America is facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, with troubling effects on our mental and physical health. We live in one of the most divisive times in our history, one in which we tend to work, play, and associate only with people who think as we do. How do we create spaces for people to come together--to open our minds, understand our differences, and exchange ideas?

Shamichael Hallman argues that the public library may be our best hope for bridging these divides and creating strong, inclusive communities. While public libraries have long been thought of as a place for a select few, increasingly they are playing an essential role in building social cohesion, promoting civic renewal, and advancing the ideals of a healthy democracy. Many are reimagining themselves in new and innovative ways, actively reaching out to the communities they serve. Today, libraries are becoming essential institutions for repairing society.

Libraries have a unique opportunity to bridge socioeconomic divides and rebuild trust. But in order to do so, they must be truly welcoming to all. They and their communities must work collaboratively to bridge socioeconomic divides through innovative and productive partnerships.

Drawing from his experience at the Memphis Public Library and his extensive research and interviews across the country, Hallman presents a rich argument for seeing libraries as one of the nation's greatest assets. He includes examples from libraries large and small--such as the Iowa's North Liberty Library's Lighthouse in the Library program to bring people together to discuss important topics in a safe and supportive space, to Cambridge Cooks, an initiative of the Cambridge MA Public Library that fosters social connection by bringing people together over shared interest in food.

As an institution that is increasingly under attack for creating a place where diverse audiences can see themselves, public libraries are under more scrutiny than ever. Meet Me at the Library offers us a revealing look at one of our most important civic institutions and the social and civic impact they must play if we are to heal our divided nation.

The second edition of Skills and Techniques for Human Service Professionals: Counseling Environment, Helping Skills, Treatment Issues provides readers with valuable information about how the counseling environment impacts the helping relationship, ways of delivering critical helping skills, and the necessity of understanding important treatment issues when working with clients and consumers.

Section I focuses on the counseling environment. Whereas Chapter 1 highlights eight important characteristics of the effective helper, Chapter 2 examines how the client experiences the agency when first entering it. This chapter focuses on such things as agency atmosphere, physical space, and nonverbal behaviors of the helper.

In Section II, chapters move from the most basic foundational skills to more advanced skills and specialized training. Coverage includes honoring and respecting the client, being curious, delimiting power and developing an equal relationship, non-pathologizing, listening, reflections, paraphrasing, and basic empathy. Readers also learn about affirmation giving, encouragement, and support; offering alternatives; information and advice giving; modeling; self-disclosure; collaboration; advocacy; information gathering and solution-focused questions; advanced empathy; confrontation; assessing for suicidality and homicidality; crisis, disaster, and trauma helping; token economies; positive helping; and coaching.

Section III focuses on important treatment issues in human services including case management, culturally competent counseling, guidelines for working with diverse populations, and ethical decision-making when working with all clients.

Dr. Edward Neukrug is a professor of counseling and human services at Old Dominion University. A licensed professional counselor and licensed psychologist, he has experience in outpatient therapy, crisis counseling, substance abuse counseling, couples and family counseling, private practice, and as a school counselor. Dr. Neukrug is a nationally known author, presenter, and researcher. He was granted ACA Fellow status by the American Counseling Association in 2019. Dr. Neukrug is the author of eleven books: The Dictionary of Counseling and Human Services; Skills and Techniques for Human Service Professionals; Counseling Theory and Practice (2nd ed.); The World of the Counselor (5th ed.); Experiencing the World of the Counselor: A Workbook for Counselor Educators and Students (4th ed.); Theory, Practice and Trends in Human Services: An Introduction to An Emerging Profession (6th ed.); Essentials of Testing and Assessment for Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists (3rd ed.); A Brief Orientation to Counseling: Professional Identity, History, and Standards (2nd ed.); Skills and Tools for Today's Counselors and Psychotherapists; Counseling and Helping Skills: Critical Techniques for Becoming a Counselor; and Sage Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy (editor).

The definitive manual for measuring and improving quality and outcomes in crime victim service programs. Written to help providers and administrators design and implement services that are victim-centered and victim-driven.

