al-Amaliyya al-Irshadiyya
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- Editions
- Dār Gharīb lil-Ṭibāʻah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzīʻ
al-Amaliyya al-Irshadiyya (The Counseling Process) is an Arabic textbook on psychological counseling and clinical psychotherapy by the Egyptian psychologist Muhammad Mahrous al-Shanawi.
Purpose and Scope
Published in Cairo by Dar Gharib, the work was designed as the third volume in al-Shanawi's series on psychological counseling and psychotherapy (Mawsu'at al-irshad wa-l-ilaj al-nafsi). Al-Shanawi intended the book to address practical execution in clinical and counseling practice by examining procedural steps, technical skills, assessment tools, and therapeutic techniques. It was arranged to serve as a curriculum textbook and reference manual for basic and advanced academic courses in counseling, psychotherapy, and clinical psychology.
Structure and Content
The volume is organized into fourteen chapters covering the sequential phases and foundational components of psychological counseling:
- The Counseling Process and the Counselor: The opening chapters define the counseling and therapeutic process, distinguish counseling from related fields, outline operational models, and examine the required academic knowledge, personal characteristics, and fundamental competencies of the counselor.
- The Counseling Relationship and the Initial Interview: Chapters three and four explore the dynamics and therapeutic value of the practitioner–client relationship, communication frameworks (including the Johari window, non-verbal cues, listening responses, and action responses), and the mechanics of conducting the first interview, including session setting, building rapport, establishing structure, and managing referrals.
- Assessment, Diagnosis, and Goal Setting: Chapters five through eight address diagnostic problem conceptualization, the use of psychological testing (including intelligence, achievement, personality, and vocational measures, as well as clinical versus statistical interpretation), behavioral observation tools, and methods for establishing general and specific outcome goals.
- Therapeutic Methods and Techniques: Chapters nine and ten detail criteria for selecting interventions, establishing baseline measures, and applying therapeutic strategies. These include interventions grounded in operant conditioning, classical conditioning, social learning theory, relational counseling, cognitive and cognitive-behavioral therapies, and an Islamic model for anger management.
- Evaluation, Termination, and Professional Practice: The final four chapters address evaluating counseling outcomes, criteria and techniques for the termination of counseling sessions and relationships, professional ethical standards, and procedures for case recording, documentation forms, and psychological reporting.
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