Knowledge of Counselling Psychology and Choosing it as a Career
Confusion with other professions Not well publicised
Don’t know anyone working in the field
Know nothing about it
Personal specification for job Perceived as a professional career Dangerous and stressful
job
Not discussed at home
The third theme seemed critical in gaining some insight in terms of the research question.
Knowledge about counselling psychology. Ten participants were interviewed and only one (16-18 year old) had some knowledge about counselling psychology. A common phrase used by all participants was “it’s not really something I’ve heard of
before” (Holly: 149; Andrea: 243). Counselling psychology was an unknown
phenomenon to these participants and they were unaware of what being a counselling psychologist would entail or mean. For the majority, they were hearing about it for the first time: “Until you mentioned it... I didn’t know that there was such a job” (Mark: 584-585). Surprisingly even the undergraduates just had “a general idea” (Heather: 565); or explained “I don’t know too much” (Rosie: 313).
Confusion with other professions. It appeared that participants were more familiar with the job of a counsellor (Josephine: 485-486; Dan: 220), but there was some
confusion with regards to the difference between a psychiatrist, a counsellor and a counselling psychologist (Andrea: 189; Jade: 220).
…“ I...guess that it is kind of like being a psychiatrist, is it not? (laughing) I’m not sure… I don’t know much” (Andrea: 191-192).
Not well publicised. Participants perceived that counselling psychology should be more accessible and visible so that it did not seem as if a person had to struggle to find information about it.
“…It’s a subject that people need to know more of…it’s not something that you would go on…say a normal Uni’s site and see… unless you proper search for it”
Doctorate Portfolio 107 Counselling psychology is a professional career. Despite the lack of knowledge
about counselling psychology, participants on the whole seemed to imply that they perceived counselling psychology to be a professional career that was important and one that was equal to any career (Dan: 250-253; Holly, 148). Some of the reasons cited for this were the length of training, as well as a ‘lucrative’ salary (Peter: 368).
Becoming a counselling psychologist. When participants were asked whether they had considered a career as a counselling psychologist, only one parent showed an interest and suggested that had she “heard about it before, and I knew how to get on it” (Josephine: 572), she would have given it consideration. The majority of participants answered a resounding no! “In all honesty no, no.” (Peter: 386). Holly appeared ashamed that she didn’t want a career in the field: “Not really” (laughing embarrassed) (Holly: 180). For Jade (251, 256) and Holly (149, 151) a lack of knowledge about counselling psychology was a contributory factor in not considering a career in the profession. Heather seemed to be saying that she was not interested in a career in counselling psychology:
“… personally…no…I don’t really want people’s problems” (546-547).
Personal specifications for the job. This sub theme disclosed the type of
personality that participants thought would best fit the job of a counselling psychologist. It was very revealing in terms of whether they saw themselves as a suitable candidate. The candidate had to be strong minded (Heather: 636-637; Dan 251-252); able to sympathise and possess the ability to bracket issues as appropriate as well as remaining emotionally detached (Wayne: 357, 361-362). Further skills that were deemed effective were the ability to show patience and have sufficient curiosity about a potential client’s circumstances, without getting emotionally involved (Mark: 639-640, 646). In most
Knowledge of counselling psychology and choosing it as a
career
Confusion with other professions Not well publicised
Don’t know anyone working in the field
Personal specification for job Perceived as a professional career Dangerous and stressful
job
cases, the participants seemed to suggest that they were not the right type of person for the job. It appeared that they felt inadequate in some way to consider it as a choice.
Don’t know anyone working in the field. Participants did not know one person who was working as a counselling psychologist. The impressions given were as if counselling psychology was some type of mystery:
“…I’ve been in this world a little bit long... and…don’t readily see people from that field……don’t know any psychologists…I guess most people you know are of the same ilk; unless they know someone who does it, IS it a line of work that you readily think about? I don’t think it is” (Peter: 323-325, 339, 391-393).
Knowing someone working in the field seemed important for participants. That was what they reflected on when thinking about the role of a counselling psychologist. Some participants observed that a probable reason why so few African Caribbeans choose counselling psychology is the fact that:
“… it’s not as.. out there, as, say, being the next Jay-Z,… or the next Beyoncé -… it’s not in your face as much (Heather: 707-708, 710, 712)
and neither is there a familiar ‘face’ (Heather 717-718); for if there was a “… a
famous Black Counselling Psychologist, I think it might ... change a few people’s perceptions (Heather: 714-716) to the profession because it will be a face to whom
people can relate.
Discussing options at home. With regards to discussing career options at home, counselling psychology was not on the agenda for any of the participants. The
participants perceived that training to become a counselling psychologist would involve long periods of study as well as difficult and hard work and this seemed to be a
“…people are thinking, and I’m thinking, psychologists must study a LOT.. …seems
a lot of hard work and hard grafting” (Peter: 346-347, 349-350).
Concerns about counselling psychology. Some concerns were raised about the personal safety and well-being of the psychologist. It appeared that some participants perceived the job to be stressful coupled with personal risk. A further participant
described the job as having the potential to be “stressful and dangerous” because of the perceived client group that a counselling psychologist would work with (Wayne: 305- 306, 315-319). One participant raised concerns about the type of techniques that a counselling psychologist would use. She believed that it had the potential to be damaging to the client(Andrea: 202-203).
Figure 17