I Never Knew I Had A Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth (with InfoTrac®) [Paperback]

Gerald Corey (Author), Marianne Schneider Corey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0534607861 | ISBN-13: 978-0534607869 | Edition: 8th

Thousands of readers have used this honest and inspiring book to focus on their personal growth and effect personal change. Through their warm--yet thoroughly research-based--discussion of significant dimensions of life, the Coreys help students expand their awareness of the choices available to them. As students work through the text's self-inventories, exercises, and activities and read the first-person accounts of the choices real people have made in response to challenging life events, they will gain insight into their lives, beliefs, and attitudes in a personally empowering way.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gerald Corey is a Professor Emeritus of Human Services at California State University at Fullerton; a Diplomate in Counseling Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology; a licensed psychologist; a National Certified Counselor; a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Counseling Psychology); a Fellow of the American Counseling Association; and a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work. Dr. Corey teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in group counseling, as well as courses in experiential groups, the theory and practice of counseling, and ethics in counseling. He is the author or co-author of 15 counseling textbooks currently in print as well as numerous journal articles. Along with his wife, Marianne Schneider Corey, Dr. Corey has conducted group counseling training workshops for mental health professionals at many universities in the United States, as well as in Canada, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, Belgium, Scotland, England, and Ireland. They received the Association for Specialists in Group Work's Eminent Career Award in 2001. Dr. Corey earned his doctorate in counseling from the University of Southern California.

Marianne Schneider Corey, a licensed marriage and family therapist in California, is a National Certified Counselor and a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work. She has been actively involved in providing training and supervision workshops in group process for human-services students and professionals. She also facilitates self-exploration groups for graduate students and continues to conduct training workshops in group counseling with her husband, Dr. Gerald Corey, in various countries. In 2001, the two received the Eminent Career Award for distinguished and major contributions to the field of group work by the Association for Specialists in Group Work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Brooks Cole; 8th edition (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534607861
• ISBN-13: 978-0534607869
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice Idea, VERY Poor Execution (w/ Catholic bias), June 19, 2006

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Fine Games for Players & Collectors "A Carefu... (North Bend, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: I Never Knew I Had A Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth (with InfoTrac®) (Paperback)

This book attempts to cover most if not all the major areas of life in which we must make choices about who we are as individuals, what direction we wish to go. The title of the book suggests that the book's design is to enlighten the reader about the nature of such choices.

Unfortunately, in the my eyes and those of the other introspective members of a class just finished that required this book, the book is a failure in that it attempts to cover so very much material, is insufficiently edited, and generally fails to focus attention on the key life choices suggested by the book's title. Instead, we found the book a rather empty promise of good things to come.

Chapter one begins with some good insight into various ways we learn or relate to the world that may differ from others. That's useful information. Chapter two deals with the major issues children must deal with to mature (at least in western cultures). Chapter two is the highpoint of the book, and its rapidly downhill from there thru another 400pgs and 12 chapters.

A typical chapter will open with 2-4 pages of well conceived, well written text outlining in general terms a life issue such as sexuality or aging. But then the authors will drone on in needless and counter-productive detail without every reaching a point or conclusion, and often going into tantential personal examples that add little -- both clear signs of an absentee editor.

The chapter on sexuality has no -- repeat, no -- mention of birth control, abortion or masturbation, suggesting a Catholic bias to their approach. Does that make sense to you if this is a book about choice?

In fact, my central complaint about this book is that the title could have been a great focal point for the authors. Instead, it seems to have been a marketing afterthought and has little to do with the authors' book.

Our class of 13 had a hand in selecting this book at the beginning of our spring term. While the choice was unanimous, we were equally unanimous in our great disappointment with the book when it was all over.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, November 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: I Never Knew I Had A Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth (with InfoTrac) (Paperback)

This is a great book for someone trying to "find" themselves. It helps you reach inside of yourself to find the answers for questions that you have, but you don't want to ask anyone else because you're embarassed. It'll be a great book to read after five years and see how you have changed and grown. I'd suggest keeping a notebook to record your responses to the questions asked in the book and compare the answers after re-reading it a couple years later.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good cover, wrong description though., January 27, 2012

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MzT - See all my reviews

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This review is from: I Never Knew I Had A Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth (Paperback)

While the book was in good condition physically and arrived on time, there was some underlining and pen marks in the text that I was not expecting. Good service though.