Psychology is one of the broad career fields that offer different types pathways that a psychologist can pursue and follow for professionalism. Each and every career line in psychology has its expectations and different activities are needed to build it (Davey, 2011). This paper focusses on the counselling career in psychology. The essay discusses the core focus of this career line unveiling the specific areas of psychology that the practitioners in the line will handle.
The paper explores the type of work that the counsellors handle in career path and the specific places where the counsellors work. It also discusses the other professional who work together with the psychotherapists to deliver the best services in the society. Further, the report unveils the various skills and educational qualifications that are required for one to become a counsellor. Additionally, the paper explores the experience requirements for the career. It discusses both the job and volunteer experience expectations for the practitioners. Therefore, the report is critical in profiling the counselling career of psychology.
Core focus of Counselling Psychologists
The counselling psychology is a general career practice whose main focus lies in the provision of the health services mainly specializing in professional psychology. The career makes a focus on how people live or function at all the ages both in their personal lives and their relationship with others. Usually, the counselling psychologists have the main role of helping people to identify their specific capabilities that they might not be knowing. Therefore, they utilize those strengths to find the resources that to manage their everyday personal or group problems and other difficulties (McLeod, 2007). Thus, the counselling psychologist’s role is inevitable in the society that is required by every human being.
The career development role of the counselling psychologists focuses on providing the individuals with the necessary knowledge and skills that are required to give competent psychotherapy services to the society. The career is developed over time to acquire all the necessary knowledge and skills to offer the services in the mental, educational, career and vocational counselling services (Hill, 2010). Therefore, the core focus of counselling psychologist career is to provide suitable therapy services to different problems in the lives of people.
The type of work done by the Counselling Psychologists
The counselling psychologists do a general approach therapy towards the mental well-being of people through a focus on the developmental approach. Their role is related to the clinical psychologists who provide diagnostic and treatment of the mental disorders. The counsellors focus on providing a general therapy to such illness, unlike the clinical psychologists who provide a prescription for the medicine or specific therapy to given mental disorders. The other areas handled by the counselling psychologists include the career development of various individuals. They guide people in their educational line, help them in career development and growth. Additionally, these professionals also give the vocational development, an aspect that is critical in the people’s lives.
In most cases, the concentration is made on the relationship between the people and their environment, education life of people and also their career and development aspects. It addresses the emotional aspects, social life, the job, the physical health and the school aspects among many others. They help people to manage their life stresses, family issues or group or organizational problems. They help people to improve their mental health, physical well-being and emotional wellness thus, promoting a healthy living. Also, their practice significantly aids to overcome the distress feelings of people and manage the cases of the crisis in the society. Therefore, the counselling psychology profession can be summed to the assessing, diagnosing and the treatment of the psychological problems among the various individuals in the society.
Where the Counselling Psychologists work
There are various places where the counselling psychologists can work in our society. This career line is characterized by leading people in different diverse directions. The practitioners have the opportunity to deliver their services on the individual or group basis. Therefore, they are employed in private and public organizations, NGO's and profit-making companies and schools among many others. However, they are mostly found in the hospitals because their services are mostly required to aid the patients with mental issues. Thus, they serve in mental health clinics, the psychiatric hospitals and also in the educational institutions. Generally, they practice as consultancy, the education and research, hospitals, the health and care services, prisons services and even the private practices.
Regarding the workplace of the counselling psychologist, they work in private settings where they help individuals who have different problems. In some cases, they work in the outpatient facilities while in other cases, they perform their duties in the hospital setup. In many cases, the counsellor’s workplace is influenced by the type of client, the privacy required and the environmental suitability among many other factors (Sultana, 2009). Also, the workplace is determined by the specific role that the counsellors handle in the institutions, for example, counsellors who work in universities can offer offers in private environment to students in private while at the same time teach the students in the class. Also in business organizations, there are many cases where the counsellors hold a couple of workplaces within the company.
Who the Counselling Psychologists work with
The counselling psychologists work with various professions to deliver the services to their clients effectively. They work together in some cases to combine the different types of therapies for the patients who have certain specific problems. Generally, the counsellor’s job does not exist independently but significantly relies on other professionals to deliver the best services. However, the most common profession that works in collaboration with the counsellors is the clinical psychologists, who also deal with the mental health of people. The counsellors provide the general therapy top to the patients. In some cases where it fails, the counsellors collaborate with the clinicians who focus on giving the prescriptions and addressing specific mental issues of the patients. Therefore, the two are inseparable in mental health service delivery.
Other careers that work with the counsellors include the nurses who also give the psychotherapy tasks to the counsellors in the process of nursing patients. In some cases, the patients may require multiple therapies for treatment necessitating the services of counsellors. Also, they work with the social workers who help them to reach the people with problems that need counselling (Committee of Directors of Studies in Guidance Counselling, 2011). Additionally, they work with different career lines within their specific work environment. For example, in a school environment, they work with the teachers to offer services to the students. Therefore, the effectiveness of the counselling psychologists significantly needs the help of other professionals.
