Counselling psychology is an applied psychological discipline concerned with generating, applying and disseminating knowledge on the remediation and prevention of disturbed human functioning in a variety of settings (Brown and Lent 1992). It has been a recognized discipline in the USA since 1947, and it is also well established in Australia and Canada, but it is really only since 1982, when the Counselling Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society was formed, that it became so established in Britain.
Counselling is essentially a psychological process. Its theories are concerned with helping individuals to understand and change their feelings, thoughts and behaviour. Counselling psychology, however, goes beyond this and provides a broader base. It is
a speciality in the field of psychology whose practitioners help people improve their well-being, alleviate their distress, resolve their crises, and increase their ability to solve problems and make decisions. Counselling psychologists utilise scientific approaches in their development of solutions to the variety of human problems resulting from interactions of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental forces. Counselling psychologists conduct research, apply interventions, and evaluate services in order to stimulate personal and group development, and prevent and remedy developmental, educational, emotional health, organisational, social and/or vocational problems and adheres to strict standards and ethics.
(American Psychological Association 1985)
This definition can be broken down to reveal the most commonly identified tasks in the work of the counselling psychologist, namely collecting data about clients (assessment), personal adjustment counselling, specific problem identification and diagnosis, vocational counselling and long-term psychotherapy. Nelson-Jones (1982) stresses the importance of assessment, if the counselling psychologist is to be able to offer appropriate interventions beyond the fundamental counselling relationship. Given that counselling psychologists work one-to-one and with groups, in a variety of contexts such as industry, commerce, education, medical settings (in particular primary health care), community work and the private sector, it is evident that they intervene in a range of related areas and need to call upon a wide range of psychological knowledge. The recognition and awareness of the existence of post-traumatic stress, for example, demonstrated the need to develop specific and focused psychological counselling intervention.
Importantly, the helping relationship itself is seen as a crucial therapeutic variable, in that counselling psychology involves more than just the application of specific psychological treatment techniques in a standardized fashion (Woolfe 1990). Effective helping, whatever the theoretical model being used, is seen by counselling psychologists as a transactional encounter between people in order to explore their objective and subjective experience, which is best served when the relationship is characterized by the manifestation of personal qualities such as empathy, non-possesive warmth and authenticity on the part of the helper (Rogers 1951). That the self of the helper is an active ingredient in this process means that personal development work and the experience of being a client are mandatory ingredients in the training of counselling psychologists if they are to be able to monitor the process between themselves and the clients, and here lies the distinctiveness of counselling psychology with its emphasis on the issue of process as well as content and technique.
As well as an emphasis on the nature of the relationship between client and helper, counselling psychology generally emphasizes the distinction between well-being and sickness, and concerns itself with enhancing the psychological functioning and well-being of individuals. This is underlined by adopting a more holistic view of clients in that their mental health is considered in the location of an individual in the life cycle, in their lifestyle and relationships and in their social and political context, including the influence of gender (Taylor 1994). One of the strengths of counselling psychology lies in this humanistic way of looking at personal change and development grounded in a modern sociological imagination. Furthermore, when employed in organizational structures, counselling psychologists are in a position to provide feedback about how those structures affect the quality of life of individuals within the organization and so play a part in facilitating constructive organizational change and good management practice.
Thus counselling psychology is a field notable for its diversity, influenced by diverse political and social forces as well as developments within mainstream psychology. Counselling psychology has overlaps with other areas of psychology, particularly with clinical psychology, However, a useful distinguishing factor is the issue of intentionality and the way counselling psychologists think about what they do. To quote Woolfe (1990):
‘Counselling psychology brings a humanistic perspective to looking at human problems in that it perceives them not so much as deficits but as adaptations. In this sense it can be said to involve a paradigmatic shift from traditional psychological ways of looking at problems.’
Maye Taylor
Manchester Metropolitan University
References
American Psychological Association (1985) Minutes of Mid-winter Executive Committee Meeting, Chicago.
Brown, S.D. and Lent, R.W. (1992) Handbook of Counselling Psychology, Chichester.
Nelson-Jones, R. (1982) The Theory and Practice of Counselling Psychology, London.
