With a warm and passionate writing style, author David Hutchinson demonstrates the process of becoming a counselor and developing key skills from start to finish. He provides real-world examples and relflection activities, helping students feel less intimidated. The book covers all the key counseling skills learned in a skills/methods course, including skills for engaging a client, tools for engagement, lab practice activities, listening skills, developing empathy, and more advanced skills such as assessment, goal setting, and action planning. The accompanying DVD exemplifies many of these skills through application and the Counseling skills manual provides expanded exercises to help student master these skills.