Basic Therapeutic Counseling Skills

Book excerpt: Basic Therapeutic Counseling Skills: Interventions for Working with Clients' Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors introduces readers to the core counseling skills used by professionals in daily practice. The text emphasizes the importance of employing specific counseling strategies geared to understanding the client's private world and developing a therapeutic relationship. The book provides an overview of the helping profession, introduces readers to a counseling model, and discusses three stages of counseling. Readers will learn to develop therapeutic listening and responding skills, and the art of asking questions. Readers will also explore how to gain insight by reflecting on the content and process of counseling sessions. Other topics covered in the text include therapeutic action skills, the closure counseling stage, advanced counseling interventions, and skills for working with the clients' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Basic Therapeutic Counseling Skills prepares competent professional helpers to deal successfully and compassionately with a wide variety of clients. The book is designed to be a core textbook for counseling skills courses. It can also be used for reference and review by practicing professionals. Darrick Tovar-Murray earned his Ph.D. at Western Michigan University. Dr. Tovar-Murray is an assistant professor in the College of Education at DePaul University in Chicago, where he teaches courses in counseling skills, multicultural counseling, career counseling, couples and family counseling, and legal and ethical issues in counseling. His research interests include identity development, biracial identity development, multicultural competencies, African American well-being, and counseling and spirituality.