This retrospective qualitative study investigated the experiences of 12 international students in a postgraduate counselling programme at a higher education (HE) institution in the UK. Results from an earlier empirical study on these students (Pattison, "Counselling and Psychotherapy Research" 3: 107-113, 2003) were mapped against…

This article draws on insights from the sociology of professions to explore the regulatory debate in the psychotherapy and counselling field contrasted with the regulation of arts therapists (art, drama and music therapists). A partial explanation is offered, illustrating the applicability of theory to these groups, but with adaptations to reflect…

The article addresses the question of whether the practice of mandatory personal therapy, followed by several training organisations, is justified by existing research and evidence. In doing so, it discusses some implications of this training requirement from an ethical and ideological standpoint, raising questions of import for training…

Much progress has been made in integrating information and communications technology (ICT) into careers practice, but there is still room for improvement. An international lens is adopted to examine some key elements that contribute to the successful integration of ICT into careers practice. We start by exploring the role of policy, using the UK…

Few studies have examined the practice wisdom of expert supervisors. This study addresses this gap by exploring how experienced supervisors manage difficulties in supervision in the context of the supervisory relationship. The supervisors were a purposive sample of 16 senior members of the profession with considerable expertise in supervision.…

There is growing concern internationally about the prevalence of mental health problems among school-aged children and their access to specialist services. School psychologists (SPs) may be one group of professionals well-positioned to support the well-being of children and young people, due to their position as applied psychologists working…

At the national level there has been a call for more therapeutic interventions and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has been identified as one approach that can be used. The training of educational psychologists (EPs) has been extended to three years and this provides an opportunity to increase the depth of knowledge of particular therapeutic…

In this study the Delphi technique was used to identify the main supervision issues that require attention and consideration when supervising counsellors and psychotherapists working with trauma. A panel of supervisors, who were additionally experienced in working with trauma in adulthood, completed a series of three questionnaires comprising two…

This article considers a number of issues facing those involved in counselling and psychotherapy training within United Kingdom Higher Education Institutes. It is proposed that the increasing professionalisation of counselling and psychotherapy has significant implications for lecturers and trainers. The article will explore the tension between…

Despite the centrality of conversations in the practice of educational psychologists, there are very few published accounts that utilise "live" data captured during professional consultations. This paper employs mixed research methods, combining a quantitative Content Analysis with the qualitative approaches of Conversation Analysis and…

Health and social care students spend up to 50% of their course in practice. Placements are distributed across a wide geographical area and have varying degrees of IT access and support. Consequently, students may feel isolated from peers, academic staff, and resources required for effective learning. Mobile technology has considerable potential…

This article presents an overview of the development and utilization of a cultural immersion experience assignment in courses that focus on expanding the knowledge and skill set of counselors and other counseling professionals for working with culturally diverse client populations. The utility of this method and specific suggestions for its use in…

Using virtual worlds as media for learning and teaching gives rise to the potential for many unique ethical problems. Some of these arise due to the nature of the engagement with these virtual worlds, in which the students create a virtual representation, called an avatar, which may enable a sense of embodiment, and hence exposure, within the…

This paper is the first stage in a larger international comparative project, coordinated through the International Association of Counselling, on policy determinants in the education of counsellors. It arose in part out of an interest in the cultural determinants of what is taken as evidence. As a first stage for the project, a case study approach…

Grounded in a narrative account of the author's own development as a counselling practitioner, it is argued that a programmatic developmental path for therapy practitioners can be singularly inappropriate. Such a route to practitionerhood threatens to interfere with, and even fundamentally to undermine, the necessarily unique idiosyncrasies of…