Clients have definite ideas about what they want in their helpers, even if they do not know what they want in their lives. (59 pp.)

It is the nature of our species to be territorial, to stake out our boundaries of private space with fences and other demarcations of ownership. This is true not only with our land, but with our ideas. (52 pp.)

The prevailing movement in the field today is toward reconciling the differences between diverse approaches and finding their common factors. (63 pp.)

There are factors that transcend the theoretical basis of the various approaches and are found in the personality of the successful practitioner. These are qualities that constitute the essence of most effective therapists, wherever they work or however they prefer to operate. (65 pp.)

Professionals who are good at helping people resolve their difficulties are able to think in a multidimensional mode that transcends disciplinary boundaries. They stretch beyond conventional reasoning in ways that allow them to discover patterns, apply their skills and knowledge, and perceive things that are invisible to all but the enlightened. (78 pp.)

Competence in therapy can be assessed according to the degree of mastery the professional has reached in each of the following clinical skill areas: selecting suitable clients, role induction, relationship building, interviewing, linguistic coaching, interpreting, confronting, handling resistance, focusing, questioning, problem solving, setting limits, self-disclosure, and dealing with endings. (87 pp.)

The challenge of being a therapist is sharing the joy of others during their moments of discovery and redemption. It is at such times that we are blessed with a form of spiritual transcendence, of perfect love, and of a heightened existence that has no boundaries. (54 pp.)