Counseling is a professional activity that involves helping clients, individually or in groups, or as couples and families, deal with various career, vocational, educational, and emotional problems. This title is suitable for members of the public who are interested in learning about the science and practice of counseling.

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2009

2008 Best Reference, Library Journal


"The scope, depth, breadth, currency, arrangement, and authority of this work reflect the thorough, in-depth approach of the entire editorial and publishing team . . . Advancing current thought and models in the field, this work provides an unparalleled attempt to approach this important subject from many perspectives. Moreover, each volume has a list of entries, a reader′s guide, and information about the authors and the contributors. The reader′s guide incorporates substantive topics, e.g. assessment, testing and research methods, biographies, coping . . . this is an essential addition to graduate and research collections."
—Library Journal

Professional counseling involves helping clients, individually or in groups, or as couples and families, deal with various career, vocational, educational, and emotional problems. Whether performed by psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or counselors, thousands of professionals throughout the United States, as well as the world, are providing counseling services to fellow human beings to help them address and resolve the various problems of living that exceed their coping resources and social support.

The Encyclopedia of Counseling provides a comprehensive overview of the theories, models, techniques, and challenges involved in professional counseling. With approximately 600 entries, this definitive resource covers all of the major theories, approaches, and contemporary issues in counseling. The four volumes of this Encyclopedia are flexibly designed so they can be use together as a set or separately by volume, depending on the need of the user.

Key Features

· Reviews different types of counselors, their different professional identities, and their different models of graduate education

· Examines important historical developments that have shaped the evolution of the counseling profession into its current form

· Provides a comprehensive compilation of information about established and emerging topics in mental health and personal/emotional counseling

· Addresses problems in personal/emotional counseling ranging from concerns about normal developmental processes and common life transitions to debilitating problems of great severity

· Discusses the major social, scientific, and professional forces that have shaped the evolution of cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy

· Offers complete information on conventional and up-and-coming areas of interest in career counseling

Key Themes

· Assessment, Testing, and Research Methods

· Biographies

· Coping

· Counseling—General

· Economic/Work Issues

· Human Development and Life Transitions

· Legal and Ethical Issues

· Organizations

· Physical and Mental Health

· Professional Development and Standards

· Psychosocial Traits and Behavior

· Society, Race/Ethnicity, and Culture

· Subdisciplines

· Theories

· Therapies, Techniques, and Interventions

This ultimate resource is designed for laypeople who are interested in learning about the science and practice of counseling. It is also a useful source for undergraduate and graduate students and professionals from other specialties to learn about counseling in all its forms and manifestations.