Essential Interviewing and Counseling Skills

This book is written for students from a wide range of helping professions counseling, psychology, psychiatry, social work, mental health advocacy, and creative arts therapy. Multicultural competence is vital to training effective and sensitive clinicians. This includes the many forms diversity can take, including ethnicity, immigration, country of origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, language, and physical and cognitive abilities. The relationship between therapist and client has to be cultivated, fostered, and built upon so that clients will experience the relief they seek. Even as the book discusses the skills, methods, goals, and theoretical underpinnings of counseling, it returns again and again to the fundamental importance of the relationship between therapist and client. There are many different types of clinical interviews, including intake interviews, mental status exams, safety assessment for suicidal or homicidal potential, and diagnostic interviews, among others. Skills in this area will grow over time as the counselor develops professional identity, theoretical orientation, and understanding of persons. Ethics codes are vital to safeguard the welfare of clients and others who work with mental health professionals. The book identifies the essentials of a case formulation from the psychodynamic perspective and explains the interconnectedness of emotions, thoughts, and behavior according to cognitive behavioral theory. It also discusses the skills to evaluate when treatment should conclude, describes the various counseling situations such as group counseling and family counselling, and explains the importance of professional development.