A Culture of Fear takes readers inside the largest child protective services agency in the country, Los Angeles County's Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS). Julian J. Dominguez and Melinda Murphy, current and former DCFS employees, respectively, expose some of the most serious deficiencies of the agency. They detail systemic core issues that include a lack of integrity in DCFS court report writing, and describe how reunification of families is marginalized or set aside and eclipsed by other priorities, including personal opinions, departmental positions, personality conflicts, prejudices/biases, and cover your ass at all costs. The authors shine a light on the struggles of social workers in this agency, where values can stray far, far, from the publicly proclaimed mission, which is supposed to protect children and reunify families. This book is very unique by all measures, and is meant to serve as a starting point, not a solution or finish line. It will hopefully evoke meaningful dialogue resulting in reform and needed change. About the Authors Julian J. Dominguez, LMFT, received his master's degree from Chapman University in marriage, family, and child counseling. He is a licensed MFT and his specialties include child welfare, sexual assault, vicarious trauma, and critical incident debriefing. He has worked for DCFS since 1996. As a family group decision-making practitioner, he facilitated over 1,500 family and emancipation conferences. Melinda Murphy, M.A., worked in child welfare for over twenty years. She is currently a social work investigator with a nonprofit agency in Los Angeles. She earned her master's at the University of Nevada, Reno, was a caseworker with Children of the Night, which helped get children in prostitution and pornography off the streets of Hollywood, and then worked with DCFS. Publisher's website: http: //sbprabooks.com/JulianJDominguezandMelindaMurphy

Have you considered becoming a Child Welfare Social Worker with Child Protective Services? Are you already in the field but have yet to be exposed to all the pros and cons?

How to Survive as a Child Welfare Social Worker was written with both the novice and seasoned social worker in mind. On the pages of this book is a guide on bridging the knowledge gained within the classroom with the realities of the work often hidden and not discussed. You will receive an actual hands-on approach from an experienced social worker who shares the pros and cons of the trade along with insight on how to navigate the stages of this rewarding career.

If you have a passion for helping children, youth, and families to thrive in the community, being a Child Welfare Social Worker may be the ideal career choice for you! Come along with the author as she transparently explains the highs and lows, the various departments within the agency, how to maintain organization with your caseloads, self-care tips, and so much more!

For social program practitioners, evaluators, funders, consultants, and advocates, this book contrasts two major evaluation approaches: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) and realist evaluations. Placing both in the historical context of the evolution of Western thought, it first examines the assumptions and beliefs that underly and frame their outlook on knowledge and how we acquire it. Then, it examines their strengths and weaknesses: to what situations are they best suited, what they can and can't deliver, which questions they can and can't answer, and how their results should be understood and utilized. Finally, it offers a series of concrete proposals for improving the quality of program evaluations and refining how to use the two approaches to help improve the lives and prospects of their intended beneficiaries.

John Briere and Catherine Scott′s Principles of Trauma Therapy, Third Edition is both comprehensive in scope and highly practical in application. This best selling text provides a creative synthesis of cognitive-behavioral, relational, affect regulation, mindfulness, and psychopharmacologic approaches to the real world treatment of acute and chronic posttraumatic states. Grounded in empirically-supported trauma treatment techniques and adapted to the complexities of actual clinical practice, this book is a hands-on resource for front-line clinicians, those in private practice, and graduate students of public mental health.

Thoroughly updated with DSM-5 content throughout, Principles of Trauma Therapy, Second Edition: DSM-5 Update is both comprehensive in scope and highly practical in application. This popular text provides a creative synthesis of cognitive-behavioral, relational, affect regulation, mindfulness, and psychopharmacologic approaches to the real world treatment of acute and chronic posttraumatic states. Grounded in empirically-supported trauma treatment techniques and adapted to the complexities of actual clinical practice, this book is a hands-on resource for front-line clinicians, those in private practice, and graduate students of public mental health.

Engineering in Emergencies is a hugely successful practical handbook for all relief workers involved in giving humanitarian assistance. It provides the information needed to implement an effective engineering response in the aftermath of an emergency.

