The Phases and Skills of a Counseling Session: Special Emphasis on Emotional Exploration

This text is intended for graduate and undergraduate students majoring in counseling, social work, counseling psychology, and human services as well seasoned therapists. It is designed as a primary textbook for pre-practicum and practicum courses, although it is helpful to therapists at any point in their career. Unlike most existing resources, this guide provides a means to conceptualize an entire counseling session from start to finish and then implement the concept through basic and advanced skills. Its main thrust is to show how and through what means a counseling session develops. It describes the fundamental structure of a session as consisting of four phases—Initial, Early Exploration, Working, and Final. Several features set this text apart from other texts on counseling skills. Not least is the simplicity with which it deconstructs the difficult process of counseling, so that students and therapists can read it, follow its instructions, and feel confident in their ability to conduct counseling sessions. A key highlight is that the text gives special attention to exploring emotion, because working with emotion presents unique challenges at every phase. In addition, the text covers interventions for specific concerns, such as helping clients resolve internal conflicts. Finally, every phase and skill is reinforced with ample exercises for practice.