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On Being a Client
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On Being a Client
Understanding the Process of Counselling and Psychotherapy


August 1993 | 224 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
There is a growing interest on what clients have to say about their experiences in counseling and psychotherapy. Why do they say the things they say? In this powerful analysis, On Being a Client identifies a number of clear and potent messages that transcend the complexity of counseling thought and psychotherapeutic practice. Using clients' experiences as a framework, the author creates a general theory of counseling and psychotherapy. He proposes that the social and psychological structures which generate the clients' experiences underlie all psychotherapeutic encounters, and the self forms and reforms in social relationships--including those established in the therapeutic context. In this fascinating volume, the reader is invited to consider a number of thought-provoking claims about the universal qualities that characterize good and bad practice in all types of counseling and therapy. This distinctive and accessible analysis is invaluable reading for all counselors, therapists, and other mental health professionals, whether they be in training or already established in practice.

 
INTRODUCTION
 
Love and Work
 
PART ONE: ACCEPT ME
 
Warm and Friendly
 
Acceptance
 
A Secure Base
 
PART TWO: UNDERSTAND ME
 
Understanding People
 
Knowing Other Minds
 
Natural Psychologists
 
Biology and Experience
 
The Development of Social Understanding
 
The Origins of the Empathetic Counsellor
 
PART THREE: TALK WITH ME
 
The Chance to Talk
 
Description
 
Narrative
 
Dialogue
 
PART FOUR: THE FORMATION AND RE-FORMATION OF THE SELF IN SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
 
The Formation of the Self in Social Relationships
 
The Nature of the Counselling Relationship

`This book explores what clients have to say about their experience of the psychotherapeutic process. David Howe observes that, regardless of the therapist's theoretical orientation, clients say similar things about their experience of being helped (and not being helped). It is the non-specifics of genuineness, a secure trusting atmosphere, empathy and warmth that offer the vehicle for encouraging a dialogue of personal intimate material, and of "making sense" and understanding when we are in pain, puzzled or worried.... This is an easy and gentle read.... For those interested in Attachment Theory, this would be a useful addition to their bookshelf' - Clinical Psychology Forum

`David Howe develops a theory of counselling on the basis of what clients say about their experience of it... The book will interest Samaritans who want to explore the theory behind what Chad has called our listening therapy - why it is necessary and why it works' - The Samaritan

`For those in social work who still see helping as providing the crucial core of what they do and the way they do it, this book is essential reading... The book provides a clear and very readable insight into the helping process... In a previous age David Howe would have been thanked for providing an important social work text. I think he has and I am sure many social work students and practitioners will find it invaluable. What he has done is ask us to urgently consider what the nature of social work is in its contemporary form' - British Journal of Social Work

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