Translating Theory to Practice: Thinking and Acting Like an Expert Counselor

A Guide to Thinking and Acting Like an Expert leads counselors and counseling students through the step-by-step process of receiving client information, synthesizing the data, and understanding how to respond and act effectively. With a central focus on this procedural knowledge, this guide also concentrates on developing the skills needed to build client relationships in order to elicit helpful client disclosure, and, ultimately, become an “expert” counselor who can extract the important information from a situation and move from the ‘if’ of the client data to the ‘then’ of an intervention or solution.

Richard D. Parsons holds a Ph.D. In psychology from Temple University and is currently a Professor of Counselor Education at West Chester University in Pennsylvania.  He has authored 26 texts including Counseling Strategies That Work! (Allyn & Bacon, 2006), The Ethics of Professional Practice (Allyn & Bacon, 2000), and The Skilled Consultant (Allyn & Bacon, 1995). He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, and the Pennsylvania Counseling Association, where he has been named Pennsylvania’s Counselor of the Year.