Counselling In Australia Research Articles

Preserving the Integrity of Psychotherapy: Let’s Not Throw It Under the Bus

This paper delves into the evolving landscape of psychotherapy and counselling in Australia. Using personal experiences in the field, the author addresses concerns surrounding the conflation of these two disciplines and discusses shifts in training approaches, the influence of practitioners lacking proper psychotherapy training, and the dilution of both professions within health care settings due to a lack of national standards. Through the lens of psychosynthesis, the paper delineates the distinctions between psychotherapy and counselling and emphasises the importance of depth work in addressing complex psychological concerns and severe psychopathology. Additionally, it highlights the role of the therapeutic relationship and the nuances of transference in psychotherapeutic practice. The paper concludes with a call to uphold standards that safeguard client wellbeing, advocating for clarity in terminology and a future in which individuals receive support from rigorously trained psychotherapists.

A Longitudinal Assessment of Substance Use Treatment during the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Staff and Service Data

Introduction: Alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services were required to rapidly adapt delivery of care in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This study examined longitudinal changes in the delivery of AOD counselling in Australia over 21 months (October 2019–July 2021) before and throughout the pandemic, using both staff self-report and service data. Methods: Treatment staff from a large AOD service in Queensland, Australia provided self-report data on time spent delivering counselling via face-to-face, outreach (home visits), telephone, and virtual (video) formats. Two waves of online questionnaires were collected, with staff reporting on their time before the pandemic (retrospectively for October 2019–February 2020); during the first lockdown period (retrospectively for March–May 2020); when restrictions were initially eased (June–September 2020); and one year later (July 2021). Service records of the number of counselling episodes conducted by each treatment modality were extracted between October 2019 and July 2021, and analysed by month. Results: Staff (n = 117) and service records indicated an increase in telephone-delivered AOD counselling during the first lockdown, alongside an increase in total counselling records. Telephone-delivered counselling was still significantly higher one year later. Face-to-face counselling declined after the onset of the pandemic, but increased quickly when restrictions were eased. Outreach counselling decreased during the first lockdown. Virtual counselling remained negligible throughout. Conclusion: AOD treatment services quickly utilised telephone counselling options at the start of the pandemic, and demonstrated continued utilisation of this method one year later. Increased virtual (video) counselling was not observed and may be due to limited infrastructure, staff training, and clients lacking Internet connectivity or technology required.

Feminist counselling practice in Australia: Who, where & how?

Research examining feminist counselling in Australia is exceedingly limited, even though feminism has a central place in the development and delivery of sexual assault services and domestic violence intervention. This study aimed to offer a contemporary understanding of how feminist counselling is being practiced in Australia. A convergent mixed methods design was applied between June–August 2020 with mental health practitioners Australia-wide, whereby the FTB-R scale was utilised through an online survey (n = 62) and semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 8) were conducted. Survey results indicate that whilst feminist counselling is still being practiced predominantly by women and for women, an intersectional framework is being applied with broader populations. Emergent themes of practice include advocacy and education, attending to power and client-centred practice. Results highlight the need for a model of feminist counselling in Australia to ensure its practice can continue within a system that seeks to suppress its efficacy.

Advancing Rehabilitation Counseling Professional Identity in Australia

PurposeThe past few decades have witnessed significant growth in the disability sector and the rehabilitation counseling profession has responded by broadening its scope of practice to serve a range of people who experience illness, injury, and social disadvantage. Despite the sector's growth and the profession's flexible response to it, the rehabilitation counseling profession in Australia continues to face challenges in relation to its professional identity. The purpose of this article is to identify these challenges and present solutions by reviewing literature and professionalization responses in Australia and the United States.MethodIn this article, we examine ways of transcending the professional identity challenges faced by the Australian rehabilitation counseling community. This is achieved firstly by defining the characteristics of professions and their application to rehabilitation counseling and second, by suggesting possible actions to advance the profession.ResultsThe necessary responses identified include the need for stronger professional governance, further development of the evidence base, and strict professional membership regulations. These goals will require the input of professional bodies and members, universities, rehabilitation regulators, employers, people with disabilities, and their families.ConclusionsRehabilitation counseling is a valued allied health and human service profession in the Australian work injury and disability sectors. By drawing on the experience of the profession in the United States, the authors have identified issues and solutions to facilitate the sustainability and advancement of rehabilitation counseling in Australia.

The emerging role of Financial Counsellors in supporting Older Persons in financial hardship and with management of Consumer‐directed Care packages within Australia

AbstractThe role of financial counsellors as providers of information, support and advocacy for those in financial difficulty is a well established mechanism in the mainstream welfare landscape in Australia. In general, the role of financial counsellors is in helping people alleviate or resolve their financial difficulties through improvement of their financial literacy. It is recognised as an important component of policy responses to assist low‐income households and individuals in financial stress. The use of financial counsellors for older persons (i.e., those aged 65+ years), however, appears to be underutilised. Financial hardship and abuse of older persons within our community are becoming key issues as the population of Australia “ages”. Existing evidence also suggests that service providers alone do not have adequate skills to address these issues. This paper firstly examines the development of financial counselling in Australia. It then examines the newly emerging role of financial counselling in supporting older persons in addressing barriers to financial literacy and then in navigating the complex landscape of aged care service provision. The current financialisation, marketisation and complexities of consumer‐directed care are identified as key contextual factors. The paper will then discuss an evaluation study of the provision of financial counselling to the older person population designed to support financial hardship and navigation of the complex aged care services system. The findings of the paper are based on an evaluation of the Financial Consumer Rights Council (FCRC), Victoria: Dignity and Debt Financial Difficulty and Getting Older initiative. This pilot initiative included older persons from both community‐based and aged care residential facilities in one regional area of Victoria. The initiative, conducted over 2016, was designed to assess the effectiveness of one‐on‐one financial counselling sessions with older persons that provided consumer advocacy and information about support services and entitlements (including hardship protections) associated with ageing. The evaluation found that the provision of financial counselling to the older person population could be a key mechanism in improving overall financial literacy, avoiding periods of financial hardship and in maintaining financial well‐being, quality of life and positive ageing. Findings also demonstrated a need for an expanded outreach financial counselling model to better service older persons in more isolated living environments and/or with mobility impairments living in the community, and the potential to situate offices of financial counsellors within medical centres (a space often visited by the ageing population), to co‐situate financial health check‐ups as an overall element of health and well‐being. As such, financial counselling was viewed as well placed to support older persons in improvement of financial literacy and in supporting navigation of the increasingly complex marketised and consumer‐directed care (CDC) landscape of aged care service provision in Australia.

Psychotherapy and Counselling in Australia: Profiling Our Philosophical Heritage for Therapeutic Effectiveness

A clearly articulated disciplinary base could significantly bolster the still emergent profession of psychotherapy and counselling. As the profession sharpens its profile it is important that the implications of the common factors research be fully integrated into disciplinary frameworks. The predominance of the therapeutic relationship as a factor in therapeutic effectiveness calls for greater rigour in the understanding of how that relationship works. Within an already crowded mental health space, it is timely that the profession foreground how its disciplinary bases provide that rigour. This article considers where the profession sits within a spectrum of models of health and presents an argument for deeper consideration to be given to the philosophical and relational roots of the disciplines of psychotherapy and counselling.

Subtyping based on readiness and confidence: the identification of help-seeking profiles for gamblers accessing web-based counselling.

