Charles Young

Counseling psychologists in eight countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) responded to survey questions that focused on their demographics as well as their professional identities, roles, settings, and activities. As well, they were asked about satisfaction with the specialty and the extent to which they endorsed 10 core counseling psychology values. This article reports those results, focusing both on areas in which there were between-country similarities as well as on those for which there were differences. These data provide a snapshot of counseling psychology globally and establish a foundation for the other articles in this special issue of the journal.

This chapter presents data about what counseling psychologies (CPs) do and who they are in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). The Canadian sample was obtained through the Canadian Psychological Association's (CPA) Section for CP's list-serve. Participants were drawn from the Australian Psychological Society's College of Counselling Psychologists, the largest professional organization of counseling psychologists in Australia. The New Zealand sample was obtained by the New Zealand Psychological Society Membership Committee, as well as the Department of Psychology at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). UK participants were recruited through the British Psychological Association's Division of Counselling Psychology (DCoP) to take part in the international survey. The chapter includes demographic information about the participants; their work settings, roles; and information about their perspectives, beliefs, and attitudes. It synthesizes the findings across countries and consolidates the global portrait of CP.

This chapter examines the principles of psychological assessment applied to clinical and counselling settings where clients typically seek help because they are in emotional distress, experiencing, for example, anxiety, depressed mood or chronic anger. Such problems may be related to a range of other problems such as experiences of trauma, relationship conflicts, social or work difficulties, or excessive attempts at self-control (as in some eating disorders or obsessive-compulsive problems), or to poor impulse control (for example, with respect to aggression, gambling, substance use). The main focus of this chapter is the initial gathering of information in these contexts...

Although the clinical interview is the foundation of assessment for individuals presenting with psychological problems (Edwards & Young, chapter 23, this volume), information from self-report scales provides valuable complementary information. Many self-report scales developed in North America and Britain are used regularly in South Africa with clients from a spectrum of cultural backgrounds. Some have been translated into South African languages, while others may be translated on the spot by the clinician or an assistant during the assessment process. Yet translation of scales, or importing them into cultural contexts different from those in which they were developed and validated, poses a number of problems that may be sufficient to throw doubt on their validity. There has been limited research on this in South Africa, and this chapter will examine the problems involved and the conclusions that can be drawn from existing research with respect to the value in local clinical settings of self-report scales developed overseas.

Cultural identity has a profound impact on our sense of well-being and our own mental and physical health within the context of our respective societies. While cultural background refers to our ethnicity, it is also the influence of our family, social class, religion, migration, geography, gender and sexual orientation that mold who we are as diverse human beings. Over the decades, many attempts have been made by proponents of various psychotherapeutic modalities to develop population - specific approaches for ethnic groups - only leading to fragmentation, confusion and controversy in the professional field. This new book presents and discusses current research in the study of CBT in non-western cultures.