Skills and educational qualifications for a Counselling Psychologist
The basic educational for one \to become a counselling psychologist is to earn a bachelor’s degree. It is the first foundational step towards career development in counselling followed acquisitions of skills and knowledge in the field. However, one can utilize the bachelor’s degree from a related field such as psychology or education. In some cases, the degree obtained from the discrete liberal arts field is considered for this career. The second qualification needed is the graduate studies. It is important for those aspiring to grow in the counselling field to acquire graduate studies for effective performance and to increase their productivity level in the field. Graduate studies help the practitioners to deliver more in the field by mastering in the field. Also, the counsellors have the option of earning a doctorate in psychology or that in philosophy. It mandatory by required in certain cases in some job positions.
Also, one needs licensure to operate in the field legally. Different regions of the world have different expectations of the qualifications for the practitioners. Counselling psychologists are expected to be chartered as a qualification to practice the profession in the society. In Britain regions, one can be chartered through first obtaining the Graduate Basis of the Chartered Membership (GBC). The undergraduate degree should be accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) or make a conversion of the holding degree if it is not related to the expectations. Also, the one is expected to complete philosophy or psychology doctorate program accredited by the BPS. This gives one full membership and chartering (Ridley et al., 2011).
Besides, counselling psychologists need professional development. This qualification is usually obtained through the experience in the professional route or through the studies in a given professional line (Davey, 2011). They are expected to take part in continuous professional development (CPD). Usually, the practitioners participate in these CPD courses directly or indirectly through formal courses, personal or even work-related activities. For example, one participated in post-qualification courses, lecturing and research among many others.
Other skills that are required for the counselling psychologists include
i. The excellent interpersonal and communication skills because information sharing is the backbone of this career.
ii. Open-mindedness in handling the clients
iii. High analytical skills in handling the issues
iv. Capability to work collaboratively in teams
v. High self-drive and motivation
vi. Research mindedness
vii. Ability to work under pressure.
Work experience/ Volunteering Experience needed to become a counsellor
Experience is key in the process of delivering the services to the clients in the counselling sector. In many cases, people who are pursuing career line of counselling are always required to use all the available ways to get experience in the field. Experience is essential in offering practical transferable skills of the profession into the real world. In a case where the professional has the same education level but different experiences, those with counselling experience stands out clearly to be more efficient and competent in handling their job tasks than those who lack experience. This has made the current employer to make more focus and emphasis on going for the professionals who have experience than those who lack.
Given the fact that the employers put a lot of emphases to give employment in the field, many growing professionals are forced to volunteer. The volunteering is the most common way for the counselling psychologists to obtain experience in the field. However, after gaining experience one can seek employment which also provides more experience. More experience is important in helping the professionals get better job positions in the field and also deliver the best services to the clients. Besides, experience helps one to build confidence and capability to handle more challenging tasks within the field.
Some of the specific titles through which the counselling psychologists can acquire experience include the working as a nursing assistant, helpline volunteer, mental health work, and research assistant, support assistant, assistant psychological therapists and many others. These positions are essential in helping the career in counselling. It is also clear that the levels of experience required vary from one job position to the other and the career point where the given individuals have reached. Therefore, experience for the counselling psychologists is essential in delivering the best services, efficiency and career growth for the professions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, psychology career pathway is made up of different stages which must be followed for one to deliver the best in the field. The counselling psychologists form one of the important categories of professions in psychology that mainly focusses on the mental well-being of people. The counsellors help people to overcome stress and also make their decisions whether personally as a group. They work with other professions such as the mental health clinicians, nurses and others to deliver services collaboratively top the clients. They usually work in many different places such as the mental clinic, schools and rehabilitation institutions. In most cases, the basic qualification required for one to exercise this job is the bachelor’s degree but one has more options of going for graduate and the doctorate studies. However continuous learning is essential in the field and also one has to acquire appropriate experience for effective performance and also to increase chances of better employment opportunities.
References
Committee of Directors of Studies in Guidance Counselling (2011). Counselling Competencies for Guidance Counselling Education Programs. Interim Guidelines Dublin: NCGE
Davey, G. (2011). Applied Psychology, Chichester: BPS Blackwell
Hill, A. (2010). The Competencies Required to Deliver Effective Counselling for Depression. U.K: British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
McLeod, J. (2007). Counselling Skills. Maidenhead, Open University Press.
Ridley, C., Mollen, D. " Kelly, S. (2011). Beyond Microskills, Toward a Model of Counselling Competence. The Counselling Psychologist, Sage Publications, 1-40
Sultana, R. (2009). Competence and Competence Frameworks in Career Guidance, Complex and Contested Concepts. International Journal of Educational Vocational Guidance