Problem gamblers are not a homogeneous group and recent data suggest that subtyping can improve treatment outcomes. This study administered three readiness rulers and aimed to identify subtypes of gamblers accessing a national web-based counselling service based on these rulers. Participants were 1204 gamblers (99.4% problem gamblers) who accessed a single session of web-based counselling in Australia. Measures included three readiness rulers (importance, readiness and confidence to resist an urge to gamble), demographics and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Gamblers reported high importance of change [mean = 9.2, standard deviation (SD) = 1.51] and readiness to change (mean = 8.86, SD = 1.84), but lower confidence to resist an urge to gamble (mean = 3.93, SD = 2.44) compared with importance and readiness. The statistical fit indices of a latent class analysis identified a four-class model. Subtype 1 was characterized by a very high readiness to change and very low confidence to resist an urge to gamble (n = 662, 55.0%) and subtype 2 reported high readiness and low confidence (n = 358, 29.7%). Subtype 3 reported moderate ratings on all three rulers (n = 139, 11.6%) and subtype 4 reported high importance of change but low readiness and confidence (n = 45, 3.7%). A multinomial logistic regression indicated that subtypes differed by gender (P < 0.001), age (P = 0.01), gambling activity (P < 0.05), preferred mode of gambling (P < 0.001) and PGSI score (P < 0.001). Problem gamblers in Australia who seek web-based counselling comprise four distinct subgroups based on self-reported levels of readiness to change, confidence to resist the urge to gamble and importance of change.

Current Status and Future Trends of School Counseling in Australia

School counselling in Australia is presently in a state of flux and adaptation. Within this period of change and adjustment, three key points are acknowledged. First structural and organisational change is a constant in the field of school counselling in the Australian context. Second, despite this, the nature of the school counselling role tends to remain the same but with new areas of need being added, such as self harm and cyberbullying. Third, each state and territory in Australia has differing role statements and training requirements for its school counsellors. This paper initially reviews the historical context of school counselling in Australia, including changes and developments in qualifications and training programs. A description is then provided of the current status of school counselling including the differences among the state systems. Issues such as work intensification, uncertainty of tenure, supervision, ethical issues and online counselling are discussed. The scant research into the effectiveness of the profession is outlined, followed by future recommendations.

Counseling in Australia: Past, Present, and Future

The author describes the evolution of the counseling profession in Australia within the broader historic and sociocultural context. The process of professionalization is outlined, particularly over the past 15 years, and data on the demographic, professional, and practice characteristics of counselors are reviewed. Future professional directions and challenges are explored.

Relationship and family counselling in Australia: A review of our history and current status

This article examines the impetus for and development of relationship and family counselling in Australia. The practice of relationship and family counselling is reviewed from its pre‐war beginnings, and post‐war development, to the present time. The changing sociocultural environment, including political and institutional responses, regarding relationship and family counselling, is considered. Such changes include the strains on relationships present during and after World War II, the availability of contraception, changing attitudes towards sexuality and relationships, an acknowledgement of domestic violence as an issue, recognition of same‐sex relationships, and rising divorce rates. The raising of children has been separated from couple and marital interactions. Blended family issues have grown in importance. This sociocultural examination shows how changing government support has impacted the field. Changing government support includes governmental attitudes towards divorce legislation and a focus on repairing marriages, to the availability of no‐fault divorce decrees. Additionally, funding trends towards targeted, versus global, services and a movement towards charging fees for service has occurred. This has included the advent of private practice relationship and family services. Moreover, the way that the rise of professionalism within the counselling field has influenced relationship and family services in Australia is reviewed. Relationship and family services has moved from a volunteer to a professional activity requiring additional training and qualifications. Moreover, relationship services have increasingly been separated from religious activities. Historical and current attempts to develop integrated, satisfactory, and viable approaches to the selection, training, accreditation, and ongoing monitoring of relationship and family counselling practitioners are mentioned. Finally, current and emerging trends in the provision of relationship and family counselling are articulated.

