Roadworthy skills

The title ‘Roadworthy skills‘ was triggered soon after our students in Hong Kong taught us the meaning of the elements that make up the Chinese character for ‘Counselling’, below.

A gently rolling vehicle that offers assistance, inch by inch, along your unique path (Tao)

This image ‘clicked’ with the idea that the skills we were teaching were like the ‘engine’ of the vehicle that offers progressive assistance in actualising one’s full potential.

We have ‘road-tested’ all of the skills listed in the text — and found them to be fully ‘roadworthy’.

The covers

The covers show a bush track north of Alice Springs, in the ‘red centre’ of Australia. On a midwinter’s day in 2004, we sat at this spot and reflected, fancifully, on the ‘gently rolling vehicle’. We imagined it turning left at the top of the track into the heartland—towards some sacred place—the site where effective counselling creates the freedom to heal, to become, to live more fully.
The notion appealed. We popped it on the cover.

The compendium includes:

• a record of the research that identified the helping skills and process;
• historical, contemporary and futuristic perspectives;
• descriptions of values that underpin personal effectiveness;
• description of skills to expand personal effectiveness and enhance authenticity;
• description of skills to ensure process effectiveness and counsellor confidence;
• skills-steps with substance and detail not described elsewhere;
• practical examples to clarify the skills applications;
• written exercises and practice strategies to consolidate skills acquisition;
• assessment tools to establish learning baselines and learning gains;
• overview of practical therapeutic strategies;
• a contribution to the 50 year ‘counselling/psychotherapy’ debate;
• tips for trainers;
• self assessment tools;
• a glossary of unfamiliar words and Australian colloquialisms to assist readers whose first language is other than English;
• comprehensive indexing and cross-referencing.