Skills for Effective Counseling: A Faith-Based Integration

Christian Association for Psychological Studies Books

by Elisabeth A. Nesbit Sbanotto, Heather Davediuk Gingrich, Fred C. Gingrich

Anyone in a helping profession--including professional counselors, spiritual directors, pastoral counselors, chaplains and others--needs to develop effective communication skills. But learning these skills is like learning a new language: it takes time and practice to communicate effectively, and lack of practice can lead to the loss of one's ability to use this new language. Suitable for both beginning students and seasoned practitioners, Skills for Effective Counseling provides a biblically integrated approach to foundational counseling skills that trains the reader to use specific microskills. These skills include perceiving, attending, validating emotion and empathic connection. Chapters include textbook features such as sample session dialogues, role plays and a variety of both in-class and out-of-class exercises and reflection activities that will engage various learning styles. Strategically interwoven throughout the chapters are special topics related to:
multicultural counseling
biblical/theological applications
current and seminal research related to microskills
diagnostic and theoretical implications
clinical tips for using skills in "real world" counseling settings
the relevance of specific microskills to interpersonal relationships and broader ministry settings
This textbook and the accompanying IVP Instructor Resources include all of the activities and assignments that an instructor might need to execute a graduate, undergraduate or lay course in foundational counseling skills. Professors teaching within CACREP-accredited professional counseling programs will be able to connect specific material in the textbook to the latest CACREP Standards.

Genres: Counselling, Grad School, Nonfiction, Christian, Psychology, Textbooks, School

486 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 2016

Reviews

[Peyton Gunter]

I feel like this has helped me level up some aspects of my one on ones.

[Tamara M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best textbooks on counseling I have ever read. Highly recommended for anyone who is involved in any sort of helping profession, or who is in the process of training to become one. Straightforward, practical, yet comprehensive enough without being overbearing and very insightful with great questions for reflection and introspection. My students and I have really enjoyed it.

[Amy Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ordered this book to work through with a lay counseling training group for people in ministry, and I was dismayed when it arrived and is enormous, both in size and page count. “There is no way these people will want to do this training once they see this book,” I was sure.

HOWEVER. We spend about six months going through it, and no one dropped out. Only one person in the group was/is planning to go into counseling professionally. All the others were already in ministry, just looking to up their counseling skills in the work they are already doing.

And this book did just that. I was blown away every week by their insights and applications into their own contexts. This book covers the basic “soft skills” of counseling, which for the field of counseling are actually more like the hard skills, and it presents them on an understandable and applicable way. These are the skills that make the difference between an ok and a great counselor.

10/10 would recommend for anyone in Christian circles who wants to be a better listener, friend, or pastor.

[Zoie]

I don't rate books for school!! Text me or talk to me if you want to know what I thought!

[Scott Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skills for Effective Counseling: A Faith-Based Integration is a recent book (late-2016) published by IVP through their connection with CAPS (Christian Association for Psychological Studies). Its textbook style aims to break counseling down into skills, and it offers a clinically oriented presentation of 'microskills.'

The first two chapters operate as an introduction by explaining the microskills approach and the person of the counselor. The authors expect the reader to progress linearly through the book as each chapter and section build on the last. The microskills approach understands that much of counseling and the counseling relationship can be broken down into specific skills.

For full review, visit https://growthingrace.org/2017/07/31/...

[Holly Buhler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skills for effective counseling book notes
* Counseling has four parts
1. Establishing relationship and exploring
2. Deepening
3. Growing
4. Consolidating and ending
* Counseling goals are
1. Collaboratively set short and long-term goals
2. Facilitate the next step of growth
3. Focus on the counselees needs
4. Foster counselees’s strengths
* The extreme greatness of Christianity is it does not seek a supernatural remedy to suffering, but a supernatural use for it
* The counselor serves as a confident, mirror, encourager and coach
* Confidant : client is able to share
* Mirror: we reflect back what we see so that the client can clearly see what is happening without adding our judgment
* Encourager: remains in a position of respect understanding and hope towards the client
* Coach: gently guide
* Proverbs 27: 19 as water reflects the face so one’s life reflects the heart
* Our goal as counselors is to work ourselves out out of a job by collaborating with clients to resolve their problems with their own strengths and talents
* The client’s role is 1) recognize something in their life is not how they want it to be 2) seek support input or help of another person 3) be willing to engage in a process of self exploration and change
* long-term goals are often impossible unless they are separated into achievable, short term goals
* Microskills - taking a large and complicated skill and bringing it down into smaller achievable skills
* Types of clients 1) visitor - checking out counseling 2) complaint - wants to talk about someone / something in life 3) Customer - interested in change
* Learning new skills requires motivation, risking, practice, feedback, resist discouragement, persistence
* Skill learning 1) provide rationale 2) clear instructions 3) observe 4) practice 5) evaluate
* John 16:7-13 it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict
* God withholds things that are too much to bear in the moment - God is gracious and intentional so we do not become overwhelmed and discouraged
* As the counselor prayer and discernment of where the client is is important - do not push towards change
* PHASES of change
* Christian spirituality
1. Purgation (release from sin)
2. Illumination (growth in virtue)
3. Union (with God and others
* counseling process
1. Establish relationship
2. Deepening
3. Growing
4. Ending
* complex trauma
1. Safety and stabilization
2. Trauma processing
3. Consolidation and resolution
* Comforter AND challenger - your client will need both at different times
* Comforter - comforts, affirms, validates
* Challenger - challenges, confronts, redirects
* Priest AND prophet - both served Israel to connect with God but looked different
* Priest - peacemaker, reconciliation, atonement
* Prophet - truth speaker of affirmation and correction
* Self awareness includes
1. your strengths and weakness
2. How your past affects you
3. Your motivation
4. Your values
5. Receiving input from others
* Understanding your past
1. how has my family / culture affected my sense of self?
2. Have they influenced my outlook on health, dysfunction, forgiveness, grace, justice, fairness, resolving conflict, success, failure
3. How did my relationship with my parents affect how I relate to authority and God
4. How did my relationship with peers growing up affect my relationships today?
5. What childhood events are influential in shaping my self concept?
* Be aware of your motivational factors
* If you are aware of your values you are less likely to impose them on your client
* Self care involves intentional practices to refresh, restore, regroup, and relax
* Physical, mental, emotional, relational, spiritual all need self care
* Food intake, physical activity, sleep, relaxation all needed in daily routine
* Types of mental self care (or negative care) TV intake, books, music, silence (thoughts)
* Emotional self care - connection to emotions , attending to emotion
* Relational self care - reciprocal
* Spiritual self care - church / spiritual disciplines
* Empirical Support
1. rest
2. Time with friends and family
3. Time alone
4. Finding relationships
5. Ongoing training
6. Clear boundaries
7. Pursuing growth
8. Exercise
9. Hobbies
10. Asking and accepting support
11. Ritual for leaving work at work
12. Sense of humor
* Non verbal communication is key
* Pitch, key, rate, inflection in the voice can give you insight
* Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your intuition
* Know your own non verbal cues
* Environmental space - how do you fill the space / how far do you sit from the client
* SOLAR
* S sit squarely
* O maintain an open posture
* L at times lean in
* A demonstrate appropriate eye contact
* R relax
* When speaking less is more
* A counselors ability to recognize and respect IMAGO DEI can effect your presence

