Personal Development in Counsellor Training

Within the contexts of contmeporary counseling training, this book revisits the importance of continuing personal and professional development for every successful counseling practitioner. From the trainee and their personal development to the trainer and their course, it provides the answers to that all important question: what is personal and professional development and why is it necessary for counselors? The new edition explores: the importance of personal development and the core concepts that underpin it; the aims, commonalities and differences of personal development in different settings; the key differences in theoretical approaches and their implications for personal development; the issue of communication and relationship between counselors and professional organizations, society, and the ′virtual′ world; and the trainee and trainer and the challenges of personal development.

Packed full of vivid accounts of personal experiences, questions and points for refection, this book will prove an essential companion for anyone wishing to grow personally and professionally as a therapist.

Hazel Johns has been engaged in counselling, training and supervision for over thirty-five years. After experience in schools, first as a teacher of English, then as a school counsellor, she developed and taught courses at the then North East London Polytechnic, was an HMI and L.E.A. Adviser promoting counselling and counselling education, and designed and led the counselling training programme at Bristol University. She presented and co-wrote ′Principles of Counselling′, (1978 and 1982), sixteen programmes for BBC Radio 4; wrote ′Personal Development in Counselling Training′ (Cassell, 1996, then Sage); and edited ′Balancing Acts: Studies in Counselling Training′ (Routledge, 1998). Since taking early retirement, she has lived and worked as a counsellor and supervisor in Pembrokeshire. She is a BACP Accredited Counsellor and a Fellow of BACP.