The Professional Counselor : A Process Guide to Helping (5th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Easy-to-read textbook detailnig the counseling process
Review: Hackney & Cormier offer a simple stage presentation of counseling that explains the process to readers in a revealing way. Each stage is detailed, and various intervention genres are explored. At times, however the book does not flow well. The authors do not take enough time to show how each aspect of counseling ties together. Hackney & Cormier, however, are sensitive -- almost to a fault -- to multicultural issues.

Rating:
Summary: Great at process; tainted at points by political correctness
Review: I've used this as a text for two years to teach the process of counseling at the undergraduate level. It's quite good at setting forth an understandable five-step process of counseling. The taint of political correctness rears its ugly head at points when the authors tacitly presume the morality of homosexual unions--but these can instances can be bracketed off. Most in need of rework is chapter nine on behavioral interventions; undergraduates find it difficult to digest this as written.