Counselling psychology in South Africa

The origin and development of counselling psychology in South Africa has been profoundly influenced by the country’s sociopolitical history and the impact of apartheid. As a result of this, counselling psychologists in the country face a number of challenges and opportunities for the future. In this paper we provide a portrait of counselling psychology in South Africa by describing the current character of the specialty and the context in which South African psychologists work. We critically discuss the challenges that the specialty faces to meet the country’s mental health care needs, contest the current Scope of Practice; affirm multiculturalism without essentialising or reifying race and ethnicity, and build an evidence base for community interventions in the country. We also consider how, in the future, counselling psychologists in South Africa may make a more meaningful contribution within public health and the country’s health care and education systems.     

Counselling psychology in the United States

Counseling psychology (CP) emerged in the US as the result of the convergence of a number of trends in early applied psychology, a number of social factors, as well as changes in the organizational structure of the American Psychological Association. We offer an overview of the history of counseling psychology in the US, focusing on key events that have helped establish and shape the profession. Struggles over the definition of CP as a specialty and its relations with clinical psychology and professional counseling are discussed, as are matters related to the licensing of CP practitioners, and the profession’s relationships with counseling-related professional organizations. The educational and professional preparation of CPs, the profession’s core values that affect both training in and the practice of counseling psychology, and the settings in which CPs work are briefly described. We close with a discussion of several of the challenges facing CP as it is organized and institutionalized in the US.     

Counselling psychology in New Zealand

This article offers a brief overview of the history of counselling psychology in New Zealand. It describes current postgraduate study options and registration pathways as well as the institutions and organisations that provide legislative and professional membership and support to counselling psychologists in New Zealand. Data collected from a national survey in 2014 provide insight into the demographics of the profession in New Zealand, the theoretical frameworks that are utilised and employment opportunities that exist for counselling psychologists. The article also highlights the uniqueness of a cultural and contextual approach that aligns itself with New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi which is based on the principles of partnership, participation and protection. It concludes with the challenges the profession face as a new scope of practice. These challenges include establishing a professional identity in the mental health delivery system in New Zealand and responding to an ever increasing multicultural society.     

Counselling psychology in the United Kingdom

Counselling psychology within the UK has grown over the last three decades, adapting to many changes in the field of applied psychology, whilst remaining true to its core values and humanistic origins. The identity of counselling psychology is strongly rooted in a relational stance and applied psychology, where attention to psychological formulation is given to improve psychological functioning and well-being. This article outlines a brief history of counselling psychology in the UK, the training process, credentialing and looks at some important challenges and future directions for counselling psychology in the UK. A proportion of the members from the British Psychological Society’s division of counselling psychology (DCoP, N = 148) took part in the study. Participants provided demographic, training, employment, workplace and career pathway information obtained through an online questionnaire distributed to all DCoP members. On the whole, DCoP members are working in a variety of areas within the UK and the findings of this article contribute to the international study comparing counselling psychology across the globe.     

Development and current status of counselling psychology in Taiwan

This article details the three stages of counselling psychology’s development in Taiwan, including pre-legislation, legislation and post-legislation. In pre-legislation stage, a brief historical review of the growth of counselling and guidance is introduced, which is the root of the contemporary counselling psychology. The process of the Psychology Act’s legislation is described in legislation stage and the relationships between counselling teachers and clinical psychologist are also discussed. In the post-legislation stage, the licensure system, training programmes, main professional organizations, work settings, and the major opportunities and challenges for the counselling psychology field are presented. In addition, the article refers to data from a national survey of 124 counselling psychologists to provide a profile of the counselling psychologists in Taiwan.     

Counselling Psychology in Canada

Counselling psychology in Canada has experienced tremendous growth and greater recognition within the last 30 years. However, there is little empirical research on the practice of counselling psychology in Canada and the characteristics of Canadian counselling psychologists. We administered a 74 item questionnaire to 79 counselling psychologists who were members of the Counselling Psychology Section of the Canadian Psychological Association, achieving a 35.4% response rate. The survey asked various questions organized under the headings of: Background Information, Theoretical Orientations, Professional Activities, Training and Career Experiences, and Future. Overall, these Canadian counselling psychologists seem to see the discipline as moderately different from clinical psychology and from counsellor education, and are largely satisfied with their choice of career in counselling psychology. Results further indicate that independent practice is the most common work-setting and that respondents spend a large share of their time providing individual, non-career related, counselling/psychotherapy of primarily a rehabilitative/treatment-oriented nature. A strengths-focused approach was also highly valued by the sample. The development of the field, distinctive characteristics of Canadian counselling psychology, the place of counselling psychology in the Canadian health care delivery system, credentialing, professional organizations, education and training issues, allied professions, opportunities for the field, and threats to the field are also discussed.     

