Dr Cate Howell is a GP, therapist, educator and author. She had a Year 2000 Churchill Fellowship and completed a PhD on depression. In 2012 Cate was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to mental health. Cate currently works as a General Practitioner with Defence, and also has a private practice focusing on mental health and various teaching activities. Cate has a passion for sharing practical information about mental health through writing, and she has authored five books on mental health and counselling. She is a co-author of Release Your Worries (with Dr Michele Murphy), and the author of Intuition, The Changing Man, and Listening, Learning, Caring and Counselling (all Exisle). She loves spending time with her family and friends, walking on the beach, reading and swimming.

"Dr Howell’s book is a wonderful resource for a clinician like me … The final self-care chapter is very helpful; whether you have provided counselling services for many years or are just beginning ... This book enables a busy clinician like me to dip in and out and find useful hints and strategies and the inclusion of relevant apps and websites is most helpful."

• Introduction 2 Part 1: Foundations of the LLCC approach 4 1. The fundamentals of counselling 5 Definitions 6 The therapeutic relationship 6 Effective communication 9 Clinical intuition 11 The integrative approach 13 Consumer and carer perspectives 14 Cultural and gender issues 16 2. The initial phase of counselling 20 The LLCC assessment 21 Assessment tools 27 Formulation 29 Management planning 31 3. The LLCC integrative approach 38 Influential philosophies and approaches 39 The LLCC approach 45 Part 2: Managing life issues and problems areas 68 4. Improving sleep 71 Background 72 LLCC management 73 Sleep hygiene 75 Hypnotherapy 77 5. Managing stress and anxiety 81 Background 82 LLCC management 84 Breathing techniques 88 Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy 101 Solution-focused Therapy 101 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 102 Interpersonal Therapy 108 Narrative Therapy 110 Positive Therapy 112 Hypnotherapy 114 Bibliotherapy and e-mental health 116 6. Overcoming depression 120 Background 121 LLCC management 123 Solution-focused Therapy 125 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 125 Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy 137 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 138 Interpersonal Therapy 140 Narrative Therapy 144 Positive Therapy 144 Hypnotherapy 146 Bibliotherapy and e-mental health 148 7. Taming Anger 152 Background 153 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 154 Problem-solving 155 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 156 Narrative Therapy 158 Interpersonal Therapy 159 Hypnotherapy 160 Positive Therapy 161 Bibliotherapy and e-mental health 161 8. Guilt and shame 166 Background 167 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 168 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 168 Interpersonal Therapy 169 Narrative Therapy 169 Expressive therapies 169 Hypnotherapy 170 9. Navigating change and transition 174 Background 175 LLCC management 176 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 177 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 178 Interpersonal Therapy 178 Narrative Therapy 179 Expressive therapies 180 Hypnotherapy 181 10. Loss and grief counselling 185 Background 186 LLCC management 190 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 193 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 194 Interpersonal Therapy 194 Narrative Therapy 195 Hypnotherapy 197 Expressive therapies 197 Positive Therapy 198 Bibliotherapy and e-mental health 199 11. A trauma-informed approach 202 Background 203 LLCC management 204 Trauma-informed practice 205 Trauma-focused CBT 207 Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy 208 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 208 Interpersonal Therapy 209 Narrative Therapy 209 Hypnotherapy 209 Positive Therapy 209 Expressive therapies 210 Bibliotherapy and e-mental health 210 12. Working on relationship issues 214 Background 215 LLCC management 218 The Gottman method 219 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 220 The 7Cs 220 13. Building self-belief 242 Background 243 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 245 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 247 Mindfulness 251 Interpersonal Therapy 251 Narrative Therapy 252 Positive Therapy 252 Hypnotherapy 256 Intuition 258 Bibliotherapy and e-mental health 258 Part 3: Further LLCC key foundations 261 14. Crisis intervention 263 Background 264 Guidelines 265 Assessment 266 LLCC management 268 15. More than self-care 272 Background 273 LLCC management 274 Appendix 281 Acknowledgments 306 Endnotes 307 Index 317