Counseling Psychology and School Counseling

Abstract

Counseling psychology and school counseling have become quite removed from each other despite sharing a common history, having similar values, and the fact that many training programs for the two disciplines coexist in the same university department or college. This article argues for a stronger integration of the two specialties to advance their contributions to pre–K-12 education and the nation’s youth. Counseling psychology, with its strong commitment to career psychology, counselor training and supervision, multiculturalism, prevention, and scientific inquiry, is well positioned among psychological specialties to exert major influence in the educational enterprise. Models of school counselor training and service delivery have been recently developed and offer numerous opportunities for collaboration between counseling psychologists and school counselors. A collaborative model that encompasses training curricula, research, service, and professional organization dimensions of the specialties is presented. Challenges that may impede a stronger partnership between counseling psychology and school counseling, as well as suggestions for addressing them, are also discussed.

A Call for Greater Collaboration Between the Counseling Psychology and School Counseling Professions

“…For example, since 1994, the number of counseling psychology graduates who begin their first job in private practice has declined dramatically (Neimeyer, Bowman, & Stewart, 2001). These decreases have often been attributed to health care cutbacks and changes with thirdparty insurance payments (Romano & Kachgal, 2004).…”

“…Another significant change is the number of counseling psychology programs housed in colleges of education (Hoffman & Carter, 2004;Romano & Kachgal, 2004). Although the number of counseling psychology programs almost tripled from 1970 to 1995 (Heppner et al, 2000), nearly half of them were housed in psychology departments (Hoffman & Carter, 2004).…”

“…It is also important to note that these programs primarily involve doctoral students. After conducting basic cost-benefit analyses, deans and other program faculty often raise questions about the relevance of counseling psychology programs in colleges of education (Pope, 2004;Romano & Kachgal, 2004). Such questions not only affect counseling psychology programs but also present difficulty for other graduate programs (e.g., exercise physiology and rehabilitation counseling) that are costly to maintain and/or struggle to connect with the larger mission of colleges of education.…”

“…As a way to explore these possibilities, Hoffman and Carter (2004) assembled a cadre of counseling leaders to participate in a "candid" dialogue on ways in which counseling psychology can establish collaborations outside of its traditional scope of practice. Using the Romano and Kachgal (2004) article as the focal point, Hoffman and Carter (2004) invited these counseling leaders (i.e., Coleman, 2004;Forest, 2004;Galassi & Akos, 2004;Gysbers, 2004;Lichtenberg & Goodyear, 2004;Pope, 2004;Sabella, 2004;Whiston, 2004;Yeh, 2004) to respond and share their viewpoints on the information presented.…”

Counseling Psychology and School Counseling

“…What this means is that the majority of counseling psychology programs are now located in colleges of education. At the same time, psychology has moved away from some areas of importance to education (e.g., school counseling, counselor education, school psychology).The above statistics help set the stage for understanding the importance of Romano and Kachgal's (2004) contribution that focuses on the collaborative model between counseling psychology and school counseling. In the past, some counseling psychology and school counseling programs were physi-…”