Becoming a Counselor: The Light, the Bright, and the Serious

by Samuel T. Gladding

This book contains 156 personal, heart-warming, and often humorous vignettes from one of the most productive leaders and authors in the field. Readers get a firsthand look at Dr. Samuel Gladding’s successes and setbacks from childhood to older adulthood in 17 sections covering significant life milestones, such as family-of-origin influences; education; peer relationships; skill acquisition; professional growth, rejection, happenstance, and achievement; clinical challenges; multicultural competence; and life and career transitions. The process of becoming a counselor is demystified and humanized, making this is an excellent resource for practicum and internship classes.

Genres: Counselling, Psychology, Nonfiction

385 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Samuel Templeman Gladding

Reviews

[Chris Burd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. It's an easy read, and the stories are amusing. However, I thought that many of the stories stretched to fit a particular point that Mr. Gladdings was trying to make, or a life lesson that he was trying to impart.

[kylajaclyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This guy is something else. He thought smoking a roach meant smoking an actual cockroach. He slut-shamed a girl (early on, and this made me want to quit the book) who was promiscuous by saying the clothes she wore weren't helping matters. He had to do RESEARCH on sex when he had to do sexual counseling with a couple before he was married. And when a friend mistakenly thought he smoked marijuana, he wanted to die and thought it was the most embarrassing thing in the world. This book also contains a myriad of cliches. The author loves to hear himself talk. None of this stuff was new or helpful as I get deeper into the world of Counseling. I don't recommend it at all.