The Practice of Collaborative Counseling and Psychotherapy: Developing Skills In Culturally Mindful Helping

“At last! The textbook I have been waiting for!

It′s hard these days to write a counseling textbook that is fresh and doesn′t read like a rehash of existing texts. David Paré has done it.

Many textbooks teach the practice of counseling to new learners by relying on basic ideas generated before the 1970s and grafting more recent developments onto this foundation as optional modalities. David Paré avoids this trap. He does not assume that the world has not changed or that innovative ideas that demand attention are not constantly being produced. Neither does he dismiss the foundations of counseling laid a generation or two ago as irrelevant. Instead he weaves into them new emphases drawn from the most creative practices of recent decades and makes them relevant to students learning the basics of practice. Specifically, ideas drawn from the turn to meaning are placed alongside well-established traditions of counseling.

Remarkably, David Paré both draws from sophisticated philosophical thought and yet avoids heady jargon. He speaks to the reader in a very direct, practical, and accessible way. This book guides students through the complex process of learning to be a counselor without hurrying understanding along or glossing over knotty issues. There is plenty of invitation to reflect, to loiter with a poignant metaphor, to discuss subtle nuances, and to incorporate both accumulated wisdom and vigorous new ideas into creative practice.

There are also many useful suggestions for practice exercises to use in class. This book will help enthusiastic and caring practitioners become skilled and intentional in their practice. I can′t wait to share it with classes.”

David Paré, PhD is a psychologist and family therapist. He is also a full professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Education, where he teaches counselling and psychotherapy. The director of the Glebe Institute, A Centre for Constructive and Collaborative Practice, Dr. Paré has a long-standing interest in collaborative approaches to counselling and supervision. He is co-editor of Collaborative Practice in Psychology and Therapy (with Glenn Larner),  Furthering Talk: Advances in the Discursive Therapies (with Tom Strong), and the Social Justice and Counseling: Discourse in Practice (with Cristelle Audet).