Counseling Insights: A Practical Guide for Mental Health Professionals

I won this ebook for free through Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you to Goodreads, Vicki Enns, and Achieve Publishing for a copy. As always, an honest review from me.

The book’s summary is very close to the title. A book to help, mainly therapists or health professionals help their clients through different aspects of life. The book covers depression, anxiety, self injury, suicidal thoughts, trauma, substance use, LGBT2SQ+, grief and more.

Each chapter starts with an in depth explanation of the topic and potential struggles a person may deal with. Then 2-3 example patients are introduced with their unique stories, as they relate to the topic at hand. The rest of the chapter alternates between giving information and then partial example sessions with the patients to demonstrate the information being applied. I found this to be very helpful. Also each chapter was written by a different professional in the field. Based on the summary I thought the book would apply more to me, as the caregiver of a family member. While incredibly interesting and informative, I’m probably not the intended audience. Psychology students, mental health professionals and even others who work with these patient populations would probably benefit from this informative book.

I would like to point out that the section on self injury is very insightful. From my experiences in psychology courses in college, many times the information is glossed over quickly or out dated. Not so in this book. A great resource for people looking for accurate information on the topic of self injury.

Overall, a very informative, user friendly book about a variety of mental health topics. Perfect for those in the field looking for additional information.

Counseling Insights by Vicki Enns is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early August.

A compilation on different topics/conditions (trauma, thoughts and idealization of suicide, anxiety, depression, self-harm grief, substance usage, addressing clients in the LGBTQ community) by individual practitioners. There are so many case study examples, some use of citation but not overwhelmingly so, and a broad use of bullet points and enumerated lists. It is indeed extremely insightful to take on the perspective of a counselor to listen carefully and guide discussion in order to recognize, stabilize, orientate, and ground emotionalized, errant thought processes.

I was waffling between three stars and four stars, but went with four because this book could be a good reference. This book is designed for people helping those of us with issues, not necessarily as a guide for those of us with issues. As such, it has examples of how various techniques and strategies can help individuals and also reminds the reader that there is no one perfect strategy.

I do wish the book had been set up a little differently.

I received a copy of this book for free.

Wow! Can I just say -Vicki Enns, thank you for the timely availing of this book.
This is the first guide I've come across that's easy to read with insights along the way that you could always pick up and build upon along the way. I volunteered to read this book off NetGalley because I've been working with Teens in my county and they face a lot of anxiety over either their studies, relationships and also awareness, so this book was just timely.
I'd recommend it to any student of Psychology, Counselors, Therapists or anyone interested in mental health and the holistic well-being of an individual.

Counseling Insights was helpful in given me practical strategies to help my students. If you want an easy, but insightful resource, Counseling Insights is the book for you. I work in Higher Education and every student and situation is unique. This books gets used almost daily. There are things in the book that I did not think of. Thank you Ms. Enns for writing and making this resource available for us.

This book provides a good overview of various mental health topics, including trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, substance abuse, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and gender or sexual orientation issues. For those who are not licensed mental healthcare practitioners, you could think of this as an emotional first aid manual, giving advice on how to support people in distress.

I like how the book was structured. Each chapter discusses one condition, providing easy-to-understand explanations, practical suggestions, case studies, and references. Although a different author wrote each chapter, the editing and the consistent structure gave the text a cohesive feel.

The book also includes a glossary and helpful resources. The resource material is also available for download from the CTRI website (some forms require email subscription to access and some do not).

I think this book would be a great resource for anyone who wants to be better able to support others. We all encounter people dealing with these conditions, and it’s a comfort to feel better prepared to support a friend who is grieving or depressed.

I was provided an ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review. Because I have not seen the final published version, I cannot comment on the final editing and formatting. The ARC was well-written and neatly formatted; I don’t recall noticing any proofreading errors.

Enns has gathered experts to weigh in on counseling situations with case studies and practical advice. This book is especially helpful for those who are not experienced professional counselors but have to counsel others.

The subtitle is "practical strategies for helping others with anxiety, trauma, grief, and more." And that pretty much sums up the book - here are not only stories that will sound familiar, but real ways to move people through their past or present blockages.

What are the issues your friends or counselees face? Are they developmental or situational trauma, anxiety and depression, self-injury, suicidal tendencies and grief, substance abuse, or gender issues? This book should be within arms reach in every counseling and pastoral library. Highly recommended as a way to process life and draw out healing for others. Note: some of the conclusions will not be the same as mine.

Counseling Insights will be an excellent resource for therapists and students of mental health. It is a clear, concise guide to possible ways to treat grief, depression, addiction, those who have suicidal feelings, those who struggle with gender identity and more. The book is written by multiple experts, each of whom is featured in a chapter. Especially helpful in the book are the case descriptions. Both novice and experienced mental health practitioners can think about their own interventions and how they compare with the ones suggested. This would also be a helpful guide to those who are starting private practices and want an overview of the issues that their clients may present. This is a succinct and useful book that deserves a place on the clinical bookshelf.

What a handy guide! Nine contributing therapists and the CEO of the Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute (CTRI) offer their knowledge, skills and experience to frontline helpers who support and guide others during their time of need. What l most liked about Counseling Insights is the formatting. This book is arranged by theme and written in concise, uncomplicated language. The book can be picked up, put down and referenced again with ease. The advice and insight are direct and to-the-point, which is a welcome change in this genre. The book’s definitions, counseling strategies, interviewing techniques and case applications are useful, practical and effective.

Counseling Insights has a chapter on common mental disorders/topics (depression, anxiety, trauma, LGBT2SQ+, etc) that gives an overview of a disorder/topic. Each chapter has a different author that gives an overview of that chapter's disorder/topic, and techniques for mental health professionals to use; the chapters also use case studies for illustration. The book was an easy read; not technical, or heavy. As someone who has suffered with several of the issues covered in the book I can attest that this book is a good reference and has wonderful and easy to understand information, but I would hesitate giving this book to non-mental health professionals (MHP) because a lot of the guidance is meant for professionals and a lot of people would come away from reading this thinking they were experts on the covered topics.