The Elements of Counseling Children and Adolescents

The authors" choice of key elements results in a book that provides knowledge essential for beginning counselors to learn and for experienced counselors to reviewÖ. Consequently, The Elements of Counseling Children and Adolescents should be useful for students in the helping professions, includingÖpsychology, social work, and counseling.

óFrom the Foreword by Scott T. Meier, PhD, coauthor, The Elements of Counseling

Offers precise, practical guidance based on a proven teaching format.

Tailored to the specific needs of the child and adolescent client, this concise, easy-to-read primer provides essential and practical guidelines for counselors and psychologists who are training to work with children in both clinical and school settings. It is modeled after the highly successful and time-tested "Elements ofÖ" format used in many teaching disciplines. The book distills the basic concepts that beginning professionals must keep in mind as they approach practice, offering guidance in a logical, numbered sequence from setting the stage for the counseling process through the essentials of building and maintaining an active counseling practice.

In addition to facilitating learning with its precise, easily understood rules and principles, the book provides potent guidance for both common and challenging situations. Key concepts such as using developmentally appropriate language and activities are covered, along with critical issues such as collaborating with parents and other professionals, responding to crisis situations, and counselor self-awareness and self-care. Case examples of clientñcounselor dialogues in each chapter illustrate foundational concepts, and an overview of how to use the text for transcript analysis in training programs is also included. Written by experienced counseling and therapy educators and professionals, this versatile text will be a welcome addition for courses in counseling children and adolescents as well as other courses across the curriculum in school counseling; school psychology; marriage, child, and family counseling; and clinical social work.

KEY FEATURES:

• Distills the essential components of therapy and counseling with children and adolescents in a highly useful, time-tested "Elements of√ñ" format
• Adaptable to a range of counseling-related courses across the curriculum
• Provides illustrative examples of counselor√±client dialogues
• Includes instructor's manual

p>Catherine P. Cook-Cottone, PhD, is a certified school psychologist, licensed psychologist, registered yoga teacher (200 RYT-E and 500 RYT), and associate professor at SUNY at Buffalo. She is an associate editor of the journal Eating Disorders: Journal of Treatment and Prevention. She is also the founder and president of Yogis in Service, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that creates access to yoga. The mother of two teenage girls, Dr. Cook-Cottone is married to Jerry Cottone, PhD, a fellow psychologist and yogi. Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools brings together Dr. Cook-Cottone's experience working with children and youth in schools and neighborhood settings. Dr. Cook-Cottone graduated from the Utica College of Syracuse University in 1989, receiving a BS degree in preprofessional psychology. She attended the State University of New York at Oswego for her MS degree in school psychology. In 1997, she received her PhD degree from the University at Buffalo, SUNY, in counseling psychology with a specialization in school psychology. She became a licensed psychologist in New York State the following year. Before entering academia, Dr. Cook-Cottone worked as a group worker and residential counselor for children in need, including adolescents classified as Persons in Need of Supervision and Juvenile Delinquents. She also worked in a neighborhood center for underserved, urban youth. As a school psychologist, she worked in both rural and urban settings, eventually transitioning to academia.

Dr. Cook-Cottone is an associate professor at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, in the Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology within the Graduate School of Education. Her research specializes in embodied self-regulation (i.e., yoga, mindfulness, and self-care) and psychosocial disorders. She has written four books and over 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Her most recent book is titled Mindfulness and Yoga for Self-Regulation: A Primer for Mental Health Professionals. Presenting nationally and internationally, Dr. Cook-Cottone uses her model of embodied self-regulation to structure discussions on empirical work and practical applications. She teaches courses on mindful therapy, yoga for health and healing, self-care and service, and counseling with children and adolescents. She also maintains a private practice specializing in the treatment of anxiety-based disorders, eating disorders (including other disorders of self-care), and development of emotion regulation skills.

Dr. Cook-Cottone has a passion for yoga and for serving others. She has been a yoga researcher since 2002 when she began implementing her eating disorder prevention program, Girls Growing in Wellness and Balance: Yoga and Life Skills to Empower. She became a certified and registered yoga instructor in 2010. In 2013, she began the work that evolved into Yogis in Service, Inc. This work began as informal yoga classes for an urban summer camp and evolved into what is now an official not-for-profit with a community yoga studio on the east side of Buffalo. Specifically, Yogis in Service, Inc. offers yoga to those who would not otherwise have access in settings such as after-school programs, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and universities. Dr. Cook-Cottone is honored to work with a collective of compassionate yoga teachers and students that are as excited as she is to share their love of yoga and yoga’s effective tools for self-regulation.

