Featuring a highly personal and engaging writing style, The Essential Counselor: Process, Skills, and Techniques equips readers with the knowledge, confidence, and competence they need to form and sustain a successful practice. It emphasizes the importance of developing a therapeutic alliance with clients and speaks to the skills and attitudes that will help them form, foster, and manage this critical relationship. The organization of the book roughly parallels the counseling process, focusing on the dynamics of the relationships and the skills necessary at different points of the relationship's life. Opening chapters address how to prepare for and engage with a client. Additional chapters cover client assessment and taking action to help a client move toward their counseling goals. Closing chapters focus on special client types and counseling situations, the end of the counseling relationship, and the importance of counselor self-care to avoid burnout. Throughout, real-world examples, reflection activities, demonstrative videos, and skill-building exercises help readers think critically and develop key skill sets. The fourth edition has been revised to address the growing importance of multicultural issues and social justice. The chapters have also been reorganized in response to instructor feedback. Imbued with passion and practicality, The Essential Counselor is a critical and foundational resource for undergraduate and graduate-level courses and programs in counseling, human services, and the helping professions.

"A riveting ride through the stars." -Kirkus Reviews Black Mirror meets What If It's Us in this gripping, romantic, and wildly surprising novel about two boys lost in space trying to find their way home-while falling in love-from the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants. When Noa closes his eyes on Earth and wakes up on a spaceship called Qriosity just as it's about to explode, he's pretty sure things can't get much weirder. Boy is he wrong. Trapped aboard Qriosity are also DJ and Jenny, neither of whom remember how they got onboard the ship. Together, the three face all the dangers of space, along with murder, aliens, a school dance, and one really, really bad day. But none of this can prepare Noa for the biggest challenge-falling in love. And as Noa's feelings for DJ deepen, he has to contend not just with the challenges of the present, but also with his memories of the past. However, nothing is what it seems on Qriosity, and the truth will upend all of their lives forever. Love is complicated enough without also trying to stay alive.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection! It's a new star-crossed romance about the magic of first love from the acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and Brave Face, Shaun David Hutchinson. Jack Nevin's clever trickery and moral flexibility make him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Europe. Without Jack's steady supply of stolen tricks, the Enchantress's fame would have burned out long ago. But when Jack's thievery catches up to them, they're forced to flee to America to find their fortune. Luckily, the Enchantress is able to arrange a set of sold-out shows at Seattle's Alaska-Yukon-Pacific World's Fair Exposition. She's convinced they're going to rich and famous until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo's show overshadows the Enchantress, leaving Jack no choice but to hunt for the secrets to his otherworldly illusions. But what Jack uncovers isn't at all what he expected. Behind Laszlo's tricks is Wilhelm-a boy that can seemingly perform real magic. Jack and Wilhelm have an instant connection, and as the rivalry between the Enchantress and Laszlo grows, so too does Jack and Wilhelm's affection. But can Jack choose between the woman who gave him a life and the boy who is offering him everything? It's a stirring tale about the magic of love from award-winning author Shaun David Hutchinson.

"Dre and Dean have got my vote!"-Adib Khorram, award-winning author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay When Dean Arnault's mother decided to run for president, it wasn't a surprise to anyone, least of all her son. But still that doesn't mean Dean wants to be part of the public spectacle that is the race for the White House-at least not until he meets Dre. The only problem is that Dre Rosario's on the opposition; he's the son of the Democratic nominee. But as Dean and Dre's meet-ups on the campaign trail become less left to chance, their friendship quickly becomes a romantic connection unlike any either of the boys have ever known. If it wasn't hard enough falling in love across the aisle, the political scheming of a shady third-party candidate could cause Dean and Dre's world to explode around them. It's a new modern-day, star-crossed romance about what it really means to love your country-and yourself-from the acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and Brave Face, Shaun David Hutchinson.

This book constitutes the refereeed proceedings of the Third European Conference on Multimedia Applications, Services and Techniques, ECMAST '98, held in Berlin, Germany, in May 1998. The 40 revised full papers presented were carefully selected for inclusion in the book by the program committee. The topics covered include multimedia networks and protocols; coded representation of images, sound, and data; multimedia delivery on broadcast and telecom networks; servers and storage architechtures; advanced multimedia terminals and in house networks; multimedia services; Internet and multimedia scenario; and multimedia trials.

"Dre and Dean have got my vote!"-Adib Khorram, award-winning author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay When Dean Arnault's mother decided to run for president, it wasn't a surprise to anyone, least of all her son. But still that doesn't mean Dean wants to be part of the public spectacle that is the race for the White House-at least not until he meets Dre. The only problem is that Dre Rosario's on the opposition; he's the son of the Democratic nominee. But as Dean and Dre's meet-ups on the campaign trail become less left to chance, their friendship quickly becomes a romantic connection unlike any either of the boys have ever known. If it wasn't hard enough falling in love across the aisle, the political scheming of a shady third-party candidate could cause Dean and Dre's world to explode around them. It's a new modern-day, star-crossed romance about what it really means to love your country-and yourself-from the acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and Brave Face, Shaun David Hutchinson.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

"Surreal, brainy, and totally captivating." --Booklist (starred review)

"Provocative and moving." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Hutchinson artfully blends the realistic and the surreal." --School Library Journal (starred review)

From the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and At the Edge of the Universe comes a mind-bending, riveting novel about a teen who was born to a virgin mother and realizes she has the power to heal--but that power comes at a huge cost.

Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth.

This can be scientifically explained (it's called parthenogenesis), but what can't be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she's had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a Starbucks parking lot. Or why the boy who shot Freddie, David Combs, disappeared from the same parking lot minutes later after getting sucked up into the clouds. Other things that can't be explained are the talking girl on the front of a tampon box, or the reasons that David Combs shot Freddie in the first place.

As more unbelievable things occur, and Elena continues to perform miracles, the only remaining explanation is the least logical of all--that the world is actually coming to an end, and Elena is possibly the only one who can do something about it.