Discussions 290
Written Exercises 290
Self-Assessment 291
Homework 291
Journal Starters 296
Chapter 12 SKILLS FOR HELPING SOMEONE WHO IS DIFFERENT 297
Differences Make a Difference 297
Mismatch between Client and Helper 298
How Can You Become Culturally Competent? 298
What Is Culture, and What Should We Do about It? 299
Skills for Helping Someone Who Is Culturally Different 300
The Skill of Cultural Study and Cultural Immersion 300
A Tutorial Stance: The Skill of Understanding the Client’s Culture by Listening 301
Tapping Cultural Support Systems 301
Achieving Credibility and Trust 301
Culturally Adapting Treatment: Tailoring Your Approach to the Client 302
Acknowledging Differences by Broaching 303
Skills for Dealing with Gender Issues 303
Challenges Caused by Differences in Gender 303
Skills for Addressing Gender Issues 304
When the Difference Is Gender 305
Skills for Helping a Child 306
Identifying Helping Skills for Working with Children 307
Using Basic Skills as a Guideline for Working with Children 311
The Case for Play Therapy 311
Summary 312
Exercises 312
Group Exercises 312
Small Group Discussions 312
Self-Assessment 313
Homework 313
Journal Starters 313
Glossary 315
References 323
Index 349
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