Foreword by Scott T. Meier, PhD

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter One Setting the Stage

1. Initial Contact

2. Respect Caregivers and Family Members in the Process

3. The First Appointment

4. Share Your Background

5. Explain Counseling

6. Provide an Overview of Guidelines

7. Address Confidentiality and Privacy

A. Privacy Between Child and Caregiver

B. Privacy Rule

8. Begin to Explore the Client's Story and Create Counseling Goals

9. Create a Developmentally Accommodating Office Space

10. Be on Time

11. Individualize Counseling

12. Meet Your Client's Age and Developmental Level

13. Developmental Framework

14. Address Resistance, Create a Working Alliance

15. See the Big Picture

Summary and Discussion Questions

References

Chapter Two The Processes of Counseling With Children and Adolescents

16. Reflect First (Content, Feeling, and Meaning)

17. Focus on Feeling

18. Summarize

19. Reflect the Process

20. Speak Briefly

21. Allow and Use Silence

22. Use Open-Ended Questions

23. Confront Effectively and With Care

24. Use Developmentally Appropriate Language

25. Be Concrete

26. Match the Strategy or Technique to Processing Level

27. When Words Fail, Draw or Play

28. Use Stories and Metaphors

Summary and Discussion Questions

References

Chapter Three Strategies for Assisting Self-Awareness and Growth

29. Reflect and Give Time for Processing (Do and Do Not Do)

30. Avoid Giving Advice

31. Avoid Relying on Questions

32. Listen Carefully to the Words Used

33. Focus on the Client

34. Pay Attention to Nonverbals

35. Ground Feelings in the Body and Teach Distress Tolerance

36. Pause and Reflect Themes/Enumerate Topics

37. Use a Problem-Solving Model

38. Set Clear, Measureable Goals

Summary and Discussion Questions

References

Chapter Four Misconceptions and Assumptions

39. Do Not Assume That Change Is Simple

40. Academic Developmental Level Does Not Equal Emotional Developmental Level

41. Agreement Does Not Equal Empathy

42. Avoid Moral Judgments

43. Saying They Understand Does Not Mean That They Understand

44. You Can't Assume That You Know (Feelings, Thoughts, and Behaviors)

45. Do Not Assume That You Know How Clients React to Their Feelings, Thoughts, and Behaviors

46. Do Not Assume That All Interventions Will Be Safe or Appropriate for All Clients

47. Positive and Rational Thinking Are Not the Same

Summary and Discussion Questions

References

Chapter Five A Brief Introduction to Evidence-Based Practice and Contemporary Interventions

48. Be Familiar With Limitations of ESTs With Children and Adolescents

49. Practicewise Clinical Decision-Making Support

50. Contemporary Psychotherapy Interventions With Children and Adolescents

A. Brief, Solution-Focused Therapies

B. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

C. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

D. Behavior Therapy

E. Play Therapy

F. Family Therapy

G. Creative and Innovative Techniques to Enhance Evidence-Based Interventions

H. Multisystemic Therapy

51. Consider Integrative Approaches

Summary and Discussion Questions

References

Chapter Six Crisis Intervention, Mandated Reporting, and Related Issues

52. Develop Crisis-Intervention Skills

A. Assess for Suicide Risk: Specificity-Lethality-Access-Proximity-Prior Attempts (SLAP-P)

B. Take Control of the Situation

C. Focus on Competencies and Strengths

D. Mobilize Social Resources and Engage Caregivers

E. Know and Use Community and Technology Supports

53. Learn and Understand Grief, Loss, and Trauma

54. Become Literate in Mandated Reporting

A. Know Your State Laws and Nomenclature

B. Consider a Probability Threshold

C. Use Framework Proposed By Levi and Portwood (2011)

D. Be Prepared for Reactions and Seek Supervision Appropriately

55. Refer Carefully

Summary and Discussion Questions

References

Chapter Seven Knowing and Caring for Yourself as a Counselor

56. Begin With Self-Awareness

A. Why Did You Choose Counseling as a Career?

B. Be Aware of the Emotions and Topics That Challenge You

C. Know When You Are Impaired

D. Know the Signs of Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

57. Get the Support and Supervision You Need

A. Create a Support Group

B. Supervision Leads to Competence

C. Get Personal Counseling

58. Have Good Boundaries

A. Practice Disengagement

B. Establish and Keep Physical Boundaries

C. Create and Maintain a Manageable Schedule

D. Practice Within Your Competency

E. Accept That Clients Grow at a Pace That Makes Sense for Their Mental Health

59. Engage in a Consistent Practice of Self-Care

Summary and Discussion Questions

References

Appendix: How to Use This Book in Training

Counselor-in-Training Instructions

Index