Lessons from the personal experience and reflections of a therapist. The difficulty and cost of training psychotherapists properly is well known. It is far easier to provide a series of classes while ignoring the more challenging personal components of training. Despite the fact that the therapist's self-insight, emotional maturity, and calm centeredness are critical for successful psychotherapy, rote knowledge and technical skills are the focus of most training programs. As a result, the therapist's personal growth is either marginalized or ignored. The Making of a Therapist counters this trend by offering graduate students and beginning therapists a personal account of this important inner journey. Cozolino provides a unique look inside the mind and heart of an experienced therapist. Readers will find an exciting and privileged window into the experience of the therapist who, like themselves, is just starting out. In addition, The Making of a Therapist contains the practical advice, common-sense wisdom, and self-disclosure that practicing professionals have found to be the most helpful during their own training.The first part of the book, 'Getting Through Your First Sessions,' takes readers through the often-perilous days and weeks of conducting initial sessions with real clients. Cozolino addresses such basic concerns as: Do I need to be completely healthy myself before I can help others? What do I do if someone comes to me with an issue or problem I can't handle? What should I do if I have trouble listening to my clients? What if a client scares me?The second section of the book, 'Getting to Know Your Clients,' delves into the routine of therapy and the subsequent stages in which you continue to work with clients and help them. In this context, Cozolino presents the notion of the 'good enough' therapist, one who can surrender to his or her own imperfections while still guiding the therapeutic relationship to a positive outcome. The final section, 'Getting to Know Yourself,' goes to the core of the therapist's relation to him- or herself, addressing such issues as: How to turn your weaknesses into strengths, and how to deal with the complicated issues of pathological caretaking, countertransference, and self-care.Both an excellent introduction to the field as well as a valuable refresher for the experienced clinician, The Making of a Therapist offers readers the tools and insight that make the journey of becoming a therapist a rich and rewarding experience.

In this unique book, well established psychologists share their observations on teaching psychology, the meaning of self-care, and what they believe psychology programs attempt to educate and instil in their students. The volume begins with a mid-career psychologist who reflects on his schooling and shares his learnings. Authors in the next chapter discuss the differences between undergraduate and graduate programs, what they attempt to teach and instil in the students who aspire to be psychologists. Chapter 3 examines the characteristics of undergraduate and graduate psychology students that enhance their chances for academic success, while the next chapter describes a program that teaches psychology students the art of self-care to avoid burnout. An issue which minority psychologists often may face is discrimination, overt or covert which makes reaching their goals and achieving what they want, that much more difficult. In Chapter 4, a well-established Chinese Canadian psychology professor describes his marathon in the field of psychology. This is followed by a chapter that lays out the roadmap to becoming a psychologist. The last chapter describes how university students see people’s characteristics and psychopathology come to life by learning about famous and well-known figures. This intriguing book explores ways to create, teach, foster and enhance the holistic growth of psychologists and will be a beneficial read for students and general readers considering a career in this fascinating profession. The chapters in this book where originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Psychology.

How can psychologists incorporate recent insights about power, values and inequality in their work? What is the role of social justice in the practice of psychology? In this highly readable book Prilleltensky and Nelson tackle these questions and propose workable solutions. This is the first book to translate into action the principles of critical psychology. Using a value-based framework the authors propose guidelines for training and critical practice in clinical, counselling, educational, health, community, and work settings. The authors base their approach on a combination of values for the promotion of personal, interpersonal, and collective well-being. They propose a set of values consisting of self determination, caring and compassion, health, respect for diversity, participation, community support and social justice. Because of its wide coverage, the book should be of interest to students and practitioners in psychology, mental health, and to users of psychological services in most fields of practice. Doing Psychology Critically: - Translates critical psychology theory into practice - Applies to most fields of applied psychology - Is written in an accessible style § includes tables and diagrams that illustrate recommendations for practice - Follows a coherent framework - Is a useful resource for training programmes in health, clinical, counselling, educational, community, and organisational psychology ISAAC PRILLELTENSKY is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Wellness Promotion Unit at Victoria University in Melbourne. He is the author of The Morals and Politics of Psychology and co-editor of Critical Psychology: An Introduction (with Dennis Fox) and Promoting Family Wellness and Preventing Child Maltreatment (with Geoffrey Nelson and Leslea Peirson). GEOFFREY NELSON is Professor of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. He has served as Editor of the Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health and is the author of Shifting the Paradigm in Community Mental Health (with John Lord and Joanna Ochocka) and co-editor of Promoting Family Wellness: Fundamentals for Thinking and Action (with Isaac Prilleltensky and Leslea Peirson).

An in-depth look at a much misunderstood practice, offering a fresh viewpoint on how this science can be a universally effective route to our better selves.

This book reviews the latest research from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics evaluating how people make financial choices in real-life circumstances. The volume is divided into three sections investigating financial decision making at the level of the brain, the level of an individual decision maker, and the level of the society, concluding with a discussion of the implications for further research. Among the topics discussed: Neural and hormonal bases of financial decision making Personality, cognitive abilities, emotions, and financial decisions Aging and financial decision making Coping methods for making financial choices under uncertainty Stock market crashes and market bubbles Psychological perspectives on borrowing, paying taxes, gambling, and charitable giving Psychological Perspectives on Financial Decision Making is a useful reference for researchers both in and outside of psychology, including decision-making experts, consumer psychologists, and behavioral economists.

Covering the process of therapy from beginning to end, this engaging text helps students and practitioners use play confidently and effectively with children, adolescents, and adults struggling with emotional or behavioral problems or life challenges. With an accessible theory-to-practice focus, the book explains the basics of different play therapy approaches and invites readers to reflect on and develop their own clinical style. It is filled with rich case material and specific examples of play techniques and strategies. The expert authors provide steps for building strong relationships with clients; exploring their clinical issues and underlying dynamics; developing and working toward clear treatment goals; and collaborating with parents and teachers. A chapter on common challenges offers insightful guidance for navigating difficult situations in the playroom.

This book is designed to help students organize their thinking about psychology at a conceptual level. The focus on behaviour and empiricism has produced a text that is better organized, has fewer chapters, and is somewhat shorter than many of the leading books. The beginning of each section includes learning objectives; throughout the body of each section are key terms in bold followed by their definitions in italics; key takeaways, and exercises and critical thinking activities end each section.