Monday, August 13, 2012

The Keys to the Castle


I just downloaded the textbook I have been waiting for!  I know it’s grammatically incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition, in fact it’s one of my pet peeves, but I’m that excited.  I now have in my possession, The Skilled Helper: A Problem-Management and Opportunity-Development Approach to Helping, Ninth Edition by Gerald Egan.  Some of the chapters include:

  • ·      The Helping Relationship: Values in Action
  • ·      The Communication Skills of Therapeutic Dialogue
  • ·      The Art of Probing and Summarizing [the Art!!]
  • ·      Partner with Clients in Their Search for Value
  • ·      The Way Forward: Help Clients Develop Plans to Accomplish Goals

I loved my Development textbook with all the theories on how we become who we are.  It was a really good one, but this book is special.   It’s relevant and tangible and full of promise.  Boiled down, it’s an instructional manual on how to do what I want to do.  I rarely read instruction manuals, I have no patience for them, but this one, I can’t wait.  Class doesn’t start for a week, but I’m beginning today.  In fact, I think I’ll do that right now J.