The Skills of Helping by Robert Carkhuff; William Anthony; The Art of Helping IV byRobert Carkhuff; The Art of Helping IV Student WorkbookReview by: Bill RoweCanadian Journal of Social Work Education / Revue canadienne d'éducation en service social,Vol. 7, No. 3 (1981), pp. 148-150Published by: Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41670039 .

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in treating families." (p. 284) I would have liked for them to discuss the problem at the other end of the spectrum of resistance, i.e., that of "this is the only way, the family way." In this reviewer's opinion, social workers should be cautious in settings that give high value to "family treatment" and which are primarily or solely led by psychiatrists, and should realize the social worker role is more encompassing than a "family therapist's." We are in danger of losing awareness of the need for advocacy, brokerage, linkage and development of community supports, instrumental needs, and so on.

Finally, this reviewer feels very comfortable in highly recommending this book for beginning family workers. The authors clearly accomplish their general objectives of introducing family treatment to a variety of problem situations and provide readers with the opportunity to develop an understanding of a "family system" approach.

J.A. Browne, MSW, PhD Director, Department of Social Work Chedoke Division, Chedoke-McMaster Hospital Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry McMaster University

Note 1 J.M. Lewis, W.R. Beavers, J.T. Gossett, and A.V. Phillips, No Single Thread:

Psychological Health in Family Systems (New York, 1976).

The Skills of Helping Robert Carkhuff and William Anthony Human Resource Development Press, 1979.

The Art of Helping IV Robert Carkhuff Human Resource Development Press, 1980.

The Art of Helping IV Student Workbook Human Resource Development Press, 1980.

The Skills of Helping , The A rt of Helping IV and its Student Workbook are the most recent additions to the literature on "helping" that have

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grown out of original investigations of the helping process by Carkhuff and associates. These researchers were attempting to subject Carl Rogers' definition of the helping process to empirical investigation in order to establish a more scientific and substantive base for helping and counselling activities. While these twenty years of replication and refinement have demonstrated the effectiveness and broad applicability of this helping approach, it is difficult at this point to recognize the original Rogerian philosphy and perspective in the Carkhuff approach. Based on this research, Carkhuff and followers have urged that we replace ineffective "dogmatic" views of helping with effective "dogmatic" ones. Effective, in this case, means a helping approach that can be operationalized and tested empirically. Much of the research in this area, however, continues to be fraught with methodological difficulties, and caution must be exercised before accepting the results. Yet, one ought to keep in mind that, even with the methodological difficulties, this is the most comprehensive body of research available on helping skills. As such, it constitutes an essential base of information for the beginning practitioner.

The three books considered in this review are polished products of two decades of systematic research into helping effectiveness and helper training. They offer the novice helper a necessary and sufficient (but by no means complete) helping skills repertoire. It is preferable to consider these books in a complementary as well as sequential fashion. Although The Art of Helping IV was first published in 1972, The Skills of Helping should precede it when used for teaching purposes, because it details the theory and research background for the skills that are taught in The Art of Helping IV.

The Skills of Helping is the most clearly defined and systematically presented statement of the Carkhuff approach. The authors begin with a presentation of the helping model followed by detailed explications of the major helping skills (attending, responding, personalizing and initiating). They end with a restatement of the model and its potential impact. Each chapter with the exception of the last follows a programmed learning sequence designed to maximize learning. Each chapter uses the following format: an overview, which helps the reader focus on the substantive elements; an ongoing case illustration, which demonstrates use of the particular skills; a section devoted to the "research background," which links the skills and activities to the appropriate empirical evidence; and finally, a summary section, which highlights the major points in the chapter by formulating and answering questions for the reader. Charts and graphic presentations are used throughout the book almost to the point of redundancy, although they may provide the visually oriented learner with extra impetus. The

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practical and conceptual bases for the helping skills are made abundantly clear, but so is the closed-end belief system that has been characteristic of the Carkhuff approach to date.

While The Skills of Helping provides a clear introduction to Carkhuffs theories of helping, The Art of Helping IV and the accompanying Student Workbook provide the method for teaching the skills. These books make excellent use at every turn of modern teaching technology. They are written in a relaxed conversational tone while maintaining the confident assertion of the author's point of view. The major helping skills outlined in The Skills of Helping are presented in these books with clear definition and explanation. The authors make effective and consistent use of sketches, drawings and charts to illustrate the helping behaviour they would have the readers reproduce. The Student Workbook goes one step further by making use of photographs to demonstrate facilitative and non-facilitative behaviour and settings. There is even a helping skills pre- and post-test to allow readers to measure, and gain reinforcement for, their learning. Some adjustments have been made in style and presentation, but the major differences in The Art of Helping IV when compared to the first three volumes are an appendix that summarizes the research on which this helping approach is based, some expansion of the "feeling" word vocabulary, and some refinement of the discrimination tests.

All of these texts are directed at the beginning level helper. They would find their greatest audiences at the community college and paraprofessional/inservice training level. In addition, the growing number of BSW programs that are committed to micro-level skills training would find the organizing principles that are so well thought out and researched useful in a skills laboratory. Some adaptation would have to be made to the social work context, but the teaching and helping principles utilized in these works are easily translatable and well- documented. MSW programs might find the behavioural focus and narrow definition of helping too limited for their purposes, given the profession's commitment to a broad range of fields of practice, including environmental and macro-level intervention.

Bill Rowe, , MSW Assistant Professor King's College London, Ontario

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