The de facto how-to manual of the international Food Not Bombs movement, which provides free food to the homeless and hungry and has branches in countries on every continent except Antarctica, this book describes at length how to set up and operate a Food Not Bombs chapter. The guide considers every aspect of the operation, from food collection and distribution to fund-raising, consensus decision making, and what to do when the police arrive. It contains detailed information on setting up a kitchen and cooking for large groups as well as a variety of delicious recipes. Accompanying numerous photographs is a lengthy section on the history of Food Not Bombs, with stories of the jailing and murder of activists, as well as premade handbills and flyers ready for photocopying.

What if people -- even longtime enemies -- could transform conflicts into creative dilemmas they feel motivated to solve together in an atmosphere that builds connection and trust? What if employees could leave a meeting empowered and with a joint sense of purpose? What if the positive changes community activists are working so hard to see in the world could have a lasting impact?

The traditional ways we make decisions are flawed. Majority rule, top-down orders, compromise, and consensus lead to people feeling disconnected, drained of energy, and unsatisfied. THE HIGHEST COMMON DENOMINATOR: Using Convergent Facilitation to Reach Breakthrough Collaborative Decisions presents a better way to make decisions using Convergent Facilitation, the method Miki developed after years of working with groups in a variety of settings. Miki posits that collaborative decision-making, where people feel heard and their needs respected in a structured and trusting environment, maximizes willingness and efficiency for all. This can lay the ground for breakthroughs for groups working on challenges, allowing decisions to be made at lightning speed. The process includes three phases that can bring groups to outcomes that are profoundly collaborative and genuinely supported by all.

THE HIGHEST COMMON DENOMINATOR gives readers examples, tools, and processes to implement Convergent Facilitation. It includes vivid case studies and practical examples to explain how to guide people towards solutions that integrate everyone's needs and concerns and don't require compromise; provides tips on how to keep people on track with the task at hand; and encourages facilitators to invite dissent and engage with it productively.

One case study explores the revision of child custody laws in Minnesota. Lawmakers had been struggling for years to write new legislation that would satisfy stakeholders. When Miki began working with them, many regarded each other with deep mistrust and believed no new laws could be created. The process ended with the creation of legislation that was passed near-unanimously by the state legislature. One of the participants later described it as a transformative experience.

In workplace settings, Miki explores how companies can truly achieve a collaborative culture, where employees feel heard and are motivated. Stuart Thorn, retired President and CEO of the Southwire Company, wanted to achieve a truly collaborative culture for his multi-billion-dollar company, all the while he was experiencing friction between division managers and leadership. After bringing Miki in personally to bring his own team toward convergence, he reflects that after reading THE HIGHEST COMMON DENOMINATOR, I can see that her ability to draw out insights about the inner workings of organizations is not effortless at all, but rather based on a very conscious, thoughtful, and deliberate approach carefully developed over many years of practice and experimentation. This is good news. It means that Miki's skills are transferable.

The procedures described in this book can be used in any kind of setting--from grassroots social change movements to village councils to corporate boardrooms--where people are having trouble collaborating effectively in a group, which is almost everywhere. With the mounting social, political, and environmental problems of our times, harnessing a group's energy for effective action is essential. And yet many people drift away from organizations they care about due to their inability to sit through meetings--where tensions may remain unresolved, power differences are not addressed, and solutions that work for all do not seem available.

Ultimately, this book is not just about working with groups. It is an entire re-examination and affirmation of the human heart. Facilitation involves transparency on the part of the one leading it, as well as a deep faith and hope in how even impossible-seeming differences can transform into unity.

Written specifically for non-clinical undergraduate students, but also relevant to graduate studies in helping professions, Skills for Helping Professionals, by Anne M. Geroski focuses on helping students develop the skills they need to effectively initiate and maintain helping relationships. After exploring the literature identifying critical components of helping relationships and briefly reviewing developmental and helping theories, the text covers such topics as the helping process, self-awareness, and ethics in helping, and then focuses on specific helping skills such as listening and hearing, empathy, reflecting, paraphrasing, questioning, clarifying, exploring, and offering feedback, encouragement, and psycho-education. The final chapters focus on individuals in crisis and helping in groups.

