Consultation Skills for Mental Health Professionals

Consultation interventions are an increasingly popular alternative to clinical practice, allowing the practitioner to interact with and affect many different individuals and organizations. This type of work challenges mental health professionals, drawing on all the skills and resources they may possess, yet also offers some of the greatest rewards and opportunities for service. Filled with numerous case examples and checklists, Consultation Skills for Mental Health Professionals contains a wealth of information on this important area of practice. It provides a comprehensive source for working with a diverse clientele in a variety of settings, discussing both traditional mental health consultation models and the fast-growing field of organizational consulting. The guide is divided into four parts: Individual-Level Consulting Issues takes up individual career assessment and counseling, along with how organizational contexts affect individual jobs; leadership, management, and supervision; executive assessment, selection, interviewing, and development; and executive coaching. Consulting to Small Systems discusses working with teams and groups; planning and conducting training and teambuilding; diversity in the workplace and in consultation. Consulting to Large Systems covers how to work with large organizations, including organizational structure, terms, culture, and concepts, as well as processes such as change and resistance; how to assess organizations, and the characteristics of healthy and dysfunctional workplaces; and issues involved in organizational intervention. Special Consulting Topics include issues such as the practical aspects of running a consulting practice; the skills required for successful clinical consultation; consultation services for special populations; and crisis consultation, including critical incident stress management, psychological first aid, disaster recovery, media communication, and school crisis response.

Consultation interventions are an increasingly popular alternativeto clinical practice, allowing the practitioner to interact withand affect many different individuals and organizations. This typeof work challenges mental health professionals, drawing on all theskills and resources they may possess, yet also offers some of thegreatest rewards and opportunities for service.Filled with numerous case examples and checklistsConsultation Skills for Mental Health Professionals containsa wealth of information on this important area of practice. Itprovides a comprehensive source for working with a diverseclientele in a variety of settings, discussing both traditionalmental health consultation models and the fast-growing field oforganizational consulting.The guide is divided into four parts:* Individual-Level Consulting Issues takes up individual careerassessment and counseling, along with how organizational contextsaffect individual jobs; leadership, management, and supervision;executive assessment, selection, interviewing, and development; andexecutive coaching.* Consulting to Small Systems discusses working with teams andgroups; planning and conducting training and teambuilding;diversity in the workplace and in consultation.* Consulting to Large Systems covers how to work with largeorganizations, including organizational structure, terms, cultureand concepts, as well as processes such as change and resistance;how to assess organizations, and the characteristics of healthy anddysfunctional workplaces; and issues involved in organizationalintervention.* Special Consulting Topics include issues such as the practicalaspects of running a consulting practice; the skills required forsuccessful clinical consultation; consultation services for specialpopulations; and crisis consultation, including critical incidentstress management, psychological first aid, disaster recoverymedia communication, and school crisis response.

Preface ixAcknowledgments xiChapter 1 Introduction 1Part One: Individual-Level Consulting Issues 23Chapter 2 Clinical Career Assessment and Counseling 25Chapter 3 Organizational Context 45Chapter 4 Leadership, Management, and Supervision 76Chapter 5 Executive Assessment, Selection, Interviewing, and Development 114Chapter 6 Executive Coaching and Performance Enhancement 153Part Two: Consulting to Small Systems 221Chapter 7 Working with Teams and Groups 223Chapter 8 Training and Team Building 249Chapter 9 Diversity Issues in Consultation 270Part Three: Consulting to Large Systems 299Chapter 10 The Nature of Organizations 301Chapter 11 Assessment of Organizations 318Chapter 12 Organizational Intervention 331Part Four: Special Topics 353Chapter 13 Practice Management 355Chapter 14 Clinical Consultation 386Chapter 15 Consultation Services for Special Populations 413Chapter 16 Crisis Consultation 428Glossary 447References 469Additional Reference Sources 497Appendix 499Author Index 515Subject Index 527About the Authors 533