Summary
Contents
Subject index
Providing a practical handbook for practitioners in the helping professions, The First Helping Interview is a highly useful, easy-to-understand guide for both experienced and novice practitioners that reveals the steps involved in the crucial first meeting with a client. The authors approach the task of an initial interview by providing an overview of what the therapeutic process is and what to expect from clients, both those who seek help voluntarily and those who are required to get help. The book also covers the practical basics of therapy-counselor/client roles, physical settings, communication dynamics, assessment and diagnosis, record keeping, goals and contracts, and trust building. Separate chapters discuss special topics such as working with couples and families, the role of culture and ethnicity, when and how to refer clients with serious problems, and legal and ethical issues. Although this book is general enough to be used by any practitioner, the authors pay particular attention to specific settings, such as child protective services, crisis intervention, and corrections. Social workers, marriage and family therapists, school counselors, psychiatric nurses, child welfare workers, and probation officers will appreciate this valuable, indispensable reference tool.
Who are Our Clients?
Who are Our Clients?
Why do people come to see us—a particular agency or a specific practitioner? And why now? How do they get to us? When they arrive, how do they present themselves to us, and how does this affect how we deal with them? In our attempts to understand our clients and the underlying problems that bring them to us, these important questions must be addressed if we are to be effective in treating them.
Voluntary Clients
From our very beginnings, human beings have sought out others when they felt uncomfortable or anxious, when they felt the need for help, advice, or comfort. People usually sought out those close to them—a wise relative, a trusted friend, a knowledgeable neighbor. Sometimes they turned ...
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