Advertised Australian counselling psychologists: A descriptive survey of their practice details and self perceived competence in six counselling psychology practice areas

Abstract

This survey research in a field setting aimed to describe psychologists who advertised themselves in the Australian Yellow Pages as counsellors, thus providing a snapshot of advertised counselling psychologists in Australia. Data was collected using a multiple mailing survey method and resulted in a 62.2% return rate. The psychologists’ (a) demographic characteristics, (b) training and development, (c) provision of services, (d) professional involvement, and (e) their self perceived competence in working with (i) depression, (ii) anxiety, (iii) substance use, (iv) clients from non English speaking backgrounds and Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander individuals, (v) clients who are same sex attracted (gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals), and (vi) clients using electronic mail and instant messaging were assessed. Advertised Australian counselling psychologists tend to be female, mature and Caucasian. The majority of the psychologists surveyed live in urban areas. Master and Bachelor level degrees were most often reported, a minority held doctoral degrees. The average psychologist charged $96.32 per hour, less than the Australian Psychological Society (APS) recommended fee for an hour of service. Eclectic and cognitive behaviour therapy were indicated most often as the theoretical orientations guiding psychological work. Psychologists belonged almost exclusively to the Australian Psychological Society as a professional association. Surprisingly, 2.9% of psychologists indicate not following an ethical code in their work and 3.9% failed to ensure that their work was covered by professional indemnity insurance. Advertised psychologists are thus described and suggestions are given for the further development of the profession. Regarding their self perceived competence, Australian advertised psychologists present as having self perceived strengths and areas of weakness regarding their counselling competence. This indicates that they are aware of their varying ability to work with various issues and populations. The self perceived competence of Australian psychologists in six specific counselling practice areas and suggestions for future training and development are provided.

Keywords:

• Australian counselling psychologists
• competence
• sexual orientation
• multicultural
• depression
• anxiety
• substance use

Acknowledgments

The results presented in this article were gathered in a survey of advertised Australian counsellors conducted by Nadine Pelling, Pamela Brear and Margaret Lau. Thus, the description of the method used and basic demographic data presented echo the material in Pelling, Brear and Lau (2006). Similarly, some of the literature review presented echoes a portion of the literature review in an examination of Australian Counselling Association members conducted in 2004. Interested readers are referred to Pelling (2005b).