Counseling A Comprehensive Profession

Counseling is a dynamic, ever-evolving, and exciting profession that deals with human tragedy and possibility in an intensive, personal, and caring way. It is a profession dedicated to prevention, development, exploration, empowerment, change, and remediation in an increasingly complex and chaotic world. In the past, counseling emphasized guidance by helping people make wise choices. Now guidance is but one part of this multidimensional profession. This text presents counseling in a broad manner covering its history, theories, activities, specialties, and trends. In addition, this book concentrates on the importance of the personhood of counselors and of the multicultural, ethical, and legal environments in which counselors operate. By focusing on the context and process of counseling, this book provides you with a better idea of what counselors do and how they do it. Materials inCounseling. A Comprehensive Profession,Fifth Edition, have been divided into four main sections. Part I, Historical and Professional Foundations of Counseling, contains chapters dealing with an overview of the development of counseling and important competencies of contemporary counselors. Specific chapters that will orient you to the counseling profession as it was and is are History of and Trends in Counseling; Personal and Professional Aspects of Counseling; Ethical and Legal Aspects of Counseling; and Counseling in a Multicultural and Diverse Society. Part II, Counseling Process and Theories, highlights the main processes, stages, and theories of the counseling profession. This section addresses the universal aspects of popular counseling approaches and zeros in on specific theories and ways of dealing with client concerns. The five chapters are Building a Counseling Relationship; Working in a Counseling Relationship; Termination of Counseling Relationships; Psychoanalytic, Adlerian, and Humanistic Theories of Counseling; and Behavioral, Cognitive, Systemic, Brief, and Crisis Theories of Counseling. Part III, Core Counseling Activities in Various Settings, emphasizes universal skills required in almost all counseling environments. Counselors use group counseling, consultation, research, and assessment skills in various areas. The chapters in this section are Groups in Counseling; Consultation; Evaluation and Research; and Testing, Assessment, and Diagnosis in Counseling. Finally, Part IV, Counseling Specialties, contains six chapters that focus on specific populations with whom counselors work or professional practices in which they are engaged that are unique. The chapters here are Career Counseling over the Life Span; Marriage and Family Counseling; Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School Counseling; College Counseling and Student-Life Services; Substance Abuse and Disability Counseling; and Mental Health and Community Counseling. A common theme woven throughout this book is that counseling is both a generic and specialized part of the helping field. Although it is a profession that has come of age, it is also still growing. It is best represented in professional organizations such as the American Counseling Association (ACA) and Division 17 (counseling psychology) of the American Psychological Association (APA). There are also numerous other professional groups--social workers, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, marriage and family therapists, and pastoral counselors--that use and practice counseling procedures and theories on a daily basis. In essence, no one profession owns the helping process. This text is the result of a lifetime of effort on my part to understand the counseling profession as it was, as it is, and as it will be. My journey has included a wide variety of experiences
Gladding, Samuel T. is the author of 'Counseling A Comprehensive Profession', published 2003 under ISBN 9780130494702 and ISBN 0130494704.