[Mercy · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 for anyone wanting to be in a helping profession

This book was very insightful and helpful in normalizing and targeting where I needed to improve on my journey as a counsellor. I especially appreciated that most if not all of my courses taken during my masters thus far has been highlighted within this book. Truly all I can say is that it is a phenomenal text and everyone should take the opportunity to read it.

[Cami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book! Pastors, counselors, mentors, small group leaders, and many others can benefit from this book. It is written to Psychotherapists, but it has provided me skills that I will use every day with friends, family, and strangers. I 100% recommend this book.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some meaty content on how to counsel well and how to integrate the Christian faith into counseling. This book will stay on my shelves for reference time and time again.
Also gave some fantastic references for further reading!

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic counseling interventions. Good basic textbook.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biblically integrated approach to counseling skills helps to build confidence and compassion while teaching the counselor to listen for what the client is saying and needing.

[Frank Gil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based.

[Stephanie Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this! Really interesting and helpful.

[Parker Samelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly good guide to skills needed in empathetic situations. I wish it was a bit more practical focused and less theoretical.

[Chris Jacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a textbook, very meh. But helpful overall.

[Xavier University Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some meaty content on how to counsel well and how to integrate the Christian faith into counseling. This book will stay on my shelves for reference time and time again.

[Alexis Lackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear layout! Love the format and how simple this is for beginners to grasp the concepts.

[Meg King · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are some very helpful tools taught in this book, the overall system of integrated counseling was disjointed.

[Michael Harshman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Skills For Effective Counseling; A Faith-Based Integration” is a very unique book that really hits multiple levels of need all at the same time. It covers from a textbook-style for the professional counselor, to the Pastor or layperson that serves as in a helping ministry, and even in general relationships within the lives of everyone. It has specific learning techniques and practical exercises that allow you to practice your counseling skills very effectively. If you want to go deep, you will be focusing more toward the entire book, but specifically the Diagnostic Implications sections throughout the book. Pastors will likely focus on Ministry and Relationship Applications, and general readers will focus more on the Relationship application. This book is written very well and was done by IVP Academic in partnership with the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS). They use tools called microskills that give foundational skills that build ultimately into larger skill sets. It does use some modern psychology, but has a good blend that brings Scripture strongly into the counseling skills. There are parts of the book that are more geared toward the academic side and clinical, so some people may take a little longer to get through the contents. However, if you are someone who is going into the counseling field or a pastor, mentor, pastoral care person or in a general person-helping role, this book will be very helpful for you. I know it will be a book that I reference quite often in my personal library. I received a copy of this book in exchange for this review from IVP and all opinions are my own.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

An amazing book on the basics of doing counseling regardless of theoretical approach. It is thorough in going over these basics, with plenty of depth in both theory and application about what these skills look like. I am using this both for an undergraduate class I teach and graduate level interns I train and supervise. And as someone who has practiced for several years now, it was great to enhance my own skills and even learn a thing or two for myself as a counselor. Can't recommend this highly enough.

[Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un excelente manual de consejería cristiana. Utilizando fundamentos psicológicos y aportando reflexión biblico-teológica, los autores presentan un libro práctico que ayuda a la formación de los consejeros cristianos.
El libro tiene numerosos ejemplos de las técnicas presentadas y ejercicios de aplicación y verificación de lo aprendido.
Los fundamentos teóricos que utilizan los autores es actualizado y pertinente