As a life raft for beginners and their supervisors, Where to Start and What to Ask provides all the necessary tools for garnering information from clients. Lukas also offers a framework for thinking about that information and formulating a thorough assessment. This indispensable book helps therapeutic neophytes organize their approach to the initial phase of treatment and navigate even rough clinical waters with competence and assurance.

A life raft for students, neophyte clinicians, and their supervisors, this popular guidebook as relevant today as it was when it first appeared nearly twenty years ago offers all the necessary tools for formulating a thorough client assessment. The enhanced edition is packaged together with a companion CD filled with lessons and exercises on the clinical interview. Sit back, relax, and think along with Susan Lukas about the many questions that you need to ask about yourself and your client before, during, and after the interview. Doing so will not only improve your clinical skills but also increase your confidence and self-awareness as a practitioner.

Praise for Where to Start and What to Ask

Lukas has performed an excellent service in writing this book. The way she handles the material makes ideas immediately accessible. An experienced professional, she has clearly not forgotten what the beginnings were like. . . . This book creates a sense of space and time for thinking and learning, for collecting, mulling over and drawing conclusions from what is observed. Journal of Analytic Social Work Lukas does a wonderful job of presenting many different types of assessment procedures and what should be addressed during an assessment. . . . Straightforward and easy to read and understand. Journal of Family Psychotherapy"