What is it that makes some therapists so much more effective than others, even when they are delivering the same evidence-based treatment? This instructive book identifies specific interpersonal skills and attitudes--often overlooked in clinical training--that facilitate better client outcomes across a broad range of treatment methods and contexts. Reviewing 70 years of psychotherapy research, the preeminent authors show that empathy, acceptance, warmth, focus, and other characteristics of effective therapists are both measurable and teachable. Richly illustrated with annotated sample dialogues, the book gives practitioners and students a blueprint for learning, practicing, and self-monitoring these crucial clinical skills.

The field of counseling and psychotherapy has for years presented the puzzling spectacle of unabating enthusiasm for forms of treatment whose effectiveness cannot be objectively demonstrated. With few exceptions, statistical studies have consistently failed to show that any form of psychotherapy is followed by significantly more improvement than would be caused by the mere passage of an equivalent period of time. Despite this, practitioners of various psychotherapeutic schools have remained firmly convinced that their methods are effective. Many recipients of these forms of treatment also believe that they are being helped. The series of investigations reported in this impressive book resolve this paradoxical state of affairs. The investigators have overcome two major obstacles to progress in the past--lack of agreement on measures of improvement and difficulty of measuring active ingredients of the psychotherapy relationship. The inability of therapists of different theoretical persuasions to agree on criteria of improvement has made comparison of the results of different forms of treatment nearly impossible. The authors have solved this intractable problem by using a wide range of improvement measures and showing that, regardless of measures used in different studies, a significantly higher proportion of results favor their hypothesis than disregard it. Overall, this book represented a major advance at the time of its original publication and is of continuing importance. The research findings resolve some of the most stubborn research problems in psychotherapy, and the training program based on them points the way toward overcoming the shortage of psychotherapists.

A practical, hands-on workbook, Becoming an Effective Supervisor neatly fills the gap in supervision resources available to mental health practitioners. The workbook is designed to help clinical counselors and therapists create effective supervision programs of their own, and to address the individual needs of their students. The leading contemporary models of supervision are discussed, as well as the necessary components of a successful supervision curriculum. A framework is then provided for counselors and therapists to develop a personalized and highly effective supervisory style to implement with their own students. The unique exploration exercises in each chapter allow readers to actively integrate the information provided, and to apply these lessons and skills to their own supervisory experiences. Students too will benefit from her concise examination of the theories, applications, and goals of the supervision process. Along with a discussion of the ethical, legal, and multicultural issues faced by clinical supervisors, practical analyses and applications ensure that this book will be a valued addition to any clinical counseling or therapy library.

This book explores how psychotherapists can use deliberate practice to improve their clinical effectiveness. By sourcing through decades of research on how experts in diverse fields achieve skill mastery, this book shows it is possible for any therapist to dramatically improve their clinical skills. To improve, therapists must focus on clinical challenges and reconsider century-old methods of clinical training from the ground up. This second edition traces recent developments in research and presents a step-by-step program to engage readers in deliberate practice to improve clinical effectiveness across the therapists’ entire career span, from beginning training for graduate students, to continuing education for licensed and advanced clinicians. Enriched with insightful clinical experiences and anecdotes, Deliberate Practice for Psychotherapists is an important read for graduate students, trainees, and practicing psychotherapists.

This book identifies which characteristics make therapists more or less effective in their work and proposes guidelines to improve their effectiveness.

Effective counseling depends on mastering basic communication skills. In this integrative, classroom-ready text, Elisabeth Nesbit Sbanotto, Heather Davediuk Gingrich and Fred Gingrich break these skills into manageable microskills and connect them to insights and practices from Scripture, theology and spiritual formation.

Referencing the 2016 CACREP standards, Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Elements of Effective Practice combines solid foundational information with practical application for a realistic introduction to work in community mental health settings. Top experts in the field cover emerging models for clinical interventions as they explore cutting-edge approaches to CMH counseling. With case studies integrated throughout, students will be well prepared to move into practicum and internship courses as well as field-based settings. "An instant classic. Young and Cashwell have assembled a stellar group of counselor education authors and produced an outstanding, comprehensive, and easy-to-read text that clearly articulates and elevates the discipline of clinical mental health counseling. This book covers everything a CMHC needs to hit the ground running in clinical practice!" —Bradley T. Erford, Loyola University Maryland, Past President of the American Counseling Association