The credentialing of counselling in Australia

Counselling is an unregulated activity in Australia. No statutory regulation currently exists. As a result, different counselling organizations are promoting different voluntary standards for the practice of counselling. This has led to a credentialing dilemma in which counsellors and the public are confronted with a number of counselling qualification choices. This dilemma poses a number of questions: Should counselling become more regulated in Australia? At what level should counselling be regulated? Should there be various levels of counsellor regulation? This article provides an overview of the credentialing dilemma facing counselling in Australia, compares and contrasts two main Australian accreditation efforts, and proposes cooperation as a way of navigating said dilemma. The implications for counselling as a profession are discussed along with suggestions for its development as a profession. This includes a discussion regarding the relative advantages and disadvantages of greater regulation of counselling as a professional activity in Australia. Specifically, what is and is not generally considered a profession is reviewed, different forms of credentialing are outlined, and general arguments for and against accreditation efforts are presented. The efforts of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) are compared and are shown to have common ground. Consequently, ways in which the main counselling organizations may best work in conjunction to promote counselling as a profession in Australia are proposed. These suggestions include good communication, collaboration, and the avoidance of turf wars. Specifically, that the ACA and PACFA collaborate on developing a combined independent registration list that is supported by both organizations or, minimally, that both organizations have mutual recognition on each other's register lists.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Counselling in Australia

This Special Issue provides a comprehensive overview of the counselling profession in Australia. It describes the main general counselling organizations and speciality areas, counselling education,...

The Australian Counselling Association: Meeting the needs of Australian counsellors

The Australian Counselling Association (ACA) was formed in 1999 in response to concerns that national counselling representative bodies in Australia were becoming exclusive and elitist. Thus, the ACA was purposefully designed to be inclusive in its membership. As a result, since its inception the association has grown into the largest individual membership national peak body in Australia. The ACA is involved in a number of activities that support counselling in Australia. Due to space limitations, only four main ACA activities are reviewed in this article: membership services and benefits, counsellor registration efforts, counsellor training accreditation, and the promotion of counselling within Australia. These four activities demonstrate how the ACA supports and represents counselling in an inclusive manner across Australia for the benefit of a broad range of Australians. Specifically, the membership services and benefits provided by the ACA include a tiered and inclusive membership structure, encouraging all who engage in counselling to be involved in a professional organization and continuing education efforts; a journal that contains both practitioner and peer reviewed articles; information dissemination via an electronic mail service; and access to advertisements in local phone books. Moreover, the ACA is proud to work under a policy of ready access, which involves timely responses to communications from counsellors as well as the public and the availability of toll‐free calling. National and local continuing education efforts are also organized in the form of conferences and seminars. The ACA has also contributed to counselling regulatory efforts via the setting of training standards and the creation of a national register of counsellors. Moreover, the ACA has engaged in government and insurance lobbying efforts as well as various community projects, such as the rural counselling project.

Career counselling in Australia

Historically, perhaps because of its matching process traditions, career counselling has tended to be viewed more simplistically than other fields of counselling. However, in the latter part of the 20th century the career development industry witnessed rapid growth and seems set for a promising future. Such growth has corresponded with irreversible change in the world of work, the emergence of lifelong learning as integral to people's careers, and broader and more holistic definitions of career and career development that have gained widespread acceptance. With the increased influence of constructivism, career counselling has emerged from its vocational guidance origins as a profession in its own right. Increasingly, policymakers are recognizing the importance of career guidance and counselling in assisting to achieve policy goals related to lifelong learning, employment, and social equity. Thus, closer links have been created between policymakers and practitioner associations such as the Australian Association of Career Counsellors (AACC). Such intense focus on career guidance and counselling has also resulted in closer scrutiny of its professional standards and qualifications. Consequently, at the same time as there being increased demand for and interest in career counselling, practitioner associations are faced with issues related to redefining their roles with members, the community, and policymakers. This article will describe the changed context of career counselling, current issues such as standards and accreditation, and redefinition of the profession. The AACC's response to these challenges will be the focus of this article.

Genetic Counselling as a Developing Healthcare Profession: A Case Study in the Queensland Context

Given a dearth of empirical and baseline data regarding genetic counselling in Australia, this study examined genetic counselling services in Queensland from January 1998 to December 1999. Secondary analysis was conducted with data from the Queensland Clinical Genetics Service (QCGS). During the study period, 8007 clients were seen in 4817 counselling sessions in urban and regional settings, with general practitioners (GPs) constituting the second largest referral source of clients. Genetic counsellors contributed to 80% of clinical genetic sessions as sole and co-counsellors, and counselled across 79 different disorders. Prenatal diagnosis counselling constituted the greatest workload with demands for cancer counselling increasing. Counsellors also provided educational and information services to individuals, families, general practitioners, health professionals and the community. The ratio of counsellors per head of population was less than national recommendations. Thus, although the existing model of genetic service delivery in Queensland demonstrates accessibility, the service in general is underutilised. As developments in genetic technology continue, this profession is expected to grow further and has the potential to contribute to service delivery at the primary health care level.

