This practical text fully integrates theory and technique of brief counseling while presenting the relationship as the key to any successful intervention. All chapters include ideas and tools for brief counseling and case studies that take the reader step-by-step through the techniques of the first session and beyond. It is written to engage readers and invite them to participate in both self-exploration and discovery. For anyone interested in the advantages of brief counseling.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. History of Brief Counseling: The Fly Bottle. 2. Facilitating Change: The One Constant. 3. The Centrality of the Counseling Relationship: No Magic Tricks. 4. Helping Clients Frame Goals: The Pull of the Future. 5. Constructivist Counseling: Inventing Realities. 6. Narrative Counseling: Clients' Lives as Stories. 7. Managing the Clients' Emotional Arousal: Hot-Wiring. 8. Using Mystifying Techniques: Turning Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones. 9. Chaos and Complexity in Counseling: Butterflies and Loaded Dice. 10. The Reflecting Team, Consulting Break, and Offering Suggestions. 11. The Brief Attitudes, the Second Session, and Beyond. 12. Dealing with Involuntaries and Revisiting the First Session.

This book identifies the core competencies shared by expert therapists and helps clinicians—especially those providing brief dynamic/interpersonal therapy—to develop and apply them in their own work. Rather than being a cookbook of particular techniques, the book richly describes therapists' mental processes and moment-to-moment actions as they engage in effective therapeutic inquiry and improvise to help patients achieve their goals. The author integrates the psychotherapy and cognitive science literatures to provide a unique understanding of therapist expertise. Featuring many illustrative examples, the book offers fresh insights into how learning and interpersonal skills can be enhanced for both therapist and client.

Written for use in play therapy and child counseling courses, this extraordinarily practical text provides a detailed examination of basic and advanced play therapy concepts and skills and guidance on when and how to use them. Kottman’s multitheoretical approach and wealth of explicit techniques are also helpful for clinicians who want to gain greater insight into children’s minds and enhance therapeutic communication through the power of play. After a discussion of the basic concepts and logistical aspects of play therapy, Kottman illustrates commonly used play therapy skills and more advanced skills. Introduced in this edition is a new chapter on working with parents and teachers to increase the effectiveness of play therapy. Practice exercises and “Questions to Ponder” throughout the text facilitate the skill-building and self-examination process. *Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com. *To purchase print copies, please visit the ACA website *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]

Brief Therapy and Beyond is a collection of new and selected papers by prominent psychologist Michael Hoyt. Numerous clinical vignettes and informative discussions describe time-sensitive treatments to relieve psychological distress and/or promote growth. Drawing from an encyclopedic knowledge of the professional literature as well as humor, poetry, sports, and candid revelation, Hoyt illustrates the importance of stories, language, love, hope, and time in shaping worldviews that inspire and empower clients and clinicians to make effective and efficient changes.

Using mindfulness-based techniques and cognitive behavioral tools, a leading expert on the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) teaches readers to transcend the experience of chronic pain by reconnecting with other, more valued aspects of their lives.