Applications and careers for counsellors and counselling psychologists

Applications and careers for counsellors and counselling psychologists

This chapter is based on an original chapter written by Borgen and Neault (2019) for the Canadian version of this handbook. We have rewritten and updated the chapter to reflect the Australian context and to ensure its relevance to the counselling and counselling psychology professions in Australia for those contemplating a career within these professions. Professional counselling is provided primarily by two groups in Australia: counsellors and counselling psychologists. Unlike counselling, which is linked with its own profession, counselling psychology is a specialisation within the psychology profession, and this Area of Practice Endorsement (AoPE) is undertaken after registration as a psychologist. As both counselling and counselling psychology have grown as professions, each have evolved unique identities and scope of practice. It can sometimes be confusing for students to understand the distinctions between the professions given that they are so closely related, so this chapter will focus on the Australian definitions of counselling and counselling psychology and the scope of practice in each area.

This chapter will cover the counselling and counselling psychology professions separately at first, by providing a brief history of each and describing typical training and registration requirements, research approaches, evidence of quality, and contexts in which each are practised. As we cover each of these professional fields, you will see that there are many similarities between them – as well as some differences – so after we talk about the professions separately, we will provide you with an overview of these similarities and differences. To end this chapter, we will offer some suggestions to assist you with deciding which profession would be most suited to you.

We will start off with a brief historical overview of the counselling profession, followed by an outline of current practices in the fields of counselling and psychotherapy and how these practices are evaluated. Then, we will look at some career paths for counsellors, including training options and registration. We will then explore the counselling psychology profession in Australia, starting with a brief historical overview of counselling psychology, followed by an outline of current practices in counselling psychology and how these practices are evaluated. After that, we will look at some career paths, including training options, registration as a psychologist, and an Area of Practice Endorsement (AoPE) for counselling psychologists.