Chapter 8 provides tips and resources to help consultants to enjoy better collaboration with their individual clients, and to foster collaboration among community members and community-based organizations. It includes descriptions of some challenges the consultant might encounter and how the consultant might overcome them, such as conflict between community members.

In Chapter 1 we define community, consulting, and other concepts that inform and influence our work as community consultants. We explain how community consulting is different from other types of consulting, describe the purpose of the book, and provide guidance for readers in making the most use of the information provided.

Chapter 10 presents an overview of the current state of community consulting, the positive aspects, and what we can expect in the future.

Community consulting may not be for everyone. Chapter 3 presents a description of the personal qualities that are helpful to have if you wish to pursue community consulting. While it is not necessary that one individual possesses all these personal qualities, if you possess only a few of them, you may not enjoy a career as a community consultant.