The Beginning Psychotherapist's Companion

Filling in the gaps from students' lack of experience and confidence, The Beginning Psychotherapist's Companion, Second Edition is a supportive and empathetic guide, addressing real-world concerns and providing essential insights not taught in textbooks. With a reassuring and clear writing style, Willer offers practical suggestions and clinical examples to address the professional development and emotional concerns of the beginning psychotherapist. She guides readers through structuring the first session, making clinical observations, and establishing a therapeutic alliance. Through the use of culturally diverse clinical vignettes, Willer discusses the foundations of ethical practice, including informed consent, confidentiality, documentation, and setting boundaries. The reader is guided on how and when to refer clients for medication and other health care. Crisis management principles are detailed, including suicide and violence risk assessment, child abuse, elder abuse, intimate partner violence, and rape. Willer also provides professional advice on contemporary concerns such as social networking, online searches of clients, the psychotherapist's internet presence, and other important emerging challenges. Comprehensive, practical, and thoroughly updated, The Beginning Psychotherapist's Companion, Second Edition is the ideal resource for students and early career psychotherapists.

Jan Willer, PhD, is an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University and a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Chicago. As a former psychology internship training director, she has lectured, taught, and published on mental health training.

Acknowledgments Introduction Section I The Psychotherapist's Self And Relationships 1 The Psychotherapist's Self 2 The Supervisor-Supervisee Relationship 3 The Therapeutic Frame 4 Boundaries 5 Psychotherapist-Client Differences and Coping with Prejudice 6 Professional Electronic Communications and Data Security Section II Getting Started With Psychotherapy 7 Confidentiality and Informed Consent 8 Making Clinical Observations 9 Making a Diagnosis 10 Professional Phone Contacts and the Initial Phone Call 11 The First Session: Preparation, Tasks, and Structure 12 Progress Notes and the Chart 13 Starting Psychotherapy and Stabilizing the Client Section III Referrals 14 Psychotropic Medication: Referrals and Adherence 15 Health-Related Referrals 16 Mental Health Referrals Section IV Crisis Readiness 17 Managing Crises Step-by-Step 18 Assessing Suicide Risk and Warning Signs 19 Suicide Prevention, Risk Reduction, and Documentation 20 Violence Risk Management 21 Child and Elder Maltreatment, Intimate Partner Violence, and Rape Crises Section V Caring for Yourself and Your Clients 22 Challenging Relationships and Emotions 23 Becoming a Psychotherapist: Challenges, Rewards, and Growth Afterword About the Author References Index