Abstract

Health care settings can differ greatly from other counselling environments, requiring newcomers to become familiar with new rituals, practices and cultures. This clear and comprehensive text shows trainees and qualified practitioners how to respond positively and with confidence to the diverse situations they might face in a variety of health care settings.

Practical, accessible and engaging, the book explores the ways in which the health care context – whether hospital, primary care, specialist or community setting - affects the counsellor's role and shapes the therapeutic process. The authors draw on their vast experience to give tried-and-tested advice on a variety of practice issues, from confidentiality and giving bad news to judging the pace and duration of sessions. In particular, the book:
■ provides a pluralistic model for practice, including systemic, solution-focused, cognitive-behavioural and person-centred ideas;
■ shows how to work collaboratively and effectively in a multi-disciplinary team;
■ includes extensive examples, scripts of therapeutic encounters and handy checklists.

Counselling in Health Care Settings makes an excellent resource for busy practitioners and is an essential handbook for newly qualified therapists and trainees.
ROBERT BOR is Lead Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Medical Specialities at the Royal Free Hospital, London, UK. He is a fellow of the British Psychological Society and works in hospital, specialist and primary care settings.

RIVA MILLER is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Royal Free Hospital, London, UK. She has a background in social work, and is now also a Systemic Psychotherapist and a Family Therapist in the Haemophilia Centre, London. She has contributed to many books, including 'Doing Therapy Briefly', with Robert Bor and Sheila Gill.

SHEILA GILL is a counsellor for the Keats Group Practice, London, UK, and a student counsellor at the London School of Economics. She has worked in health care settings for many years and is co-author of a number of books on therapy in primary care contexts.

AMANDA EVANS is a chartered psychologist at the Royal Free Hospital, London, UK. She has over 20 years of experience as a psychologist in health care settings and in private practice. She has contributed to many publications in the areas of evidence based practice issues, ethical dilemmas in health care settings and psychological interventions in HIV management.
This clear introduction presents a solution-focussed, time-limited approach to counselling for busy professionals across a variety of settings


'The authors are eminent and have decades of experience working with people struggling to manage the uncertainties of ill health, impending death and emotional distress...I recommend this book to any counsellor or trainee embarking on, or already working within, any multidisciplinary setting.' - Christine Barley, Therapy Today
 
'This handbook gives us a guide to the territory of health care counselling so we may enter easily and provide services effectively. From health beliefs to gender issues, from genograms to grief sessions, this volume provides an overview of the skills and challenges that are special to working with people who are physically ill, their families and the other health professionals who treat them.' – Susan H. McDaniel, Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Rochester, New York, USA
 
'Comprehensive and coherent, this is a classic and essential text for psychological therapists working in the health care domain, and will help many other health professionals to understand how this work is done.' – John Eatock, British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists Lead Advisor in Health Care in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2000-7); British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists Lead Advisor Spiritual and Pastoral Care in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2007-present)

'This book is a refreshing attempt at conveying the complexity of counselling practice in health care settings. The authors refuse to champion any one theoretical approach and instead reflect the reality of the "specialist generalist" that is today's NHS practice counsellor.' – Antonia Murphy, Director of Professional Standards, Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Primary Care
 
'I would recommend Counselling in Healthcare Settings to counsellors who are beginning work in the field and as a reference text for experienced practitioners who work in solution-focused and issue-based ways.' - Ewan Davidson, Healthcare, Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal
 
'This book offers realistic and helpful guidance on how to deliver effective and focused therapy while keeping the patient firmly in control.  There is a wealth of knowledge and practical advice and I would recommend this text to students and qualified healthcare counsellors.  There is something here for all healthcare practitioners looking for a better understanding of health psychology and improved communication skills.' - Phil Russell, Nursing Standard