Customer Reviews

A Brief Primer of Helping Skills

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The main problem with this book is the incredibly brief duration of the read. It has an appropriate tone, has different homework assignments the reader can attempt to build their skills, and covers several areas that psychology students and other people in the helping profession will want to consider. However, it is very fundamental, and assumes that you basically have no knowledge in the subject at all, which was certainly not the case for the class that this was a text for. Even if this were the case, there are other materials that cover all of the subjects in this book, and in much more detail (and covers other fundamental issues such as confidentiality and ethical concerns). It might not be a terrible read for someone just getting interested in the field, but I would recommend going for a lengthier, more in-depth resource myself. Some of the later chapters also cover issues that are appropriate to mention for consideration, but will be such complex and advanced skills (brief therapy/crisis intervention and group therapy) that a beginning counselor or psychotherapist would be greatly overwhelmed to even attempt doing either one. He basically concedes that himself, which to me indicates the main reason for including it wasn't just to bring it to people's attention, but to lengthen his very short book. That might sound unfair, but once you see the book for yourself, you might reconsider (you honestly could read this in a day, if not two, and the material presented is so valuable you should slow down and digest it, though its own design limits that inherently). I think there are lists and ideas listed in this material that would make excellent cheat sheets and checklists, but for my own purposes I would much rather hang onto a more valuable reference that hits the material harder in case I want to review some fundamentals.