Doing Counseling: Developing Your Clinical Skills and Style

Doing Counseling: Developing Your Clinical Skills and Style

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"Drs. Austin and Austin place the 'doing' of counseling squarely into the technologically sophisticated, culturally diverse contemporary world. Their unique perspectives on the practice of counseling are intriguing and offer both beginning and experienced counselors insight into not only the process of counseling but also the modern profession."

—Courtland C. Lee, PhD
ACA Fellow and Past President

"This is an exceptionally useful book for graduate students and new professionals that addresses commonly asked questions. Drs. Jude and Julius Austin impart a great deal of wisdom in an easy-to-read, conversational, and personal style that invites readers to engage in personal reflection, think critically about what they want to achieve as counselors, and cultivate their own counseling style."

—Gerald Corey, EdD, ABPP
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Counseling
University of Holy Cross in New Orleans

"In this book, Drs. Austin and Austin provide practical advice on the nuances of counseling and the action-oriented nature of the profession in addition to guiding readers in the critical development of a personal style of counseling to emphasize the importance of awareness of self."

—Linwood G. Vereen, PhD
Oregon State University

This pragmatic book explains the "how" of integrating counselor training into practice by bridging the gap between educational knowledge, clinical skill, and counselor identity. Drs. Jude and Julius Austin combine their personal and professional experiences with contributions from other skilled clinicians to break down the counseling process and inspire counselor confidence in the ongoing quest to do counseling well.

Following an introduction to basic counseling ethics and several types of sessions, each stage of counseling is explored, including presession preparation, meeting the client, building the therapeutic relationship, managing and trusting the process, developing a unique personal style, tracking therapeutic progress, ending therapy, and postsession tasks. The discussion then shifts to getting the most from supervision, competent multicultural/antiracist counseling, and the dos and don'ts of distance counseling. A sole case study is presented throughout the book to illustrate therapeutic techniques, and key takeaways are summarized in an epilogue.