Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach [Paperback]

Jeffrey A. Kottler (Author), Matt Englar-Carlson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1412953715 | ISBN-13: 978-1412953719 | Edition: Second Edition

“The writing is both highly personable and also very specific about techniques and attitudes students may take on as they experiment with membership leadership. I think my students will like it and will use it to engage even more fully with the experiential group. It most certainly fills a niche that needed filling.”
-Adam L. Hill, Sonoma State University

Now Accompanied by a DVD!

Focusing on how to conduct and lead groups in a variety of therapeutic settings, Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach, Second Edition covers theory, process, leadership, techniques, ethics, special populations, and challenges as they relate to group work. The Second Edition introduces important conceptual and practical information and then uses exercises, field study assignments, and personal application questions to help students apply concepts to their work and lives. The Second Edition now includes “student voices” throughout each chapter to provide descriptions of actual experiences.

Key Features:

• Takes an experiential approach, helping readers understand how the concepts they learn in class can be applied to their own work in conducting groups
• Offers a conversational, practical, and realistic writing style
• Includes relevant examples drawn from the authors’ more than 25 years of teaching and leading experience
• Is accompanied by a new DVD, bound in the back of the book, which contains scripted sessions corresponding with every chapter

The password-protected instructor’s site is available with test questions at http://www.sagepub.com/kottler2einstr/main.htm.

Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach, Second Edition is ideal for use in introductory courses in Group Therapy or Group Work in the disciplines of counseling, human services, psychology and social work.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This introduction to leading group therapy takes an experiential approach to the discipline, and is written with the beginning group practitioner in mind.

The experiential aspect of this book reflects the needs of both the seasoned and novice counselor. The experiential approach provides beginners an opportunity to apply what they are learning to their own lives and work.

For social workers and therapists. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Matt Englar-Carlson is an associate professor of counseling at the California State University at Fullerton. Prior to his position at the California State University at Fullerton, Matt was an elementary school counselor in both Pennsylvania and California and spent one year as a visiting assistant professor in educational psychology at the University of Washington.

He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, a master’s degree in health psychology education from Stanford University, a master’s degree in counselor education from the Pennsylvania State University, and his doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. He completed his APA accredited pre-doctoral internship in psychology at the University of Southern California Student Counseling Center. Matt co-edited the books In the Room with Men: A Casebook of Therapeutic Change (2006), Counseling Troubled Boys (2008), and is the co-editor of the upcoming book series Theories of Psychotherapy to be published by American Psychological Association Books. Matt has taught group counseling and process to hundreds of students across the United States and has facilitated groups in schools, community settings, work sites, and in university settings. He lives in Huntington Beach, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc; Second Edition edition (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412953715
• ISBN-13: 978-1412953719
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeffrey A. Kottler has authored over 65 books in the field for counselors, therapists, teachers, and the public, including COMPASSIONATE THERAPY: WORKING WITH DIFFICULT CLIENTS; ON BEING A THERAPIST; COUNSELORS FINDING THEIR WAY; MAKING CHANGES LAST; COUNSELING SKILLS FOR TEACHERS; DIVINE MADNESS: TEN STORIES OF CREATIVE STRUGGLE; BAD THERAPY: MASTER THERAPISTS SHARE THEIR WORST FAILURES; THE CLIENT WHO CHANGED ME: STORIES OF THERAPIST PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION; and THE MUMMY AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE: EMINENT THERAPISTS REVEAL THEIR MOST UNUSUAL CASES AND WHAT THEY TEACH US ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR.

Jeffrey has worked as a teacher, counselor, and therapist in a preschool, middle school, mental health center, crisis center, university, community college, and private practice. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar and Senior Lecturer in Peru and Iceland, teaching counseling theory and practice. He has also served as a visiting professor in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, and Nepal. He is currently Professor and Chair of the Counseling Department at California State University, Fullerton.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The most practical text, October 8, 2000

By 

David R. Matteson (Crete IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach (Paperback)

Clear presentations of what the new group counselor needs to observe, watch for, and intervene on. With the experiential homework and the practical emphasis, it is very useful for those about to begin practica or internships. I would use it with text that reviews research and basic concepts of groups in general (e.g. Forsyth's GROUP DYNAMICS). Kottler doesn't cover such key concepts as group goals and norms.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good leadership makes good people, December 14, 2006

By 

Tamisha Greathouse "panther 07" (campus, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach (Paperback)

Jeffery Kottler's Book is a great insight to the background world of communication. It has a lot of information explaining the concepts of leadership especially in the group setting and how to use those concepts in the field of social work, education, group therapy, and other such service areas. As a person looking into the field of social work or education I believe the information contained in the book are things we overlook at times and forget the qualities we have as people that help us help others. Eventually each one of us will have to lead and take on the role of a leader to our pees, whether its work, school, or even at home it is nice to see areas we can improve in and areas we can change. Those the book read is not a novel the information in I can't be substituted. As a communication student, it is nice to see the subjects I'm learning in the work of others in the field of communication. It is also great to see so many different topic areas and way to make concepts of small group communication more specified and focused on an area I can possibly use in the future. Looking at this book has made me curious to look at some of Kottler's other works dealing more with social work and learning more about how I can apply these concepts in the work place. As a resource the book is a great tool to turn to and learn more about the field of communication, so if you not interested in that then it may not be the book for you. I wish it could have been less like a manual and more like a book but that's not what his purpose was and you still again a lot from it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginning Group, July 28, 2000

By 

Jeanne Lightly - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach (Paperback)

This is the perfect book for the beginning group practitioner. Easy to follow and helpful for those in the mental health field.