An occupational analysis of counseling psychology: How special is the specialty?

Abstract

The specialty of counseling psychology has come under scrutiny as a result of recent preoccupation with licensing, credentialing, and third-party payments. A lack of clarity concerning the nature of the specialization appears to be shared by psychology in general counseling psychology in particular, and also the general public. In the present study an occupational analysis of counseling psychology was conducted to determine what counseling psychologists actually do, how they feel about it, and how (if at all) the field is changing. The results suggest that counseling psychologists are strongly practice oriented and appear to see themselves as engaged in psychotherapy and traditionally "clinical" activities with a reduced emphasis on vocational academic, and research-focused behaviors. This finding is particularly true of the younger respondents. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the counseling-clinical distinction and the scientist-practitioner model.

Career Counseling Practicum: Transformations in Conceptualizing Career Issues

“…The students initially had misgivings toward and limited interest in providing career interventions. Similar perceptions of career counseling have been reported by others (Fitzgerald & Osipow, 1986;Gelso et al, 1985;Pinkney & Jacobs, 1985). Students' attitudes seemed related to their assumptions about the value of career counseling or their anxieties concerning their career interventions skills.…”

Overlap among clinical, counseling, and school psychology: Implications for the profession and Combined‐Integrated training

“…The researchers have asked, in different ways, "How special are the specialties?" They have uniformly answered, "Not very" (Fitzgerald & Osipow, 1986). Some studies on the roles and functions of clinical and counseling psychologists do substantiate traditional differences, but the sim- ilarities are far more numerous (Brems & Johnson, 1997;Fitzgerald & Osipow, 1986;Norcross, Karg, & Prochaska, 1997a, 1997bWatkins, Lopez, Campbell, & Himmell, 1986).…”

Male Psychology Doctoral Students: The Influence of GRC on Training

“…Recent national data (American Psychological Association, 2010;2009a) (Yamamoto, 1963) and 80% in the mid-1980's (Fitzgerald, & Osipow, 1986;Munley, Pate, & Duncan, 2008). In sum, these data stress the minimal presence of scholarship around the experiences of men in the field given the combined shifts in gender composition and proliferation of multiculturalism.…”

“…Recent data and counseling psychology doctoral students (American Psychological Association, 2010). These statistics juxtapose clearly against data from 1973, which revealed that men comprised nearly 80% of psychology, Ph.D. recipients in the workforce -a percentage that shrank to 50% by 2006 (Hart, 2009 (Fitzgerald, & Osipow, 1986;Munley, Pate, & Duncan, 2008). While the increased representation of women is an encouraging change within the field (Pion et al), this gender shift also naturally seeks explanation for fewer male students seeking and completing psychology doctoral degrees.…”