Introduction to Therapeutic Counseling

The seller was so helpful and the book was in great condition! I would buy from this person again...definitely!!

This text has great information and good self exploration exercises. Kottler has been writing these texts for many years, and has written a text that is accessible to the beginning counseling student. I cannot recommend using this text highly enough, my students love the book (as evidenced by my NOT seeing it on our bookstore shelves as a used text after the course wraps), and it is organized for both the student and the professor. The only alteration in chapter sequencing that I make is to teach the ethics chapter early in the course rather than late in the course.

By the end of this book, I wanted to meet Jeffrey Kottler, have coffee with him, exchange jokes, and ask him all the bigger questions that, as a graduate student, lurk in the back of my brain. You know. Those questions like, "Can I really do this?" and "What happens if I screw up someone's emotional well-being even worse than when they came in?" This book is great. Informative, sometimes humorous, and written to the grad. student in easy-to-understand language, the author scored a hit with this book. The sidebars, where new/seasoned counselors offer their opinions, experience, and advice is, by itself, worth the money for the book. Further, each chapter is broken down into logical sub-sections where the author gets "right to it" and doesn't mince words or phrase them as if he's a research scientist hell bent on scaring new students.Suggested reading lists, at the end of each chapter, are filled with a variety of books, not just didactic volumes. A nice touch is the author's "personal" chapter to the reader toward the end of the book. In this section, he mentions what they don't tell you in graduate school...how you might lose friendships or even your marriage might change or crack (due to your inevitable emotional growth), how you will never know enough, and how you are going to feel like you are failing in a big way. Honest, clear, succinct, and friendly. What more could a student want?

This book should be required reading for students who are considering entering into the mental health field. It is thorough, helpful and straightfoward. Personal anecdotes from practitioners offers a nice touch.

A passionate and lucid introduction to a contemporary model of treatment. The authors' commitment to and advocacy of their point of view provide for an illuminating discussion, whether or not one agrees with their conclusions, and the book should be especially useful to beginning therapists interested in exploring the psychodynamic perspectives.