An Fourth Edition Introduction to Counselling
John McLeod Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education McGraw-Hill House Shoppenhangers Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 2QL email: [email protected] world wide web: www.openup.co.uk and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA
First published 1993 Reprinted 1994 (twice), 1996 (twice), 1997 Second edition published 1998 Reprinted 1999, 2000, 2001 Third edition published 2003 Reprinted 2003, 2004, 2005 (twice), 2006, 2007, 2008 First published in this fourth edition 2009
Copyright © John McLeod 2009
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978-0-33-522551-4 ISBN-10: 0335225519
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Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed and bound in the UK by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow
Fictitious names of companies, products, people, characters and/or data that may be used herein (in case studies or in examples) are not intended to represent any real individual, company, product or event. Dedication For Julia
Table of Contents
Preface vii Acknowledgements xi
1 An introduction to counselling 1 2 The social and historical origins of counselling 21 3 Theory in counselling: using conceptual tools to facilitate understanding and guide action 48 4 Themes and issues in the psychodynamic approach to counselling 81 5 The cognitive–behavioural approach to counselling 128 6 Theory and practice of the person-centred approach 168 7 Working with family systems 208 8 Constructivist, narrative and collaborative approaches: counselling as conversation 221 9 Transactional analysis: a comprehensive theoretical system 249 10 Existential themes in counselling 268 11 Multicultural counselling 288 12 New horizons in counselling: feminist, philosophical, expressive and nature-based approaches 322 13 Combining ideas and methods from different approaches: the challenge of therapeutic integration 356 14 The counselling relationship 390 15 The process of counselling 424 16 Issues of power and diversity in counselling practice 462 17 Virtues, values and ethics in counselling practice 499 18 Different formats for the delivery of counselling services 540 19 The role of research in counselling and psychotherapy 583 20 Being and becoming a counsellor 612 21 Critical issues in counselling 655
References 674 Index 759
v
Preface
ounselling is an activity that is at the same time simple yet also vastly compli- C cated. What can be simpler than talking to a concerned and interested listener about your problems? But it is what is involved in the telling and listening, knowing and being known, reflecting and acting, that can be so complex. In counselling, people talk about anything and everything. The relationship between the counsel- lor and the person seeking counsel is simultaneously taking place at a physical, bodily level, and through language, and in the thoughts, feelings and memories of each participant. This is what makes it so complicated, and this is what makes counselling a big topic. Counselling is an interdisciplinary activity, which contains different traditions and schools of thought, and spreads itself across the discourses of theory, research and practice. Counselling has generated a rich and fascinating literature, and a range of powerful theories and research studies. I believe that it is vital for counsellors to be able to find their way around this literature, to tap into all these different knowledges. Reading a book like this is somewhat similar to looking through a window into a room. In the room there are people doing something, but their world is always on the other side of the glass. Counselling is a practical activity, and can only be grasped through the experience of doing it, as client and counsellor. Real knowledge about counselling can never be gained through reading a book. It requires immersion in an oral tradition, physically being there and doing it and – crucially – feeling what is happening, rather than merely looking at words on a page. Given these inevitable limitations, in attempting to provide an introduction that does justice to its topic matter, this book has been organized around a set of guiding principles. What the book tries to do is: