The sixth edition of The World of the Counselor: An Introduction to the Counseling Profession provides readers with an illuminating window into the day-to-day realities of a practicing counselor. Comprehensive and highly practical in nature, the text presents readers with critical skills and concepts, helps them develop their professional identity, and features illustrative case examples and personal narratives to bridge theory and practice.

This new edition includes updated information within every chapter to reflect the latest ethical codes and standards, updated content on cutting-edge issues, and alignment with 2016 CACREP (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs) standards.

This book addresses the eight common-core curriculum guidelines of CACREP: (a) professional orientation and ethical practice, (b) social and cultural diversity, (c) human growth and development, (d) career development, (e) helping relationships, (f) group work, (g) assessment, and (h) research and program evaluation. It also offers specific content in the specialty areas of clinical mental health counseling, rehabilitation counseling, addiction counseling, school counseling, and college counseling and student affairs. Adhering to the CACREP-accredited common-core areas ensures that the text complies with this important standard and offers the student a broad knowledge base.

Each of the eight common-core content areas of CACREP are covered through chapters on professional issues (e.g., history, professional organizations, characteristics of the professional counselor), standards in the professional (e.g., CACREP, credentialing, ethics, cross-cultural and social justice competence), counseling skills, counseling theories, normal and atypical human development, group counseling, couples and family counseling, testing and assessment, research, and consultation and supervision.

Here is an overview of how the CACREP common-core area guidelines are incorporated in specific sections throughout the text:

Section I, Professional Orientation

This section encompasses much of the content highlighted in the CACREP common-core area of professional orientation and ethical practice and more. There are three chapters in this section:

Chapter 1: The Counselor’s Identity: What, Who, and How?

Chapter 2: The Counseling Profession’s Past, Present, and Future

Chapter 3: Ethics, Accreditation, Credentialing, Multicultural Counseling, and the Standards Associated With Them

Section II, The Helping Relationship I: Theories and Skills

Section II loosely follows the CACREP common-core areas entitled “Helping Relationships,” although consultation, and systems perspective, which are listed under this guideline, are covered in Section III. There are two chapters in this section:

Chapter 4: Individual Approaches to Counseling (Counseling Theories)

Chapter 5: Counseling Skills

Section III, The Helping Relationship II: The Counselor Working in Systems

This section draws from the CACREP common-core areas that focus on systems in counseling, which include a focus on consultation and supervision found in the common-core areas of helping relationships and group work, and from the specialty guidelines on marriage, couple, and family counseling. There are three chapters in this section:

Chapter 6: Couples and Family Counseling

Chapter 7: Group Work

Chapter 8: Consultation and Supervision

Section IV, The Development of the Person

The broad spectrum of human development issues in counseling are examined in Section IV. Loosely following the two CACREP common-core areas of human growth and development and career development, this section includes the following three chapters:

Chapter 9: Development across the Life Span

Chapter 10: Abnormal (Atypical) Development, Diagnosis, and Psychopharmacology

Chapter 11: Career Development: The Counselor and the World of Work

Section V, Research, Program Evaluation, and Assessment

This section is based on the two CACREP common-core areas of research and program evaluation and assessment and has two chapters:

Chapter 12: Testing and Assessment

Chapter 13: Research and Evaluation

Section VI, Social and Cultural Foundations in Counseling

Section VI loosely follows the CACREP common-core area of social and cultural diversity and has two chapters:

Chapter 14: Theory and Concepts of Multicultural Counseling

Chapter 15: Knowledge and Skills of Multicultural Counseling