Choices remains a trusted and widely used textbook for professional training programs such as social work, criminology, nursing, child and youth care, addictions, and psychology. It is also widely utilized as a resource by professionals and volunteers in other areas where interviewing and counselling skills are essential.

A long-standing best-seller in Canada, Choices is both a comprehensive textbook and a practical reference guide for students and practitioners. The ninth edition includes realistic case studies, expanded content on trauma, and updated material on neurodiversity. Throughout the book, specialized skills and knowledge for counselling seniors, youth and the 2SLGBTQI+ community are presented. Choices offers a unique blend of best-practice theory, proven skills, realistic practical examples. Sample interviews, case studies, and thought-provoking self-awareness exercises are used to illustrate and promote skill development.

By incorporating neuroscience concepts, Choices provides counsellors with valuable insights into the biological foundations of mental health and behaviour. This knowledge supports more informed, empathetic, and effective interventions, aligning theory with the latest scientific advancements in the field..

Although grounded in the Canadian ethical and cultural framework, the content of the ninth edition is designed to appeal to a global audience, making it an indispensable resource for professionals worldwide.

Hallmark features of this title

• Choices promotes an eclectic approach that encourages counsellors to use techniques and ideas from various theoretical models depending on the specific needs of the client and situation, not the comfort level of the counsellor. Among the models that have heavily influenced this book's content are the following:
• Person-centered counselling, pioneered by Carl Rogers
• Trauma-informed practice
• Cognitive behavioural therapy/counselling(CBT)
• Motivational interviewing
• Short-term and solution-focused counselling
• Emergent insights from neuroscience
• Choices emphasizes cultural competence. Since everyone is unique, each with his or her own mix of values and beliefs, culture is a variable for work with all clients.

The 8th edition of Shebib will retire on June 1, 2026. Please speak to your rep about updating your course to the new 9th edition.

New and updated features of this title

• Significant new content:
• a. working with Indigenous peoples
• b. theory and skills for engagement with LGBTQ community
• c. enhanced material on endings
• d. exploration of listening barriers
• e. increased attention to the skills of establishing and maintaining counselling relationships
• f. implications of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Cultural intelligence which has now repositioned as Chapter 2, with increased attention to cultural identity.
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has alerted all of us to the need to deal with the traumas caused by the residential school system. Chronically over 100 years of abuse of Indigenous children—who were forcibly removed from their families to residential schools, where they suffered physical and sexual abuse and suppression of their cultural identity—the TRC found Canada guilty of cultural genocide. Now, we have a responsibility to right those wrongs. As counsellors, we need to understand the direct link between the horrors of the residential schools and challenges still prevalent in Indigenous communities today.