Learning the Art of Helping: Building Blocks and Techniques (5th Edition) (The Merrill Counseling)

Learning the Art of Helping, students and beginning counselors get step-by-step guidance for developing the skills and techniques they need to effectively help their clients.

It emphasizes the techniques and skills necessary to be effective in the art of helping—from the basic building blocks to advanced therapeutic techniques and goes beyond the basic techniques to address the “megaskills” and common curative factors that lie behind these methods, including how to form and repair a therapeutic relationship. 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” and this is accomplished through “Stop and Reflect” sections, exercises, homework, class discussion topics, and journal starters that support the approach. Included are ample opportunities for students to practice the skills and techniques plus video segments to let them see the ideas in practice.

• Readers have opportunities to pause, integrate the concepts and ideas, and consider their reaction to real cases and situations through the Stop and Reflect sections within each chapter.
• Additional reinforcement is provided, giving students the chance to practice the skills they’ve just learned with classmates through the Group Exercises.
• Readers get to test new ideas and reflect on conflicts and challenges they develop as helpers through Journal Starters that allow them to continue their learning between classes.
• Students get to see the techniques in action through Video Segments/Exercises for every basic skill in every chapter.
• This new edition continues the best selling features of the previous editions by emphasizing the skills needed in the art of helping while incorporating new integrative features that help readers discover the most effective methods for dealing with clients, including:
• Small Group Discussion topics at the end of each chapter
• Self-Assessments in most chapters
• Presentation of basic skills and advanced techniques, such as role-playing, reframing, and basic cognitive therapy methods
• The most up-to-date research and references
• The book addresses today’s diverse culture
• Readers get relevant information on suicide and risk assessment