An Unwarranted Escalation of Counselor‐Counseling Psychologist Professional Conflict: Comments on Weinrach, Lustig, Chan, and Thomas (1998)

Abstract

S. G. Weinrach, D. Lustig, F. Chan, and K. R. Thomas (1998) made unwarranted claims about the number of psychologists publishing in the Journal of Counseling & Development during 1978 to 1993 as well as their membership in the American Counseling Association. The authors' claims are evaluated and then discussed in the context of the long‐standing counseling‐counseling psychology relationship.

Scholarly Productivity of Editorial Board Members of Three American Counseling and Counseling Psychology Journals

“…The extent to which counseling psychology and counseling are the same or different fields is debatable (cf., Goodyear, 2000;Thomas, 1991;Weinrach, Thomas, & Chan, 2001). However, a substantial number of Division 17 members also belong to ACA.…”

Professionalism's Challenges to Professional Counselors' Collective Identity

“…Even though Goodyear (2000) recognized the existing conflict, he emphasized that "counselor and counseling psychologist groups continue to have a shared identity and many interests in common, which is reflected in the continuing overlap in membership between Division 17 and ACA" (p. 105). In truth, despite commonalties, the relationship between professional counselors and psychologists has frequently been acrimonious.…”

The Doctorate in Counselor Education

“…For some time, scholars within the U.S. have debated whether there are differences between counselor educators and counseling psychologists related to research skills and job placement (Goodyear 2000;Weinrach et al 1998;Weinrach et al 2001). In three studies exploring post-graduate occupations, professional behavior, and salary among counselor education and psychology doctoral graduates, Zimpfer (1993Zimpfer ( , 1996 and Zimpfer and DeTrude 1990 found that across most outcomes (i.e., salary, professional activities, and future goals) counselor education and counseling psychology graduates were more similar than different.…”

“…Research that examines professional identity for counselors in the U.S., and its perceived association with terminal degrees, has received some attention in the literature (Goodyear 2000;Weinrach et al 1998;Weinrach et al 2001), yet little research has explored the actual process of doctoral education in general (Haworth and Bair 2000) and in counselor education specifically (Zimpfer et al 1997). Moreover, there is no information in the counseling literature about how doctoral programs within and outside the United States individually tailor their degree process.…”