Defining the Field
Roles of Counseling Psychologists | Unifying Themes of the Field
Roles
Gelso & Fretz (2001) discuss three main roles of the counseling psychologist. It is important to note that these roles are not mutually exclusive. Many counseling psychologists find themselves functioning in many of these roles simultaneously. They are presented separately here only for illustration.
The three roles are:
1. Remedial
2. Preventative
3. Educative-Developmental
Remedial
The remedial role involves working with individuals, couples, families, or groups in a way that assists in remedying problems. The idea here is that there is some general or specific problem or issue that needs to be addressed.
Preventative
The preventative role involves anticipating or preventing problems from occurring. Prevention can take many forms, for example outreach programs in college settings, career workshops in high schools, or team building workshops in work settings.
Educative – Developmental
The purpose of this role is to help the individual in enhancing, not just remediating, their skills. Within this role counseling psychologists are looking to foster development in the individual.
Unifying Themes
Five major themes are evident in counseling psychology (Gelso & Fretz, 2001), they are:
*Please note that these themes are based on where CP has come from and there is much more overlap today between clinical and counseling psychology regarding work settings and type of clients seen.
1. Intact Personalities
2. Focus on Strengths
3. Relatively Brief Interventions
4. Person-Environment Interactions
5. Educational and Career Development
Intact Personalities
Traditionally, counseling psychologists have focused on treating individuals with what is referred to as "intact personalities." This means these individuals do not suffer from severe pathological disorders like those that are found in state and private psychiatric hospitals. The typical clientele are those who have "problems in living" which can range from a wide variety of issues including, but not limited to: grief and loss, life transitions, depression, anxiety, adjustment disorders, relationship problems, vocational problems, etc.
Today this theme is still present in counseling psychology, however, many counseling psychologists now work in settings where their clientele are those who have severe psychopathology.
Focus on Strengths
Counseling psychologists focus on the strength an individual client has regardless of the degree of pathology. They still look at what is wrong or not working for a client, but also look to the client’s strengths. They feel each and every client, regardless of degree of pathology, can change or improve.
Relatively Brief Interventions
Historically, counseling psychologists were mainly involved in brief interventions with clients. They focused on more conscious or situational types of problems. Treatment would be short term, usually 6-15 sessions and not much longer than six months in duration. While there are still some psychologists who still do primarily counselors, most do a combination of both counseling and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is historically associated with longer term (more than 15 sessions and more than six months) therapy and involving more deep seeded or characterological problems.
Person Environment Interactions
This theme involves recognizing the reciprocal nature of humans and their environment. We act upon and influence our environment and our environment, in turn, acts upon and influences us. In vocational psychology this is taken a step further with regard to looking at person-environment fit. This idea pertains to how well one’s personality matches the setting or requirements of a job.
Educational and Career Development
Counseling psychology is a field that emphasizes human development in regard to psychological problems. They are also involved in studying themselves in areas such as graduate student development, research training environment, supervisee, supervisor, and therapist development. Career or vocational psychology is a major component and subfield of counseling psychology.
Gelso, C. & Fretz, B. (2001). Counseling Psychology (2nd Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning.