When I Start my Practice I will Definitely Buy this

On my daily walk with my dog, I enjoy listening to the ACA's podcast. Anne Marie Wheeler and Burt Bertam the authors of The Counselor and the Law: A Guide to Legal and Ethical Practice, Fifth Edition were the first guests on the ACA's series. I would encourage anyone interested in mental health to check it out. You can find them here. Through the ACA website only members can from their podcasts. However, you can also access this program through iTunes.

If you are a counselor or are thinking about becoming one, I would highly recommend reading this book. Lacking legalese, it is is both intensely readable and practical. Wheeler is a lawyer who manages the risk management helpline for the American Counseling Association, while Bertam has been a practicing counselor for several decades. Together the two conduct seminars across America helping counselors appreciate the law and manage risk.

This is the fifth edition. The first edition was originally published in 1975 and the previous edition was produced in 1996, so we clearly needed a new update. One of the most important aspects that the new authors added was a section about HIPAA and how it affects the counselor. Before I read their book, I wasn't aware of some of the ramifications that HIPAA had on the counseling profession including how information is released to third party payers and what goes into a client's notes.

The Counselor and the Law is not just a list of do's and don'ts (don't's?) it also provides the counselor with a framework to understand why some of the laws are in place. This then promotes aspirational ethics and leads one to a better understanding of how a good practice is supported by ethics.

This book covers such topics as
* Confidentiality, privilege, and HIPPA,
* Duty to report, warn, and protect
* Suicide threats and how to deal with them
* Professional boundaries
* Record keeping,
* Who is the client?

One of my favorite parts of the book is Appendix C titled Top Ten Risk Management Strategies. The ACA has outlined concrete steps to help counselors avoid becoming legally liable.

In addition, it has been mentioned on a couple of different platforms that if one reads this book and has insurance through the ACA, after passing a test about how the law informs the counseling profession that one can be 10% off their insurance for the next three years.

Hand Over Heart

Many of the memories of important people in my life are tied to the specific gestures that they make. My best friend in high school would tenderly flutter her open palm over her chest when words were not enough to express her deepest emotions. I wonder if she knows she does it or how much I loved seeing her make that expression. I never told her that I found it endearing. In 2005, a dear friend and co-worker at Barnes and Noble made a similar hand over heart gesture when she described De Los Santos's first novel. Even though I didn't pursue Love Walked In at that time, I remembered Barbara's gesture. Years later when I saw the advanced reader copy of Belong to Me I quickly seized it in eager anticipation.

From the book jacket: "A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised no one more than herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to leave urban life behind and head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she and her beloved husband, Teo, have made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships in her new home. Cornelia's mettle is quickly tested by judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt. Perfectly manicured, impeccably dressed, and possessing impossible standards, Piper is the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she would find in suburbia. A saving grace soon appears in the form of Lake. Over a shared love of literature and old movies, Cornelia develops an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman who has also recently arrived in town, ostensibly to send her perceptive and brilliant son, Dev, to a school for the gifted."

My review: So, let me in the sincerest way I know, hand over heart, express to you how much I adore Marissa De Los Santos's book Belong to Me. Full of people who love one each other, this book is surprisingly thoughtful, big-hearted, and kind; even her antagonists are sympathetic. This story deals with topics that my friends and I are now contending--namely having children, settling into our careers, and buying homes.

De Los Santos earned her PhD in literature and creative writing. Her poetry background, she has won several awards for her poetry, has translated beautifully making her book amazingly lyrical. While reading you are going to want to re-read and savor many of her phrases.

In a video interview, De Los Santos revealed that she likes to write characters who are more courageous than she is. She went on to explain that the Cornelia Brown, the protagonist of Belong To Me, makes a decision at the end of the book that she, Marissa, didn't know if she could make were she faced with the same circumstance. You will find no white knights slaying dragons in this book. Instead the courage needed is in the emotional realm. Ever since, I too have wanted to write characters who are more courageous than I am.

Love Walked In is actually De Los Santos's first book featuring Cornelia Brown. But have no fear, dear reader, you do not need to read them in order. Both books can be read separately.

I don't want to oversell this book, because I don't want you to have too high expectations. So I am going to end my review now. You can find the first chapter of Belong to Me here.

It has a pretty cover

is the best thing that I can say about Lev Grossman's The Magicians, a book that is being touted as "Harry Potter for grownups" imbuing the genre with sex and grittiness.

Have you ever enjoyed reading a book so much that wished to live in that magical world? I sure have. After reading the Fillory books for years, Quentin Coldwater, the whining apathetic protagonist of Grossman's book, stumbles onto the college campus of a magical world. Sounds fun, huh? Well, it isn't.

I found the Magicians to be, dear god, so slow and BORING. A friend of mine recommended this book to me and I really wanted to like it, but ultimately did not. (Sorry, K. I am currently reading and thoroughly enjoying The Ethics of What We Eat. So, maybe we should just stick to nonfiction.) The language is both lackluster and dragging. There was zero entertainment. I didn't care enough to finish it.

The very derivative plot gave nods to Narnia, Harry Potter, and Tolkien. Maybe the reason I didn't like the book was because it is a satire of the whole science fiction genre. He reminded me of Francine Prose another writer that the critics seem to enjoy, but whom I find grating. :(

Oh! I thought of another positive aspect of The Magicians. Grossman's take on magic is somewhat interesting and more believable than Rowling's, but it doesn't sustain the book (at all).

If you are looking for "Harry Potter for grownups" stick with Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files." They are actually fun and enjoyable, both of which are missing from this book.