This fourth edition provides the most comprehensive guide to the field of counselling psychology, exploring a range of theories and philosophical underpinnings, practice approaches and contexts, and professional issues. It has been updated to reflect current issues and debates and to map onto the training standards, and offers the ultimate companion for your journey through counselling psychology training and into the workplace. New to the fourth edition: Chapters on: Person-Centred Therapy; Mindfulness; Neuroscience; Engaging with and Carrying out Research; Reflective Practice; International Dimensions; and Ecopsychology A companion website offering hours of video and audio, including conversations with counselling psychology practitioners and trainees, and articles, exercises and case studies Other new features include: Further Reading, 'Day in the Life of' dialogues with practitioners; Reflective Exercises, and Discussion Points, and new case studies. Special attention has been paid to the topic of research, both as a theme throughout the book, and through four new chapters covering the use, carry out and publication of research at different stages of training and practice. The handbook is the essential textbook for students and practitioners in the field of counselling psychology and allied health professions, at all stages of their career and across a range of settings, both in the UK and internationally.

Stephen Palmer is Joint award winner of the Annual Counselling Psychology Award for outstanding professional and scientific contribution to Counselling Psychology in Britain for 2000.

`The editors' support for the integrative project is clear, but the book will hold its own with the sceptics too. I recommend it' - Counselling at Work

This innovative and timely book examines the issues and ideas surrounding integration and eclecticism in a therapeutic context, and provides a detailed account of a wide range of approaches in use.

Following an exploration of the origins of integrative and eclectic processes, 10 approaches are explained in detail. Chapters on each approach: describe its central concepts, assumptions and therapeutic goals; outline its view of how psychological disturbance is acquired, perpetuated and resolved; examine how the theory relates to practice - including examples of typical sessions and case studies; and consider which clients might benefit.

Further chapters explore the implications of using integrative and eclectic approaches for training, supervision, for working in a time-limited context and from a multicultural perspective.

Bringing together key issues in the provision and use of caring services, this volume is an invaluable training resource for health and social work practitioners. Roles and relationships are central themes: their complexity is stressed, as is their relevance to a better understanding of practice. The book's first three sections explore: the distinctions between health and welfare occupations, and informal helping roles; different approaches for practitioners to develop sensitivity to diverse experiences and to challenge unfairly discriminatory responses, attitudes and stereotyped assumptions; and the potential for user empowerment, given the imbalance in power between workers and users. These areas provide practitioners with sources for reflection in the final section. This unique collection encompasses both personal accounts and important current debates. It blends research with practice, and experience with academic insight. Throughout, readers are encouraged to make links across occupational divides and to challenge traditional assumptions. The volume is a Course Reader for the Open University course Roles and Relationships: Perspectives on Practice K663.

This fourth edition provides the most comprehensive guide to the field of counselling psychology, exploring a range of theories and philosophical underpinnings, practice approaches and contexts, and professional issues. It has been updated to reflect current issues and debates and to map onto the training standards, and offers the ultimate companion for your journey through counselling psychology training and into the workplace. New to the fourth edition: Chapters on: Person-Centred Therapy; Mindfulness; Neuroscience; Engaging with and Carrying out Research; Reflective Practice; International Dimensions; and Ecopsychology A companion website offering hours of video and audio, including conversations with counselling psychology practitioners and trainees, and articles, exercises and case studies Other new features include: Further Reading, 'Day in the Life of' dialogues with practitioners; Reflective Exercises, and Discussion Points, and new case studies. Special attention has been paid to the topic of research, both as a theme throughout the book, and through four new chapters covering the use, carry out and publication of research at different stages of training and practice. The handbook is the essential textbook for students and practitioners in the field of counselling psychology and allied health professions, at all stages of their career and across a range of settings, both in the UK and internationally.