Pluralistic Counselling and Psychotherapy

An excellent text to add to the reading list and the university library book shelves.

Adds to the body of contemporary literature in the counselling and psychotherapy field and, as such. is highly placed to contribute to the development of students' critical thinking and their capacity for critical debate and argument.

A well-written, balanced and timely resource giving a clear structure to, and overview of, the art of integrative, collaborative working.

This text will make a very needed addition to a range of more focused and specific texts on counselling and therapy. It is great that at last more integrated approaches in counselling can be considered valuable and indeed appropriate. This text is very nicely laid out and indeed encourages more creative styles of thinking and working. The addition of a chapter focusing on research within this area is also very helpful within the current evidenced based climate. This is a refreshing read and can see it encouraging a wider range of treatment approaches.

An excellent text which will compliment the course reading list, which is under development. I would expect learners to access this text, because of the relevance of the contemporary depth of detail upon counselling today.

An interesting systematic exploration of collaborative therapeutic work. The emphasis is on the client's conscious wishes and goals, and the therapist's ability to meet them. More attention could be given to the dynamics created by this emphasis, for example unconscious motivation on the part of both client and therapist and how this might be teased out, and the meaning that getting or not getting what you say you want may have for the client. This will not be a core text for our programme because these dynamic aspects are not explored fully, but the book has much to offer in challenging traditional notions of theoretical integration and as such will provide useful background reading.

This excellent book clearly explains the Pluralistic Approach to counselling. Cooper and McLeod are, as always, a pleasure to read.

An interesting book that will be of some use to trainee counsellors. However, I did find the arguments being presented in favour of a new pluralism somewhat contradictory at times. Also, it was difficult to see what was new in the ideas being presented as it seems that the model being advocated was somewhere between a contemporary ecclecticism and what clinical psychologists have been doing for decades.

Well written and a book that I will revist often

This is an interesting text for additional reading on our degree program, accessible and providing opportunities for further research

This is a really excellent up to date text. This is a relevant and challenging look at what really makes therapy effective. As clients become more aware of therapies available it will become more and more important to accurately describe what therapy is on offer, why and how it works. This book lays down a challenge to practitioners to really understand their own strengths, preferences and areas for professional development whilst respecting adherence to different methodologies it also promotes respect and acceptance of other ways of being therapeutic. Overall the argument seems to be 'come together in difference and celebrate diversity' rather than either fight corners or integrate into new unitary integrations of therapy.

The goals, tasks and methods framework can be interpreted in the language of different therapeutic orientations and provide a common language for comparison. This has the benefit of being potentially easier for clients to work with than therapeutic jargon - particulalry confusing when considering different approaches.