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This volume provides acritical and reflexive view into the counselling profession in India.Counselling and psychotherapy are emergent fields in India; there is inadequatesynergy between theory and practice at present, as psychotherapy andcounselling practice in the field have not sufficiently informed research, andvice versa. While research on counselling, the counselling process andtraining, and development of counsellors is extremely vital for the growth ofthe profession, practitioners seldom feel the need to wear the lens of theresearcher.
Drawing upon primaryresearch on counsellors and psychotherapists in different parts of India, thisvolume bridges this gap and discusses the personal and professional journeys ofcounsellors at various stages of their career, which in turn facilitatesfurther research on counselling in India. The chapters discuss practical issueslike the challenges faced by novice counsellors, which contribute to feelingsof inadequacy and incompetence; synergy between the personal and professionallives of counsellors and the effect of the counselling process on the self;elements that go into training and how counselling education could bepositioned and developed; the use of creative arts in therapy; and therole of school counsellors and the process of negotiating boundaries amongvarious stakeholders in the school system. The volume also examines ethical dilemmas in the field, which have wider policyramifications.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction - Sujata Sriram.- Chapter 2. Counsellor's Characteristics and their Experiences - Swarnima Bhargava & Sujata Sriram.- Chapter 3. The Experience of Being a Novice Counsellor - Chetna Duggal & Mithila Rao.- Chapter 4. The Personal and Professional Lives of Counsellors - Sindhuja Vummidi & Sandhya Limaye.- Chapter 5. Exploration of Therapists' Personal and Professional Values - Rashmi Rangarajan & Chetna Duggal.- Chapter 6. Beginning the Journey: What motivates therapists to join the profession? - Chetna Duggal & Sujata Sriram.- Chapter 7. Training in Counselling: Current Status and Trainer's Perspectives - Sujata Sriram & Sneha Nikam.- Chapter 8. Exploring Expressions: Using the Creative Arts in Therapy - Afshan Mariam & Aparna Joshi.- Chapter 9. The Role of the School Counsellor - Sindhura Tammana.- Chapter 10. MaritalCounselling in India: Perspectives from Family Court Counsellors - Sujata Sriram & Chetna Duggal.- Chapter 11. Telephone Counselling in India: Lessons from iCALL - Sujata Sriram, Aparna Joshi, Paras Sharma.- Chapter 12. Conclusion and Directions for Future Research - Sujata Sriram.
About the author
Sujata Sriram, PhD, is Associate
Professor and Dean, School of Human Ecology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
Mumbai. Previously she was Reader at the Department of Child Development,
Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi. She was awarded the Fulbright
Nehru Senior Research Fellowship in 2010-11 to the Department of Anthropology,
University of California, San Diego and has also been a guest researcher
at the Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
