Introduction to Counseling Skills
Useful Resources
This list of resources is given as a starting point to expand your understanding of counseling. It is in no way a comprehensive listing of all counseling resources. As with any list of this kind, use caution and discretion in applying any suggestions to your personal situation or your communication with other people.
Books:
Bradshaw on : The Family : A New Way of Creating Solid-Self Esteem by John Bradshaw. Health Communications. 1996. Looks at the family as the determiner of emotional health and illness.
Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Practical Guide by Kenneth S. Pope and Melba Jean Trinidad Vasquez. Jossey-Bass. 1998. Offers concrete, down-to-earth guidance on ethical conduct, with discussions, anecdotes, exercises, and questions.
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships by John Gray. HarperCollins, 1993. Focuses on the differences between men and women--men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, after all--and offers a simple solution: couples must acknowledge and accept these differences before they can develop happier relationships
Motivational Interviewing by William R. Miller, Stephen Rollnick. Guilford Press. 1992. This book is closely allied with the Stages of Change Model and presents a model for using skills such as active listening.
Parent Effectiveness Training: the Proven Program for Raising Responsible Children by Dr. Thomas Gordon. Three Rivers Press. 2000. This book is a classic for learning listening skills, I Messages and problem solving.
Parenting Teens: Systematic Training for Effective Parenting of Teens by Don Dinkmeyer, et. al. American Guidance Service. 1998. Even though this book is written for parents, it contains a lot of basic communication and counseling skills that are useful for everyone.
Reality Therapy in Action by William Glasser. Harpercollins. 2000. This book presents the basic concepts of Reality Therapy.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.Running Press. 2000. Although this book is not about counseling per se, it introduces you to some ideas about personal and professional effectiveness.
Silver Bullets by Karl Rohnke. Project Adventure. 1984. Don’t be fooled by the print date of this book. It contains all sorts of group activities and hints for using them to maximize learning.
Substance Abuse Treatment and the Stages of Change by Gerard Joseph Connors, Dennis M. Donovan and Carlo C. DiClemente. Guilford Press. 2001. Synthesizes the latest theory and research on the process of addictive behavior change and offers guidance for tailoring interventions to clients with varying levels of motivation or readiness to change.
Web Sites:
Active Listening http://www.youthwork.com/activelistening.html Interactive scenarios developed by students in the Auburn Adult and Community Education Introduction to Counseling Skills classes.
American Counseling Association http://www.counseling.org/ The professional association for licensed counselors.
Attentive Listening http://www.youthwork.com/alintro.html A short interactive program for improving your listening skills.
Communication Skill Building http://www.thirteen.org/peaceful/strate.html Basic concepts and skills of active listening.
Hopefull http://home.earthlink.net/~hopefull/home/home_contents.htm Information on a variety of mental health and counseling topics written by Hope E. Morrow, MA, MFT, CTS.
Keirsey Temperment Sorter http://keirsey.com/siteexplain.html An online version of the Meyers Briggs Personality Test. Use this site to learn about your personality type – it is at least as accurate as your horoscope.
Knowledge Exchange Network http://www.mentalhealth.org/ Mental health information provided by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Learn To Mentor http://www.mentoring.org/training/TMT/index.adp Learn the basic skills of mentoring a young person
Lewiston/Auburn Directory of Social Services http://www.youthwork.com/LA/document.html
This site is a product of the Auburn Adult and Community Education Introduction to Social Services class. It will give you information about social services available in the local area.
National Association of Social Workers http://www.naswdc.org/ The professional association for social workers.
Recovery Resources Online http://www.soberrecovery.com/links/themeindex.html Links to more than 2100 recovery resources in over 50 categories.
Transtheoretical Model/Stages of Change http://hsc.usf.edu/~kmbrown/Stages_of_Change_Overview.htm
This site provides a good explanation of the Stages of Change Model.
Youthwork Links and Ideas http://www.youthwork.com A large and well organized listing of sites for those working with youth. Also links to activities and other ideas. (I am just a little biased about this site).