In The Making of a Counsellor case studies illustrate work done with `impossible’ clients; other essays about orphans and debtors, accountancy trainees and expatriate employees explore new ways of thinking about these groups of people. More traditional, perhaps, are essays about work with neurological patients, adolescent youth club members, traumatised families, and the chronically mentally ill. Each essay breaks fresh ground in understanding the complexity of the problems and the richness of the counselling relationship. In vivid narrative, The Making of a Counsellor. conveys the experience of thinking and working as a counsellor. The original and thoughtful essays make this an invaluable source of ideas and techniques.