The Helping Relationship: Process and Skills

Counseling is not just a specialized profession reserved for a few trained individuals. All people are called upon at certain points in their lives to serve as counselors, listeners, or helpers in some way. Basic counseling skills are a necessity for every single individual, whether one is a parent listening to his teenager, a family member helping another cope with the loss of a loved one, a doctor counseling a patient about a terminal illness, a friend providing support for another friend, or even a business professional engaging in active listening at a meeting or interview. Counseling requires leadership and compassion, and it is a skill that all must possess in order to live with others in the world. This book describes in non-technical language the human helping process and provides training for anyone interested in becoming a helper. Filled with examples and step-by-step outlines on how to develop basic counseling skills, this book focuses on helping people learn to help themselves and each other. Providing a systematic approach to acquiring helping skills, this book cuts through psychological jargon and reaches across various professions and settings. Readers are asked to consider important personal issues of being a helper as they enter professional or paraprofessional roles as helpers. Social workers, counselors, human service professionals, business professionals, law professionals, medical professionals, and anyone interested in becoming a helper.