Thousands of readers have used the honest and inspiring I NEVER KNEW I HAD A CHOICE: EXPLORATIONS IN PERSONAL GROWTH, Ninth Edition to focus on their personal growth and effect personal change. Through their warm yet thoroughly research-based discussion of significant dimensions of life, Corey and Corey help students expand their awareness—and understanding—of the choices available to them. The text explores choosing a personal style of learning, the effects of childhood and adolescence experiences on current behavior, meeting the challenges of adulthood and autonomy, and many other issues related to personal growth and development. As they work through the text's self-inventories, exercises, and activities—and read first-person accounts of the difficult choices real people have made—students will gain insight into their lives, beliefs, and attitudes in a personally empowering way.

Jerry Corey (human services, emeritus, California State University- Fullerton) and Marianne Schneider Corey, a marriage and family therapist, encourage readers to examine the choices they have made and how these choices affect their present level of satisfaction. This eighth edition provides updated and expanded material in many areas, and includes key terms and definitions. While the text is written for college students, it will be of interest to general readers, and can be used by counselors and in public and private mental health organizations for workshops and groups.
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"àprovides a strong foundation of psychology with a wise consideration of how these concepts can lead to better personal choices. I am impressed with how the book continues to evolve, remain fresh, and relevant with each new edition. I hope this text continues to have great longevity because it has had a tremendous impact on students that I worked with over the years."

"The text is written in a straightforward fashion and incorporates vignettes and exercises so as to highlight the information and bring the focus to how the information relates to the student. This allows the student to make connections and relate the information directly to him/herself and his/her experiences."

"Speaking as one who uses this book in teaching personality development and in working individually with clients, I can confidently say that I believe it to be the best possible choice for an in-depth understanding of personality development throughout the lifespan. I believe the easy to read format and interactive questions posed at the beginning and end of each chapter, allow the reader to not only learn about life stages and theory, but to develop their own person as well."

Thousands of readers have used this honest and inspiring book to focus on their personal growth and effect personal change. Through their warm--yet thoroughly research-based--discussion of significant dimensions of life, the Coreys help students expand their awareness of the choices available to them. As students work through the text's self-inventories, exercises, and activities and read the first-person accounts of the choices real people have made in response to challenging life events, they will gain insight into their lives, beliefs, and attitudes in a personally empowering way.

GERALD COREY is a Professor Emeritus of Human Services at California State University at Fullerton, and an adjunct professor of counseling and family sciences at Loma Linda University. He received his doctorate in counseling from the University of Southern California. He is a Diplomate in Counseling Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology; a licensed psychologist; a National Certified Counselor; a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Counseling Psychology); a Fellow of the American Counseling Association; and a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work; and (with Marianne Schneider Corey) received the Association for Specialists in Group Work's Eminent Career Award in 2001. Jerry also received the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award from California State University at Fullerton in 1991. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in group counseling, as well as courses in experiential groups, the theory and practice of counseling, and ethics in counseling. He is the author or co-author of 15 textbooks in counseling currently in print, along with numerous journal articles. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GROUP COUNSELING has been translated into Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian. Along with his wife, Marianne Schneider Corey, Jerry has conducted group counseling training workshops for mental health professionals at many universities in the United States as well as in Canada, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, Belgium, Scotland, England, and Ireland.Marianne Schneider Corey is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California and is a National Certified Counselor and a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work. Marianne has been actively involved in providing training and supervision workshops in group process for human-services students and professionals. She facilitates self-exploration groups for graduate students and continues to conduct training workshops in group counseling with Jerry is various countries. Both Marianne and Jerry were the recipients of the Eminent Career Award (for distinguished and major contributions to the field of group work) by the Association for Specialists in Group Work (March, 2001).

1. Invitation to Personal Learning and Growth. 2. Reviewing Your Childhood and Adolescence. 3. Adulthood and Autonomy. 4. Your Body and Wellness. 5. Stress Management. 6. Love. 7. Relationships. 8. Becoming the Woman or Man You Want to Be. 9. Sexuality. 10. Work and Recreation. 11. Loneliness and Solitude. 12. Death and Loss. 13. Meaning and Values.