An overview of South African psychology

This overview of psychology in South Africa presents a concise and historical account of its science and practice, from its early origins in the late nineteenth century to the present, and traces seminal influences on the discipline. It is a review of how psychology in South Africa developed over more than a century to become one of the most popular subjects in universities and an established and recognized profession, whose members play a variety of roles in the South African polity and larger society. The impact that apartheid racism had on key aspects of psychology's development is traversed, and the influences that previous ruling party politics had on professional psychological organizations are delineated. The unification of psychology under the Psychological Society of South Africa, a few months before the advent of democracy in South Africa, is explicated. The protection of the title of psychologist in law and certain other changes in the legislative environment, enabling a greater role for psychologists, are reported. The primary research sites for psychology and its funding and the main university psychology programs are described, as are the requirements for registration and licensure. The genesis and the importance of the work of internationally acclaimed South African psychologists, such as J. Wolpe and A. A. Lazarus, are contextualized. With the increased participation of progressive black psychologists in leadership and research in the past two decades, a transformed psychology has the potential to play a significant role in addressing human issues confronting South Africa.     

Towards an integrated identity in counselling psychology: Graduate,professional and academic experiences

The paper is a reflective summary of my identity as a counselling psychologist. It discusses personal life, work and training experiences. The reason I would like to publish such a work is to encourage students in Greece, where the field of Counselling Psychology is less developed, to consider this kind of specialization, as well as to continuously enhance their professional identity, assimilating both practice and research opportunities, throughout their career paths. The paper focuses on three major influences in my development and training in the field: (a) graduate experiences as a doctoral student, writing a thesis on women's professional development, (b) work experiences in a career center of a large academic institution, and (c) academic and instructional experiences in a School of Psychology, where I teach and supervise research of both undergraduate and graduate students. The above influences delineate three separate, yet integrating identities: the identity of a feminist, the identity of a practitioner, and the identity of a researcher and instructor in the academia–that is, the identity of a scientist. My intention is to show how these three identities have been well integrated all these years, improving continuously my level of work in each and every dimension.     

Community Counselling: Values and Practices

This article focuses on community counselling, specifically in African contexts. A community psychology approach is used as a framework for this discussion. This approach, linked to a critical perspective, highlights the importance of going beyond individualist assessments and interventions towards comprehensive approaches that locate the person in context, and that listen carefully to and engage openly with all voices in a way that highlights dynamics that oppress ourselves and others, for the purposes of building a supportive and health promoting environment for all. Perspectives and values relevant to this approach, and their implications for psychological practice, are discussed. In particular, the implications for psychological assessment and intervention are explored in some detail.     

多元文化的心理咨询与治疗理论刍议

随着西方社会人口比例的改变,以及后现代文化思潮的冲击,西方传统心理咨询与治疗理论的局限性日益凸显。多元文化的咨询与治疗理论(MCT理论)就是在这种条件下产生的,它试图弥补传统咨询与治疗理论忽视文化因素的不足。MCT理论认为,应修正传统理论中的文化偏见,在咨询过程中增强文化敏感性。     

Integral approach to South African psychology with special reference to indigenous knowledge

In order to redress imbalances in South African psychological service provision, honor indigenous, transpersonal, community based perspectives, and introduce fresh insights and direction, this article presents an integral approach to psychology in South Africa. Areas highlighted for future research and praxis include integral and transpersonal psychology; spirituality; consciousness; especially moral consciousness, ancestral consciousness and reverence; indigenous knowledge systems, particularly indigenous healing; harmonisation of old and new, African, Eastern and Western forms of psychology; well-being and community development through health promotion practices and multicultural counselling.     

Tracking trends: A longitudinal look at internship placements in counselling psychology in the United States

Efforts to track trends in internship placements across time serve the field of counselling psychology in a number of ways. But this research is qualified by its reliance upon a single source of data: the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Program (CCPTP) annual survey. This paper provides a review of the concerns related to this over-reliance, and addresses these concerns by supplementing this data source with the comprehensive data collected by the Association of Psychology and Post-doctoral Internship Centers (APPIC). Findings provide a longitudinal look at the supply and demand issue concerning internship placements, track the nature of pre-doctoral internship placements across a 30-year period of time, and generally support the validity of the CCPTP data by documenting their close correspondence to recent APPIC data.     

Academic Counselling for Graduate Research Students with Distance Learning

The study examined academic counselling needs for graduate research students enrolled with a distance education university. Participants were 17 students (males = 10, females = 7; mean years of enrollment =1). They responded to an open ended questionnaire on pertinent counselling needs in these students related to their studies. Data were analyzed qualitatively using thematic content analysis. Findings suggested counselling needs from conflicting work and family commitments. Accessibility and user-friendliness of administrative systems and support, ease of contact and approachability of academic staff and financial strain were also significant concerns. Prospective solutions to these needs included stress management, time management, self-study skills and income generation.     