This book will inspire the next generation of social work and human service practitioners to integrate research into their everyday social justice practice. Through highlighting the centrality of values to the task of research and the possibilities for enacting social justice through our research practice, it argues for respectful, meaningful, and just relationships with the people with whom we do research and build knowledge; acknowledges the ongoing impact of colonialism; respects diversity; and commits to working towards social change. With First Nations Worldviews - ways of knowing, ways of being, ways of doing - weaved throughout the text, this book seeks to both reclaim ancient knowledges and disrupt Western research traditions.

Divided into three sections, this book provides

• a strong rationale for the importance of research skills to social work and human service practice;
• a step-by-step guide on doing social research aimed at novice researchers;
• a series of examples of applied social justice projects

Bringing the authors' passion for finding new ways of 'doing' research and contesting traditional research paradigms of objectivity and the scientific, it advocates for knowledge building that is participatory, emancipatory, and empowered.

It will be required reading for all social work and human service students at both the undergraduate and master's level as well as professionals looking to put research into practice.

The second edition of Skills and Techniques for Human Service Professionals: Counseling Environment, Helping Skills, Treatment Issues provides readers with valuable information about how the counseling environment impacts the helping relationship, ways of delivering critical helping skills, and the necessity of understanding important treatment issues when working with clients and consumers.

Section I focuses on the counseling environment. Whereas Chapter 1 highlights eight important characteristics of the effective helper, Chapter 2 examines how the client experiences the agency when first entering it. This chapter focuses on such things as agency atmosphere, physical space, and nonverbal behaviors of the helper.

In Section II, chapters move from the most basic foundational skills to more advanced skills and specialized training. Coverage includes honoring and respecting the client, being curious, delimiting power and developing an equal relationship, non-pathologizing, listening, reflections, paraphrasing, and basic empathy. Readers also learn about affirmation giving, encouragement, and support; offering alternatives; information and advice giving; modeling; self-disclosure; collaboration; advocacy; information gathering and solution-focused questions; advanced empathy; confrontation; assessing for suicidality and homicidality; crisis, disaster, and trauma helping; token economies; positive helping; and coaching.

Section III focuses on important treatment issues in human services including case management, culturally competent counseling, guidelines for working with diverse populations, and ethical decision-making when working with all clients.

Dr. Edward Neukrug is a professor of counseling and human services at Old Dominion University. A licensed professional counselor and licensed psychologist, he has experience in outpatient therapy, crisis counseling, substance abuse counseling, couples and family counseling, private practice, and as a school counselor. Dr. Neukrug is a nationally known author, presenter, and researcher. He was granted ACA Fellow status by the American Counseling Association in 2019. Dr. Neukrug is the author of eleven books: The Dictionary of Counseling and Human Services; Skills and Techniques for Human Service Professionals; Counseling Theory and Practice (2nd ed.); The World of the Counselor (5th ed.); Experiencing the World of the Counselor: A Workbook for Counselor Educators and Students (4th ed.); Theory, Practice and Trends in Human Services: An Introduction to An Emerging Profession (6th ed.); Essentials of Testing and Assessment for Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists (3rd ed.); A Brief Orientation to Counseling: Professional Identity, History, and Standards (2nd ed.); Skills and Tools for Today's Counselors and Psychotherapists; Counseling and Helping Skills: Critical Techniques for Becoming a Counselor; and Sage Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy (editor).

This is a must-read for clinicians who help traumatized children and their families. Lanktree and Briere have developed and tested an accessible, integrated, assessment-driven model that recognizes the ample impact of trauma on young children in di

Our book is part of an emerging gift culture worldview. It is a manual for designing personal community based on the gifts that each person brings. Focusing on non-residential, place based and committed community, we present tools to support and fortify the longing of the human heart for intimate, conscious connection.

