Surviving and Thriving in Your Counseling Program

by Julius A. Austin, Jude T. Austin

"Drs. Julius and Jude Austin have written a most informative and engaging guide for students navigating the demands of their academic program and internships. They provide practical wisdom in each chapter and serve as mentors to their readers through their self-disclosure and the lessons they have learned. This book needs to be in the hands of every counseling student, as it offers extremely useful pointers and encouragement to survive and thrive in their program."

--Marianne Schneider Corey, MA, LMFT, NCC

--Gerald Corey, EdD, ABPP, NCC

Professor Emeritus of Human Services and Counseling

California State University, Fullerton



"This is a valuable resource for students in graduate-level training in counseling or counselor education and supervision. In addition, it will be a useful update for counselor educators regarding the experiences of contemporary graduate counseling students."

-- Richard E. Watts, PhD, LPC-S

Sam Houston State University



Written for graduate students who want to get the most out of their experience, this book presents down-to-earth discussions and suggestions on counselor training and life after graduation. The authors, both millennials and recent doctoral program graduates, draw upon their own personal and professional training and career experiences, as well as shared insight from a diverse group of current graduate students, recent graduates, and new professionals. The realistic, personal, and often humorous narratives throughout the book give an insider's perspective on graduate school and illuminate the emotional journey of students and new professionals.



Topics include choosing and getting into a program, handling the opportunities and challenges that each year of the program presents, gaining emotional maturity, dealing with setbacks, managing conflicts, increasing cultural awareness, getting a doctoral degree, searching for a job, finding a supervisor, and obtaining licensure. Readers will also be able to peek behind the curtains of faculty meetings to glean what faculty members expect, develop skills for their first session, and create and maintain a self-care plan for improving work-life balance.



*Requests for digital versions from the ACA can be found on wiley.com.

*To request print copies, please visit the ACA website here.

*Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to permissions@counseling.org



Julius A. Austin, PhD, isa clinical therapist and coordinator for the Office of Substance Abuse and Recovery at Tulane University.



Jude T. Austin II, PhD, is an assistant professor and clinical coordinator in the Professional Counseling Program at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Genres: School

Kindle Edition

Published December 30, 2019

Reviews

[Bowen Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my required readings for my Mental Health Counseling graduate program. Even after completing my first Master’s in a different field, I found the lessons and writing style very easy to digest and apply on top of lessons I’ve had to learn the hard way in the past.

The personal accounts combined with “Voices from the field” allowed me to understand how everyone has their own personal journey in the struggles they’ve encountered. I found myself really connecting with the “Emotional Maturity” chapter and determining what things I may have been responsible for in the past that caused me to identify in myself and the problems I had, while also giving myself grace that I was not the sole bearer of others’ behaviors and actions that led to outcomes I didn’t want.

Being an anxious graduate student at the time (and naturally leaning anxious) has allowed me to reflect on what kind of support I needed, what I could give, and how there’s loss on top of additions that come into our life as we grow. What’s to be done now is to realize being in the present requires intentionality and understanding that this process will be difficult, but rewarding based on the effort put in.

With everything in mind, I believe that anyone pursuing any type of education at different types of levels in their respective stage of life will be able to take something away from this book that really hits home for them.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read, very enlightening. Wish I would have read sooner