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Groups: A Counseling Specialty

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Current, comprehensive, and clearly written, this book gives readers what they need to know about group therapy, group counseling, and work groups.
Groups: A Counseling Specialty is a comprehensive look at groups, covering the history of group work, the dynamics of groups, leadership in groups, ethical issues in groups, multicultural aspects of groups, stages of group development, groups across the life span, and the theoretical basis for working with groups. The coverage is current, the style is clear and interesting, and the book challenges students to reflect on what they have learned, as well as on their own experiences in groups.
The 8th Edition contains 14 new Brief Case studies, 11 new Reflections, a new chapter on the theories of working with groups (Ch. 17), and over 120 new and updated references. This revision also contains more material on the history of groups (Ch. 18) and leading figures in this specialty. Also available with MyLab Counseling
By combining trusted author content with digital tools and a flexible platform, MyLab personalizes the learning experience and improves results for each student. MyLab Counseling organizes all assignments around essential learning outcomes and the CACREP standards – enabling easy course alignment and reporting.
Note: You are purchasing a standalone product; MyLab Counseling does not come packaged with this content. Students, if interested in purchasing this title with MyLab Counseling, ask your instructor to confirm the correct package ISBN and Course ID. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.
If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyLab Counseling, search for: 0135166861 / 9780135166864 Groups: A Counseling Specialty plus MyLab Counseling with Pearson eText -- Access Card Package, 8/e
Package consists of:

544 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 1990

12 people are currently reading
102 people want to read

About the author

Samuel T. Gladding

49 books10 followers
Samuel Templeman Gladding

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5 stars
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79 (34%)
3 stars
76 (33%)
2 stars
11 (4%)
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6 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Profile Image for Paige Stewart.
190 reviews
October 17, 2023
As with so many others of Gladding’s textbooks, this is thorough, comprehensive, and full of examples while continuing to be utterly vague and unspecific. I suppose it’s difficult to provide specific guidance when every situation is different, but it is frustrating after a while to have more examples of poor execution than effective. Also, I’d like to stop seeing typos in textbooks.
Profile Image for Susan Marie.
Author 14 books59 followers
January 24, 2019
An excellent edition confronting all aspects of group counseling including how to lead and co-lead various types of groups ranging from self-help/support to psychoanalytical groups. This volume focuses on leadership skills and behaviors including what it takes to combine, when necessary, an authoritative, democratic and laissez-faire style of leadership, all necessary for specific groups.

Easy to read, not like an APA text, with everyday skills one can lend to any group that exists with a focus on psychologically directed group therapy. I prefer books published by Gladding for psychology. They are always excellent.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
94 reviews
December 13, 2020
Typical Gladding text covers everything thoroughly and in a very readable way. I'll actually probably reread this one at some point.
Profile Image for Mary.
908 reviews7 followers
July 29, 2022
More like a 3.5. It is like any textbook: sterile presentation of the information (the writing is quite dry) and often it is repetitive, but good for learning the basics.
1,360 reviews
December 15, 2022
Insightful, relevant, readable, a good resource; wouldn't mind rereading.
Profile Image for Bronte Detenbeck.
27 reviews
August 11, 2025
This book was a dry, school textbook. Had some valuable information, but there wasa lot of random discussion to weed through to get to it.
Profile Image for Candace.
88 reviews
May 23, 2020
Read for graduate program Counseling and Art Therapy.
Profile Image for Carter.
211 reviews15 followers
May 28, 2015
Gladding's text on group work is comprehensive and well-organized, making it an easy reference tool. I appreciate that Gladding covers specific group work for different age groups and group dynamics from different theoretical orientations. However, the text lacks practical application of the material. If you are looking for a more applicable book for group work I recommend "Group Counseling" by: Jacobs, Masson, Harvill, and Schimmel.
Profile Image for MK.
411 reviews
April 23, 2016
The better of Gladding's books I've encountered so far, certainly the best organized. The text details a lot of information in an easily consumable way, and you come away with a basic comprehensive understanding of groups.
128 reviews16 followers
July 29, 2013
This was my textbook for my class on group counseling. It was a good book, not amazing, but a solid start.
3 reviews1 follower
October 4, 2015
Easy to read and understand. Best thing about it? Introduced me to The name Yalom. Perfect for introduction to group counseling class text at an undergraduate level.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews

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