Counselling is a practical activity. The aim of this book is to offer a practical framework to enable those who work in the health profes­ sions to develop a range of counselling skills. It will also offer a theoretical grounding that may serve to inform counselling practice. The book is aimed at any of those people who work in the health professions: nurses, medical staff, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, soeial workers, teachers of various sorts and voluntary workers. It does not seek to provide information speeific to the work of those groups but aims at demysti­ fying counselling and making the skills involved available to them all. The book assumes that the professional working in a particular group will already have their own body of knowledge regarding their work. This book will supplement that knowledge and extend the range of caring skills. Throughout the book, practical examples of the prineiples under discussion are offered. These help to make the abstract concrete. They also serve to apply the skills described to a variety of health-care settings. A problem arises over gender and trying to avoid sexist language. I have been unable to find a solution to it and have referred to the counsellor as she and the dient as he. No sexism is intended but the usage may have made for darity and ease of reading.