Editorial: On becoming an urban spaceman: Considering ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ research strategies in counselling psychology

Abstract

Content and FocusResearch publications often adopt two major forms. Firstly the generic edition, which publishes all work that has met a certain threshold of quality. The second type of offering is the special edition, a collection of papers held together with a common theme running through it. Such strategies can be viewed as ‘rural’ or ‘urban’ in nature, with the latter reflecting the more collectivised commonalities and the former reflecting the every person stands for her/himself strategy. This editorial extends this urban/rural analogy to consider how such a strategy fits in relation to counselling psychology training in the UK. In particular it raises a number of strengths and weaknesses in both approaches and proposes that a more urban research strategy would enhance the profession of counselling psychology and strengthen its voice within the world of applied psychology. Following on from the predominant thrust of this editorial, the papers within this particular edition of Counselling Psychology Review are introduced in turn (and, as you will see, the edition is more rural in nature).