THE BOOKSHELF

Family Court ReviewVolume 30, Issue 2 p. 269-274 THE BOOKSHELF First published: April 1992 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1992.tb01053.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Joint Custody and Shared Parenting, Jay Folberg, Editor A Handbook of Dispute Resolution, Karl J. Mackie, Editor Intractable Conflicts and Their Transformation, Louis Kriesberg, Terrell A. Northrup, and Stuart J. Thorson, Editors Marriage Counseling in Australia: An Evaluation, Ilene Wolcott and Helen Glezer Treating Couples: The Intersystem Model of the Marriage Council of Philadelphia, Gerald R. Weeks, Editor Volume30, Issue2April 1992Pages 269-274 RelatedInformation

Why Go to a Counsellor? Attitudes to, and Knowledge of Counselling in Australia, 2002

Knowledge about, and attitudes to counselling and counsellors were surveyed in 226 participants representative of the general public in northern New South Wales and the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. As well as information about the training required, types of treatment offered, familiarity with a counselor, benefits and drawbacks of counselling, and issues of cost, professionalism and registration, participants were also asked whether they had sought, or would ever seek the assistance of a counselor, and what it was that counsellors did that could be of benefit to participants. Data indicated that the sample considered that counsellors’ primary roles were listening, supporting, and helping to solve problems. About 80% of all participants thought there needed to be more counsellors, and 79% stated that they would be willing to pay for a counsellor’s services. A series of questions asked participants to make some comparisons between counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers on issues such as: communicative ability, whether they would refer a friend in need, type of treatment offered, and what specific problems were best treated by each of the four professionals. Overall, counselors were most likely to be consulted for 13 of 20 presenting problems. Issues of professional training and recognition are discussed. Mental disorders account for about 13% of the total national disease burden in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002), with one in five Australians suffering from a mental disorder. Sixty percent of persons who seek help for a mental disorder receive counselling, the same percent as are treated with medication. Whereas 24% of those who receive counselling report that they want more of it, only 12% of those who received medication want more of that treatment.

Gambling counselling in Australia: Focus on cognitive counselling techniques

A number of specialised counselling services are now available to assist individuals who experience difficulties as a result of problem gambling behaviour. Clinicians within these services may utilise one or a number of counselling approaches depending on their own preferences and their assessment of the counselling style suitable for use with particular clients. The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to describe the range of specialised gambling counselling services now available in Australia. The second aim is to provide clinicians in the field with a range of practical cognitive counselling strategies that may be used to good effect to assist clients to reassess their attitudes towards and thoughts about gambling.

What Makes Feminist Counselling Feminist?

Feminist counselling is often characterized as a belief system. Described broadly in this way it has been difficult to clearly articulate its boundaries. The aims of this study were to provide clarification by exploring understandings of feminism among feminist practitioners and implications of these definitions for the rhetoric and practice of feminist counselling. Descriptions of feminism and feminist counselling were collected, via self-administered questionnaire, from 140 Australian feminists who were counsellors. Definitional categories were compared with previous North American research. Although comparisons across time and continent revealed few differences, inconsistencies emerged within the sample. These discrepancies underscored the need for a stronger theoretical base within feminist counselling in Australia.

Telephone counselling in Australia: Applications and considerations for use

This paper describes Australian counselling services which use the telephone as the medium for counselling delivery. It provides a background to telephone counselling and describes its uses as reported in the research and clinical literature. Special considerations in utilising the telephone to provide counselling are discussed. The paper also reviews the clinical and research literature to determine which counselling techniques are most applicable for use over the telephone.