Helping Skills for Working with College Students: Applying Counseling Theory to Student Affairs Practice

A primary role of student affairs professionals is to help college students dealing with developmental transitions and coping with emotional difficulties. Becoming an effective helping professional requires the complex integration of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and professional awareness, and knowledge. For graduate students preparing to become student affairs practitioners and for higher education professionals seeking practical ways to better support students, this fully revised textbook provides the skills necessary to facilitate the helping process and understand how to respond to student concerns and crises, including how to make referrals to appropriate campus or community resources. Focusing on counseling concepts and applications essential for effective student affairs practice, this book develops the conceptual frameworks, basic counseling skills, interventions, and techniques that are necessary for student affairs practitioners to be effective, compliant, and ethical in their helping and advising roles. Rich in pedagogical features, the text includes reflective questions, theory-to-practice exercises, case studies, and examples from the field. New to this Edition:A new chapter on "Belonging, Psychological Safety, and Community Care on Campus"Expanded discussions on sociopolitical influences, mental health, digital stress, cultural competence, and community careAdditional content on mediation, conflict resolution, reintegration after crisis, and enhanced guidance on referrals and boundariesNew and revised case studies throughout that reflect current and diverse student experiences and challengesSupport Material for download online including video clips and additional worksheets and activities

• Publication date: 1 October 2026
• Page count: 358
• Dimensions: Height 254 mm; Width 178 mm
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Format: Hardback
• ISBN-13: 9781041151159