This is a key textbook to anybody who wants to read an authoritative summary of all the major approaches and theories to counselling. This third edition is a significant revision and expansion on previous editions.
The book reviews the following theories:
In addition, the author included chapters on cultural and gender issues and a comparative analysis of various approaches. The appendix gives information on training and journals and also includes a large name and subject index.
The reader must be aware of the fact that the book is a textbook or handbook, thus the main target audience is likely to be students of counselling and trainers in counselling.
It is easy to use the book as each chapter (except for Behaviour Therapy) follow the same structure:
I would like to encourage the reader to carefully study the short Chapter 18: Evaluating Counselling and Therapy Approaches. This comparative analysis utilises eight key factors for comparing approaches. While it is debatable whether Nelson-Jones chose the most appropriate factors, nevertheless it encourages the reader to appraise the approaches not in isolation, but as responses to contextual problems.
In counselling, as in many social science disciplines, new approaches or models are developed almost every day, often without any serious analysis of other, existing approaches. This ignorance then leads to a diminishing trust in approaches and models. A critical reading and appraisal of this short Chapter 18 could counteract this negative tendency.
© Dolores James
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