Optimizing favorable outcomes when counseling the gifted: A best practices approach

Abstract

This article provides an integration of the empirical research literature on child psychotherapy and what the author has gleaned, first hand, in counseling work with gifted children and youth, and their families, over his 40-year career as a clinical psychologist. The article focuses on best practices in counseling gifted students in a way that optimizes favorable outcomes. The article has application for preventive and early intervention work, as well as for individual and group counseling efforts. Four principles of evidence-based counseling are emphasized, including the pre-eminence of a common factors’ perspective in work with gifted clients. The article highlights the value of progress monitoring and incorporating a strength-based focus, and provides a clinical case to illustrate counseling work with a troubled gifted adolescent guided by evidence-based practice.