Market-Based Health Care defines for students the challenges, arguments and politics behind the concept of consumer-driven health care

Lors d'un voyage d'affaires, Henri Dunant se rend en juin 1859 proximit de la ville italienne de Solf rino et se trouve alors le t moin des r sultats d'une bataille entre les troupes pi montaises et fran aises d'un c t et autrichiennes de l'autre. Il traverse le champ de bataille l'issue des combats et se trouve profond ment choqu par ce qu'il voit: les bless s gisant au milieu des cadavres sans que personne ne puisse leur porter secours. Il rapporte alors son exp rience dans un ouvrage qu'il intitule Un souvenir de Solf rino...

The Dictionary of Counseling and Human Services: An Essential Resource for Students and Professional Helpers equips readers with concise and straightforward definitions of nearly 3,000 concepts and terms used within the disciplines.

Leveraging a unique coding system, each word or term is ranked according to its likelihood to appear on a credentialing exam in counseling and separately ranked according to its likelihood to appear on a credentialing exam in human services. This valuable feature renders the text a vital resource for individuals studying to obtain various certifications and credentials.

Helpful appendices provide lists of websites of the American Counseling Association and its divisions; websites of the National Organization of Human Services and its regions; websites of select professional associations and mental health associations; ethics codes, competencies, and credentialing bodies of select professional associations; graduate programs in counseling, human services, and related professions; undergraduate programs in human services; and an overview of DSM-5 diagnostic categories.

Comprehensive, thorough, and approachable, the Dictionary of Counseling and Human Services is an exemplary resource for students preparing to enter helping professions. It is also an important reference book for helping professionals to add to their libraries.

Dr. Edward Neukrug is a professor of counseling and human services at Old Dominion University. A licensed professional counselor and licensed psychologist, he has experience in outpatient therapy, crisis counseling, substance abuse counseling, couples and family counseling, private practice, and as a school counselor. Dr. Neukrug is a nationally known author, presenter, and researcher. He was granted ACA Fellow status by the American Counseling Association in 2019. Dr. Neukrug is the author of eleven books: The Dictionary of Counseling and Human Services; Skills and Techniques for Human Service Professionals; Counseling Theory and Practice (2nd ed.); The World of the Counselor (5th ed.); Experiencing the World of the Counselor: A Workbook for Counselor Educators and Students (4th ed.); Theory, Practice and Trends in Human Services: An Introduction to An Emerging Profession (6th ed.); Essentials of Testing and Assessment for Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists (3rd ed.); A Brief Orientation to Counseling: Professional Identity, History, and Standards (2nd ed.); Skills and Tools for Today's Counselors and Psychotherapists; Counseling and Helping Skills: Critical Techniques for Becoming a Counselor; and Sage Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy (editor).

Michael Kalkbrenner, Ph.D. M.S., NCC is an assistant professor of counseling and educational psychology at New Mexico State University. He holds a doctorate in counselor education from Old Dominion University.

Kevin C. Snow, Ph.D., M.A., NCC, ACS is an assistant professor of counselor education at Marywood University. He holds a doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Old Dominion University.

Siblings share a unique relationship: They have known each other longer than anyone else. No matter how close or distant siblings are today, they are part of each other. As adults, they actually are part of two sibling sets. The original siblings are the ones who grew up together and have changed and aged together. The second set is the creation of their childhood perceptions, feelings, hurts, and resentments, as well as idealizations about the original siblings. These siblings, like ghosts, are not visible; they never age. While these siblings mostly lie dormant, when they jump into action, they distort how adults relate to their siblings now.

The sibling ghosts have four components--frozen images, crystallized roles, unhealthy loyalty, and sibling transference--each of which has a unique effect on one's adult life, and all of which may be transferred onto important adults in their lives, including spouses and lovers, people at work, and friends. For therapists of all theoretical orientations, Sibling Therapy: The Ghosts from Childhood that Haunt Your Clients' Love and Work is the first book that provides a theoretical framework for working with adult siblings and will be helpful in understanding the influences of clients' ghosts, especially when dealing with intractable problems. While based in systemic theory, the book goes beyond, looking at the specific issues related to being siblings. The ideas and the numerous clinical examples presented here are applicable for family therapists, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, pastoral counselors, and anyone working in a therapeutic position, as well as masters and doctoral students in these fields