At the time I had been involved in providing human service for more than 30 years.  In the course of those years I had attempted to help people who abused serious drugs, people who were considered developmentally disabled, people with chronic mental illness, people with autism, people with brain injuries, people with this, that, and the other thing, and people like you and me.  Sometimes my help seemed to make a difference, many other times it didn't. 

Nevertheless, in the course of providing human service, I often found myself in the position of teacher, trainer, and mentor.  And I was never quite satisfied with the things I attempted to teach.  I always wanted to do it better, in a way that would make a real difference for someone.

In 2002, I felt I finally got the opportunity to concentrate.  The mission - write a book that identified and described ways of interacting in human service that could make a difference in the lives of those being helped and those doing the helping.  Write a book that spoke directly to the family members, direct support staff, and other caregivers who were most likely to be doing the interacting, as well as to "professionals" who often seemed to be talking amongst themselves.  Write something that mattered, something people would read.

Although I thought I might have to write for the rest of my life, the product of the effort was a little book with only eight chapters, eight recommendations that were intended to guide helping interactions.  The book is entitled Getting Ready to Help: A Primer on Interacting in Human Service.  It suggests that all helping is rooted in interactions between people and that some interactions are more effective than others in a helping relationship.  It shows how seemingly simple actions like blaming can reduce the frequency of future helping interactions and inadvertently produce harm to an individual who may be in need of assistance.  It discusses subtle behavioral concepts like interactional reciprocity and mutual reinforcement in words that are easy to understand.  It points out that exploring our helping role and nurturing joy in human service settings may be at the root of longevity in human service professions.