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More Than Listening: A Casebook for Using Counseling Skills in Student Affairs Work Harper, R., Wilson, N. L., & Associates Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 2010, 291 pages, $44.95 (Softcover)
This well-written casebook on interpersonal skills for working with students combines a strong focus on social justice with student development and counseling-based insights and techniques. The introduction contains an overview of the rise of mental health needs on campuses, documenting the extreme levels of distress reported by current undergraduate students, as well as increases in students entering college with a variety of chronic mental health diagnoses. The authors make clear their belief "that strong helping skills not only enhance student affairs professionals' ability to provide the best assistance but can also help them identify and communicate the boundaries of their roles" (p. 9).
The next chapter addresses several theories used in student affairs work, including Chickering and Reisser's (1993) vectors and Schlossberg's Transition Theory (1981). Summarized more succinctly are models of racial and sexual orientation identity development and epistemological and moral development, and Astin's (1984) theory of involvement. They close with a summary of models addressing multiple aspects of social identity and Abes, Jones, and McEwen's (2007) research explaining the influence of cognitive development on the ways students make meaning of their own and others' identities, the role that oppression plays in the development of identity, and unique aspects of millennial students. The subsequent case studies include more detail regarding theories relevant to each case.
In the second chapter the authors present a concise introduction to Person-Centered, Solution-Focused, and Cognitive-Behavioral therapies, as well as basic information about the use of the Buddhist practices of mindfulness, nonjudgment, and acceptance. Written for an audience presumed to have limited prior knowledge of counseling theory, both conceptual and technique-based aspects of the models are addressed.
Ten cases follow, each running about four pages, providing detailed, realistic situations in a variety...