Counselling in the Workplace

“The strength of Adrian Coles’ book is its basis in his extensive knowledge of workplace counselling in Britain and his wide knowledge and relationships with those who work in the area. What is magical about his book is his use of examples. Throughout, real life examples of workplace counselling, dilemmas, organisational and many other issues, help to illuminate concepts and bring theory down to earth.”
Michael Carroll, chartered counselling psychologist and Visiting Industrial Professor, University of Bristol.

This book is a thorough exploration of the people and practices involved in the provision of counselling in the workplace. It addresses questions such as:
· Why do employees need to be counselled in the workplace?
· Why is counselling in this context so different from counselling in other environments?
· Why are some workplace counsellors hard to manage?

Counselling in organisations is complicated because of the many different and conflicting interests of individuals involved in an organisation. A workplace counsellor needs to be aware of the many roles within an organisation and how those roles are perceived by different members of the organisation. Moreover, workplace counsellors need to know how to provide effective help for employees, and in particular, why this may need to be measured and evaluated by organisations.

Written predominantly from a psychodynamic perspective, the book looks at the complex conscious and unconscious roles that counsellors adopt in organisations and explores different approaches to providing counselling at work. The multitude of conflicting boundary issues present in workplace counselling are thoroughly explored - in particular, the differences between being a counsellor in a workplace and a counsellor in private practice.

Counselling in the Workplace also offers a unique management training programme for counsellor-managers and non-counselling managers. The book is essential reading for counsellors, human resource managers, workplace supervisors, trade union officials and all those involved in decision-making with regard to employee counselling.