'The new Fifth Edition shows Richard Nelson-Jones at his very best: clear, concise and helpful in a practical way. I strongly recommend this text' - Windy Dryden, Professor of Counselling, Goldsmiths College, London In praise of Fourth Edition: 'A welcome update!creating a powerful and stimulating learning experience'- Pat Beardsworth, Director, Welsh Centre for Counselling Psychology, Swansea 'Richard Nelson Jones's use of lifeskills counselling provides significant added value to our services, particularly with our more difficult clients '- David Stratford, Director, Davidson & Associates, Melbourne 'An excellent practical book, packed with useful information. An ideal text for training courses' - Stephen Palmer, Centre for Stress Management, London 'This book provides a secure base from which the counsellor can practice in an empathic, effective and ethical manner' - Robert Bor, Professor of Psychology, City University, London 'A unique combination of theory, skills and practical activities in a highly informative and impressively detailed text' - Ken Fisher, Bolton Institute 'A great training book!.extremely useful for a wide variety of counselling, helping and pastoral care settings' - Dr Ron Perry, Director, Institute for Counselling, Sydney, Australia 'Invaluable and interesting text and exercises for building a broad range of counselling skills' - Dr Doug Farnill, Faculty of Medicine, Sydney University, Australia This new Fifth Edition of Richard Nelson-Jones' bestselling Practical Counselling & Helping Skills presents the core skills needed to be a successful counsellor. Fully revised and updated, the text is based on the Relationship-Understanding-Changing (RUC) lifeskills counselling model. This provides a systematic approach for clients to develop specific lifeskills to change how they feel, think, communicate and act, and this book provides ways for the counsellor to facilitate this change. Practical Counselling & Helping Skills guides the reader through the three different stages of the RUC model - 'relating', 'understanding' and 'changing'. Areas covered include: } how to listen to, and understand, the client and their problem } the assessment of feelings, reactions and communications } intervention } ethical issues. The book is packed with case studies and practical examples for the trainee counsellor, and the 'activities' within each chapter enable the student to put theory into practice. This text will be invaluable to all those undertaking counselling training for the first time in a variety of different settings.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION What Is Counselling and Helping Chapter outcomes Counselling, psychotherapy and helping What is counselling? What is the lifeskills counselling approach? Create Communication Skills and Feelings Chapter outcomes What are lifeskills? Creating communication and action skills Feelings and physical reactions Create Mind Skills Chapter outcomes The Situation-Thoughts-Consequences (STC) framework What are mind skills? Situation-Thoughts-Consequences revisited The Lifeskills Counselling Model Chapter outcomes Stages and phases of the lifeskills counselling model Applying the model PART TWO: THE RELATING STAGE Pre-Counselling Contact Chapter outcomes Orientation of counselling service Physical premises Advertising a counselling service Clients making initial contact Arranging suitable support for trainees Record-keeping Listening Skills Chapter outcomes The counselling relationship Active listening Skill 1: Possess an attitude of respect and acceptance Skill 2: Understand the client's internal frame of reference Skill 3: Receive voice messages accurately Skill 4: Receive body messages accurately Skill 5: Give small rewards and ask open-ended questions Show Understanding Skills Chapter outcomes Showing understanding Skill 6: Paraphrase Skill 7: Reflect feelings Skill 8: Use mind skills Skill 9: Manage initial resistances Skill 10: Show understanding of context and difference Concluding comment Start the Counselling and Helping Process Chapter outcomes Goals for the initial counselling session Starting initial sessions Structuring skills Basic summarizing skills Starting the counselling and helping process Contracting Referral skills Crisis counselling PART THREE: THE UNDERSTADING STAGE Clarify Problems Skills Chapter outcomes Questioning skills Challenging skills Feedback skills Self-disclosure skills Assess Feelings and Physical Reactions Chapter outcomes Role of assessment Why assess feelings and physical reactions? Physical reactions Dimensions of feelings Skills for eliciting and assessing feelings and physical reactions Assess Thinking Chapter outcomes Skills for eliciting and assessing thinking Form hypotheses about mind skills to improve Assess Communication and Actions Chapter outcomes Skills for eliciting and assessing communication and actions Form hypotheses about communication and action skills to improve Agree On a Shared Analysis of Problems Chapter outcomes Introduction Steps in shared analyses of problems Some skills for agreeing on shared analyses of problems Ending initial sessions PART FOUR: THE CHANGING STATE Plan Interventions Chapter outcomes Interventions and plans Choosing interventions Planning interventions Considerations in planning Skills for working with clients Deliver Interventions Chapter outcomes The counsellor as trainer Reconnect and catch-up skills Establishing session agenda skills Speaking skills Demonstrating skills Coaching skills Interventions for Thinking - 1 Chapter outcomes Attend to feelings Creating rules Creating perceptions Creating self-talk Creating visual images Interventions for Thinking - 2 Chapter outcomes Creating explanations Creating expectations Creating realistic goals Creating realistic decisions Preventing and managing problems and altering problematic skills Interventions for Communication and Actions - 1 Chapter outcomes Introduction Develop monitoring skills Raise awareness of vocal and bodily communication Rehearse and role-play Timetable activities Interventions for Communication and Actions - 2 Chapter outcomes Plan sub-goals and sequence graded tasks Assist clients to use changing communication/action skills experiments Use activities and games Assist clients to use self-reward skills Use counsellor's aides and help clients to obtain support Interventions for Feelings Chapter outcomes Introduction Assist clients to experience feelings Assist clients to express feelings Assist clients to manage feelings Use of medication Systematic Desensitization Chapter outcomes Progressive muscular relaxation Construct hierarchies Present hierarchy items Real-life desensitization Negotiate Homework Chapter outcomes Skills for negotiating homework Conduct Middle Sessions Chapter outcomes Middle counselling sessions Length, frequency and number of sessions Monitoring and evaluating progress End and Client Self-Helping Chapter outcomes When should counselling end? Formats for ending counselling Consolidating skills when ending counselling Further ending counselling tasks and skills Client self-helping PART FIVE: FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS Ethics in Practice and Training Chapter outcomes Ethical principles of counselling and helping Ethical issues and dilemmas in counselling and helping practice Ethical issues and dilemmas in counselling and helping training Making decisions about ethical issues and dilemmas Diversity-Sensitive Counselling and Helping Chapter outcomes Some criticisms of traditional counselling approaches Multicultural counselling and helping Gender-aware counselling and helping Using the lifeskills counselling model with diverse clients Supervision Chapter outcomes Introduction Contexts for supervision Formats for supervision Functions of supervision Presenting material in supervision Conducting supervision sessions The shadow side of supervision Personal Counselling and Continuing Professional Development Chapter outcomes Personal counselling and self-help Continuing professional development (CPD) Concluding comment Review activity