The feminization of psychology: data from South Africa

In many countries, women outnumber men in psychology, both as students and as professionals. Much of this information is drawn from Europe and the USA, and the information available about the situation in developing countries is a lot less detailed. The steady increase in the presence of women in psychology in South Africa is examined, via access to two large national databases and telephone interviews. These sources are the most reliable available, and are comprehensive enough to give a very good snapshot of women in psychology in this country over the last 12 years. The data indicate that psychology as a profession in South Africa is dominated by women. Although the applied practical aspects of the discipline attract women disproportionally, women are also over-represented in research psychology and academia (except at the professorial level). The racial composition of the profession remains skewed, with white psychologists in the majority. Although the data in this regard are incomplete, approximately 5% of registered psychologists are black. An examination of student enrolments suggests that this situation will continue in future, as women (and white students) enrol in much greater numbers for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. In 2002, 74% of psychology majors were women, and 78% of all Master's degrees in psychology were awarded to women. Thus it would appear that the feminization of psychology in this country is further advanced than in Europe and the USA. It is not a question of men abandoning the profession, but rather that women entered the profession at a much higher rate in recent years.     

The future of Canadian counselling psychology: Doctoral students

Little is known about the overall characteristics and beliefs of Canadian counselling psychology doctoral students. An online survey was administered to 43 doctoral students across all Canadian counselling psychology programmes, representing an approximate 26% response rate. Results indicated that the average age of doctoral students in the sample was about 32 years and that the majority were women (about 77% in the sample). Additionally, findings can be taken to suggest that participants were satisfied with their choice of counselling psychology as a career. The doctoral students sampled primarily practised from an integrationist theoretical standpoint and spent very little of their practice time providing formal psychological assessment services or career counselling. Participants generally intervened through individual counselling or psychotherapy and were focused on disorder treatment rather than preventative or developmental services. Curriculum changes that should be considered from the results of this study pertain to the topics of assessment, career counselling, advocacy/media skills, professional identity development and prevention/developmental interventions. The results of this study can also be taken to predict characteristics of the next generation of Canadian counselling psychologists and the future practice of counselling psychology in Canada.     

Community Counselling in African Contexts

This article explores community counselling as a form of professional practice for psychologists, with a particular focus on practices that are relevant in African contexts. The discussion identifies and discusses various models of practice identified in community psychology, including an ecological perspective, a public health and community mental health framework, interventions that focus on promoting a sense of community, indigenous approaches to community counselling and a critical or social action framework. Examples relating to each of these models of practice are drawn from various African settings, providing practitioners with some insights into how theory can be operationalised into practices that are relevant to African contexts. The article concludes with a discussion on community research, with a particular focus on ethical considerations relevant to a community approach in African contexts. The latter discussion emphasises the importance of working with the community as partners, and suggests the possibility of developing a Code of Ethics aimed specifically at guiding community counselling practice in African contexts.     

The Challenges of HIV/AIDS Counselling in Nigerian Secondary Schools: A Case Study of Kwara State

The study investigated the challenges of HIV/AIDS counselling in Nigerian secondary schools as expressed by school counsellors in Kwara state, Nigeria. The respondents comprised 132 purposively selected counsellors in Kwara state public secondary schools (Male=85; Female=47). Data were collected with the use of a survey instrument and the data were quantitatively analyzed. The study identified the challenges hindering effective implementation of HIV/AIDS counselling in Nigerian secondary schools as ignorance, non-existence of governmental policy on HIV/AIDS counselling in schools and negative attitudes of school administrators, students and teachers to HIV/AIDS. Geographical location and job status had significant influence on the respondents' views of the challenges facing HIV/AIDS counselling in Nigerian secondary schools. The Counselling Association of Nigeria (CASSON) should enlighten Nigerians on the importance of HIV/AIDS counselling in schools.     

Experiences of supervising postgraduate community psychology students at Wits university,South Africa

In this article, the authors discuss problems and challenges of supervising postgraduate community psychology students at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. As part of their community work, students developed community projects in schools in Alexandra Township, aimed at dealing with social ills such as HIV/AIDS, gangs, violence, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. Students found community work to be extremely exhausting, stressful and demanding. Therefore, community psychology supervision became an important space in helping students to reflect on the experiences, anxieties and frustrations. This article discusses key themes that have emerged in community supervision, including gender, race and class issues. In conclusion, recommendations are provided on how to improve community psychology supervision based our experiences. Supervisors need to be proactive in helping students to reflect on their experiences and actively engage with some of the theoretical and practical issues that emerge in community work. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.