This easy-to-understand text addresses critical topics in human services to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the field. You'll learn about professional issues and major theories related to human service work as well as about how to work with varying client populations and become a culturally competent helper. Major content areas include professional issues, standards in the profession (skill standards, ethics, accreditation, and credentialing), history, counseling theory, helping skills, human development, group and family counseling, community systems, consultation and supervision, and research, testing, and evaluation. The last chapter (on career development) gives you an opportunity to examine whether human services is the right field for you and helps you understand the career counseling process. The book is further distinguished by its experiential emphasis, unique use of personal vignettes, and focus on the development of the helper.