Just Beneath the Surface: Processes of Counseling and Psychotherapy

An anecdotal approach to exploring processes of counselling and psychotherapy. This work contains detailed descriptions of the everyday interactions and challenges faced by individuals engaged in exchanges that they hope will be psychotherapeutic. The complexities and aims of these endeavours are highlighted and considered with special attention given to boundary issues. In addition, the book describes ways health and mental health professionals can utilize counselling skills in their work. It should be particularly relevant for those with experience of counselling or psychotherapy either as client or therapist. Themes covered in the book include: bringing together a way of working that is both person-centred (Rogerian) and psychoanalytic (Robert Langs - communicative psychotherapy); the importance of counselling skills within the NHS; and training health and mental health professionals in counselling skills. Each chapter explores nondirective ways of working with people wishing to understand more about themselves and their emotional life. This structured and theoretically grounded book argues throughout in favour of counselling and psychotherapy as an acceptable and common-sense intervention. It should be of interest to NHS health and mental health professionals.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - my personal clinical training, an "American" clinical psychologist practising in London; why bother with personal growth through self-exploration?; person-centred therapy - the background; who are the potential facilitators of personal growth in the UK? - counselling is a secondary part of health professionals' duties, the problem of knowing to which discipline to refer, qualified or unqualified, that is the question, to whom should the referral be made?, public services or the private sector?; assessment, facilitation or both? - first things first, the past is important, back to the present, ending the initial session, contradictions between assessment and facilitation; emotions and the way we feel about them - the uniqueness of experiencing beings, some background on needs, motivation, conflict resolution, tension reduction and self actualization, anxiety, conditions of worth, depression, assertiveness and how it contributes to personal growth; communicating feelings verbally and nonverbally with clients; on bereavement; why is the psychotherapeutic relationship different from all other relationships? - creating the setting most conducive to start work on one's emotional development as in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, behaviour therapy and person-centred therapy, congruence - the here-and-now and being true to one self, unconditional positive regard, empathy; counselling skills training for health and mental professionals - the five day course - the need for counsellors to have personal therapy, allowing clients to work at their own pace, issues participants raise arising from their various work settings, racism and discrimination, participants leave feeling more confident about their counselling skills; being on the course, Cheryl Gordon (1993); poem - "Just Beneath the Surface", Cheryl Gordon.