Toward Quality Research in Counseling Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to propose competencies that are necessary to conduct research in counseling psychology and to propose curricular modifications that will aid the acquisition of those competencies. To understand better the present status of research training in counseling psychology, programs approved by the American Psychological Association were surveyed to assess the research design and analysis curriculum of those programs, research articles in the Journal of Counseling Psychology were examined to determine the types of analyses commonly used, and the literature discussing research training in counseling psychology was reviewed. Generally, it was found that many students are not well trained in procedures that are commonly used in counseling psychology research and that the present level of training attenuates the quality of research in counseling psychology. To obtain the research competencies necessary to conduct quality research, a curriculum containing didactic and experiential components is recommended.