Psychology and the Reflective Counsellor [Paperback]

′This is a really interesting book, easy to read and written in a refreshing down–to–earth style.′ Counselling Psychology Review. <!––end––> ′... despite my psychological background, I found this book to be quite an eye–opener ... I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is one that I will return to.′ Relate News.

Counselling psychology has emerged as a distinct branch of psychology, with unique concepts, research paradigms and practices that set it apart from the rest of the discipline. Unlike many introductory texts on psychology for counselors, this book does not just outline the main theories, suggesting that the reader pick one framework within which to work, and ignoring the rest of psychology. Charles Legg reviews the main areas of psychology, identifying findings of relevance to counseling, starting with social psychology, moving on to cognitive processes, individual differences and psychological development and focuses on what can be agreed upon about psychology, rather than on the points of contention. A greater understanding of what psychology offers can only aid communication in multidisciplinary teams. Complementing counseling models, mainstream psychology can help provide answers to questions such as: How much can clients remember of their pasts? What factors condition clients’ expectations of counseling interaction? What rules do people apply to interpreting the behaviour of others? What sort of errors are people likely to make in reasoning about problems? Mainstream psychology offers a conceptual framework that at its best offers accounts of how people are likely to think, fee, and act in particular situations and that will allow us to anticipate the impact of different forms of counseling practice. Written in a refreshing style, each chapter begins wit a case vignette reflecting the ideas that will be discussed in the chapter, and proving concrete illustrations of the abstract ideas. After each main discussion point the author asks the practical question ‘How can I use this information as a counselor?’ He also provides a summary of ideas which can be applied to counseling practice in bullet point style each main chapter section, as well as summarizing the main conclusions of each chapter.