Recommended Books for 2013

by William Van Ornum, Ph.D. on December 31, 2012 2:34 pm

From Counseling Today, some recommendations of new books:

*The Danger-to-Self-or-Others Exception to Confidentiality (C. Ahia, University Press of America)

This topic has been one that has been in the news this past year with tragedies including the movie theater shooting, train deaths in NYC, as well as the Newtown tragedy. The subject is an important one and there are many grey areas for clinicians—and a choice either way can involve important legal repercussions. This book will be an asset to clinicians when clients become dangerous to themselves or others and the clinician has to decide whether or not to breach confidentiality.

*Career Development and Planning” A Comprehensive Approach, Fourth Edition
(Reardon et al, Kendall-Hunt)

Many undergraduates are uncertain about what major to pick in college or what career to pursue. The state of the economy and recent recession has created a more difficult job market for graduates. There is an instructors manual and over 400 PowerPoint slides that accompany this book that will help professors initiate and maintain discussions about college major and career.

*Play Therapy and Asperger’s Syndrome: Helping Children and Adolescents Grow, Connect, and Heal through the Art of Play Therapy (K. Hull, Jason Aronson/Rowman and Littlefield)

Many young people with Asperger’s are skilled at talking about intellectual topics rather than the word of feelings, emotion, and identity. They might be considered more developed in “left-brain” areas than “right-brain” ones. Play therapy and the interesting materials involved open new channels of communication for some of these young people.

*Healing Stress in Military Families: Eight Steps to Wellness (L. Carvalho and J. Whealin, Wiley)

Beyond the publicized need for prevention and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and suicide, issues such as deployment, redeployment, relocation, and reunion are facts of military life about which clinicians without a military background may need information and training. This book might also be useful in graduate-training programs and may interest some to go into this specialization area. More clinicians in this area are sorely needed.