Introduction to Counselling

Psychology
Deborah Ojiambo, PhD., NCC
Counselling Psychology
• Counseling Psychology is a specialty within
professional psychology that maintains a focus on
facilitating personal and interpersonal
functioning across the life span.
• The specialty pays particular attention to
emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-
related, developmental, and organizational
concerns.
Counselling Psychology
• Counseling Psychology encompasses a broad range of
culturally-sensitive practices that help people improve
their well-being, alleviate distress and maladjustment,
resolve crises, and increase their ability to function
better in their lives.
• Pays attention both to normal developmental issues
and problems associated with physical, emotional, and
mental disorders, the specialization
Counselling Psychology (APA)

• It focuses on how people function both personally and

in their relationships at all ages.
• Counseling psychology addresses the emotional,
social, work, school and physical health concerns
people may have at different stages in their lives,
focusing on typical life stresses and more severe issues
with which people may struggle as individuals and as a
part of families, groups and organizations.
•
Counselling Psychology (APA)

• Counseling psychologists help people with

physical, emotional and mental health issues
improve their sense of well‐being, alleviate
feelings of distress and resolve crises.
• Provide assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of
more severe psychological symptoms.
•
Counseling psychologists (APA)

• Counselling Psychologists help people recognize their strengths

and resources to cope with everyday problems and serious
adversity.
• They do counseling/psychotherapy, teaching and scientific
research with individuals of all ages, families and organizations
(e.g., schools, hospitals, businesses).
• Counseling psychologists help people understand and take
action on career and work problems, they pay attention to how
problems and people differ across the lifespan,
•
Counseling psychologists (APA)

• Acknowledge the influence of differences among people (such

as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability status) on
psychological well-being.
• Believe that behavior is affected by many things, including
qualities of the individual (e.g., psychological, physical or
spiritual factors) and factors in the person’s environment (e.g.,
family, society and cultural groups).
• Counseling Psychologists serve persons of all ages and cultural
backgrounds in both individual and group settings.
Specialized Knowledge

• Across all stages of development (i.e., childhood, adolescence,

adulthood and older age)
• Counseling psychologists focus on:
• Healthy aspects and strengths of clients (whether being seen
as individuals, couples, families, groups or organizations.
• Environmental/situational influences (how cultural, gender and
lifestyle issues shape people’s experiences and concerns).
• Issues of diversity and social justice (e.g., advocacy).
• The role of career and work in peoples’ lives.
Problems Addressed

• The problems addressed by counseling psychology are

addressed from developmental (lifespan), environmental and
cultural perspectives.
• Examples of problems addressed:
• School and career/work adjustment concerns.
• Making decisions about career and work and dealing with
school‐work‐retirement transitions.
• Relationship difficulties‐including marital and family difficulties.
• Learning and skill deficits.
• Stress management and coping with negative life events.
Problems Addressed

• The problems addressed by counseling psychology are addressed from

developmental (lifespan), environmental and cultural perspectives.

• Examples of problems addressed:

• Organizational problems.
• Dealing with and adjusting to physical disabilities, disease or injury.
• Personal/social adjustment.
• The development of one’s identity.
• Persistent difficulties with relating to other people in general.
• Mental disorders
Skills & Procedures Utilized

• Examples of procedures and techniques used within counseling psychology include:

• Individual, family and group counseling and psychotherapy.

• Crisis intervention, disaster and trauma management.
• Assessment techniques for the diagnosis of psychological
disorders.
• Programs/workshops that educate and inform the public about
mental health, school, family, relationship and workplace
issues so that problems can be prevented before they start or
reduced before they get worse.
Skills & Procedures Utilized

• Examples of procedures and techniques used within counseling psychology include:

• Consulting with organizations.

• Program evaluation and treatment outcome (e.g., client
progress).
• Training.
• Clinical supervision.
• Test construction and validation.
• Research methodologies for scientific investigations.
etc
Population Served

• Clients served by counseling psychologists include

• individuals, groups (including couples and families) and
organizations.
• Counseling psychologists work with individual clients of
all ages, eg
• children who have behavioral problems
• adolescents with educational and career concerns or
substance abuse problems
• adults facing marital or family difficulties, career
changes, or overcoming disabilities;
• older adults facing retirement.
Population Served

• Clients served by counseling psychologists include

• They work with groups to assist them in finding
solutions to many of these same problems, as well as to
improve the personal and interpersonal functioning of
group members.
• Counseling psychologists also consult with
organizations (e.g., businesses) and work groups to help
provide a work environment in which people can
succeed, and to enhance the ability of organizations to
increase productivity and effectiveness.
Employment
• Counseling psychologists are employed in a wide range of
settings-examples
• College and university counseling centers
• university research and teaching positions
• independent practice
• health care settings, hospitals
• organizational consulting groups/organizations
Interventions
• Interventions used by Counseling Psychologists may be either
brief or long-term;
• They are often problem-specific and goal-directed.
• These activities are guided by a philosophy that values
individual differences and diversity
• Interventions focus on:
• prevention, development, and adjustment across the life-span.
Counseling Psychology vs Clinical Psychology

• Counseling and clinical psychologists often perform

similar work as researchers and/or practitioners and
may work side by side in any number of settings,
including academic institutions, hospitals, community
mental health centers, independent practice, and college
counseling centers, where they may have overlapping
roles and functions.
• Both counseling and clinical psychologists are trained to
provide counseling and psychotherapy.
Counseling Psychology vs Clinical Psychology

• Clinical derives from the Greek, “kline,” which means

bed, (and is also found in the root of the word “recline”).
• Clinical practice has traditionally referred to care
provided at the bedside of an ill patient.
• Counsel is from the Latin, “consulere,” which means to
consult, advise, or deliberate. These differences, broadly
speaking, reflect the earliest focus of each field.
Counseling Psychology vs Clinical Psychology

• Clinical psychologists have traditionally studied

disturbances in mental health, while counseling
psychologists’ earliest role was to provide vocational
guidance and advice.
• Today the differences between psychologists from each
specialty are less and there are perhaps more
similarities than differences among individual
psychologists from each field.
Counseling Psychology vs Clinical
Psychology
• Clinical psychologists tend to work more with
serious mental illness
• Clinical psychologists today focus on a variety of
serious mental illnesses, including bipolar
disorder, schizophrenia, and major depressive
disorders, among others.
Counseling Psychology vs Clinical
Psychology
• Counselling Psychologists tend to work more with
healthy clients who have fewer serious
psychological problems.
• Their work focuses more on emotional, social and
physical issues that arise from typical life stresses
or more serious issues associated with school,
work or family settings..
Counseling Psychology vs Clinical
Psychology
• Counseling psychologists might see clients for
relationship issues, substance abuse counseling,
career advice, difficulty adapting to life changes
and other such issues.
• Employed in human service settings such as
mental health centers, family services, and
rehabilitation centers.
Career Path
• Are you interested in studying psychopathology
and working with patients with serious
psychological disorders?
• Are you more interested in providing emotional
and vocational support for a healthier population
base?