Group Work: A Counseling Specialty (4th Edition)

The fourth edition of this highly readable text examines all of the essential skills required to be an effective leader of a variety of groups in a variety of settings. It explores the history of group therapy work, and the development of groups―how they grow, how they change, and how various groups differ. It addresses the specifics of working with children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. And, it discusses ten prominent theoretical perspectives from which groups can be approached, covering how each theory evolved, how it is practiced, and the results it most commonly achieves. Coverage is bolstered throughout by numerous case examples and exercises that are particularly helpful in translating theory into application.

Samuel T Gladding is a professor of counselor education and director of the counselor education program at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has been a practicing counselor in both public and private agencies since 1971. His leadership in the field of counseling includes service as president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), president of the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW), president of Chi Sigma Iota (international academic and professional counseling honor society), and vice president of the Counseling Association for Humanistic Education and Development (C-AHEAD).

Dr. Gladding is the former editor of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work and the ASGW newsletter. He is also the author of more than 100 professional publications. In 1999, he was cited as being in the top 1 % of contributors to the Journal of Counseling and Development for the 15-year period from 1978 to 1993. Some of Dr. Gladding's most recent books are The Counseling Dictionary (2001), Counseling: A Comprehensive Profession (4th ed., 2000), Family Therapy: History, Theory, & Process (3rd ed., 2002), Becoming a Counselor: The Light, the Bright, and the Serious (2002), The Creative Arts in Counseling (2nd ed., 1998), and this edition of Group Work: A Counseling Specialty.

Dr. Gladding's previous academic appointments have been at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Fairfield University (Connecticut), and Rockingham Community College (North Carolina). He was also Director of Children's Services at the Rockingham County (North Carolina) Mental Health Center. Gladding received his degrees from Wake Forest (B. A., M. A. Ed.), Yale (M. A. R.), and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (Ph. D.). He is a National Certified Counselor (NCC), a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC), and a Licensed Professional Counselor (North Carolina). Dr. Gladding is a former member of the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling and a current member of the Research and Assessment Corporation for Counseling (RACC).

Dr. Gladding is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Chi Sigma Iota Thomas J. Sweeney Professional Leadership Award; the Counseling Association for Humanistic Education and Development Joseph W and Lucille U. Hollis Outstanding Publication Award; the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Professional Leadership Award and Outstanding Publication Award; the Association for Specialists in Group Work Eminent Career Award; and the North Carolina Counseling Association Ella Stephens Barrett Award for Leadership and Service to the Counseling Profession.

He is also a Fellow in the Association for Specialists in Group Work.

Dr. Gladding is married to the former Claire Tillson and is the father of three children―Benjamin, Nathaniel, and Timothy Outside of counseling, he enjoys tennis, swimming, and humor.