A Brief Primer of Helping Skills

by Jeffrey A. Kottler

A Brief Primer of Helping Skills is a highly readable, accessible, and practical introduction to the skills of helping and making a difference in people′s lives. In an engaging and concise style, author Jeffrey A. Kottler gives students in various professions an overview of the theory, process, and skills of helping methods. It is designed as an operating manual for those in human service professions to learn the basics involved in developing helping relationships, assessing and diagnosing complaints, promoting exploration and understanding, and designing and implementing action plans. Key Features Intended Audience This supplemental text is ideal for introductory undergraduate and graduate courses such as Introduction to Social Work, Introduction to Counseling, and Introduction to Human Services in the fields of counseling, psychology, human services, social work, education, family studies, marital and family therapy, pastoral work, nursing, human resource development, and other helping professions. It is also an excellent resource for beginning practitioners.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Jeffrey A. Kottler is a professor, psychologist, author, consultant, workshop leader, keynote speaker, and social justice advocate who has spent the past 40 years working throughout the world to promote personal and professional development among professionals and marginalized groups. Jeffrey has worked as a teacher, counselor, therapist, and consultant in a variety of settings including a preschool, primary and secondary school, university, mental health center, crisis center, and corporate settings.

Reviews

[Annika Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good refresher

[Angélique (Angel) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I initially skimmed this book for a counseling class in college, I told myself I would read it in depth before I started grad school or before I started my career as a school counselor. I am years past both of those points, but I decided to still come back to this book now because I will be supervising an intern this year and I hoped the book would serve as a solid refresher on both counseling theory/techniques and what it feels like to be a beginner in the field.

For the most part, this book accomplished exactly what I had hoped. Kottler provides short, accessible introductions to counseling concepts and techniques while also exploring the concerns and questions many beginning counselors will have. He offers some great recommendations for additional reading and several well-chosen examples of what it looks like to apply the concepts discussed.

That being said, as someone with almost 5 years of experience as a counselor, I sometimes wished Kottler had highlighted additional important aspects of certain theories & techniques. I also wished he had articulated more explicitly and consistently how his own biases and positionality influenced the suggestions he made. As a school counselor, I similarly wished he had spent more time highlighting how the application of the concepts and skills he described look different in various counseling roles.

Despite those critiques, I believe this book could serve as a helpful supplement to more comprehensive counseling texts and to the experiential learning offered in counseling courses and internship experiences. I’m not entirely certain I would use this book if I were teaching an intro counseling course but I am glad I finally took the time to read it even at this stage in my career.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good basic intro to helping skills for people entering into the counseling or social work area.