International counseling is a primary concern now, as counseling spreads throughout different countries, and psychologists from all of these countries are trying to standardize some of the ways that counseling occurs. This means that counselors need to collaborate, as they have done in the following articles. The first article is “Internationalisation of Counseling Psychology: Constructing Cross-National Consensus and Collaboration. ” The international counsel is looking at the ways that different countries define counseling, and trying to find a definition that is the same or similar across the board.
Some countries, as they show, already have very descriptive definitions of what counseling psychology is, while others have very loose definitions that are commonly understood by their people. They have this to say about the way the different countries define counseling: “they all seem to share the root conception that counseling psychology concentrates on the daily life adjustment issues faced by reasonably well-adjusted people, particularly as they cope with career transitions and personal development. ” The counsel is currently considering having a special meeting to further define this meaning (Savickas).
Another issue is that different psychologists have different ideas about exactly what counseling is, and what it is not. The author states that psychologists should specialize in “generality,” rather than in any particular topic. Not all agree, however. In some countries, ‘counseling’ refers to a specific type of psychology. In others, it is a service performed by people in many different professions, and not just psychologists. So, the psychologists are looking to possibly rename what counseling is called in their quest to make things equitable across countries (Savickas).
The reason why naming the counseling profession something different is an issue is because, as the author states, most lay people do not have any idea how a counseling psychologist differs from a clinical psychologist, and so they are not able to make appropriate use of these services (Savickas). In order to encourage people to come to counseling, and to break the stereotypes like “only crazy people go to counseling,” the counseling psychologists are trying to think of a more appropriate name.
The author also says “While in need of a consistent definition and a coherent professional identity, counseling psychology cannot be the same in every country. ” This is important to note, because every country has a different culture, and that culture should be respected. Finally, the group’s purpose is also increase international collaboration, so that psychologists from different countries can compare notes and work together to improve the profession for all of the patients.
The second article is “Introduction to Special Issue on International Perspectives on Counseling Psychology,” an article that cover similar issues in international psychology. This article celebrates the formation of the International Congress of Applied Psychology in 2002, and it looks to the future of psychology on an international level (Leong and Savickas). The first thing the counsel did was conduct a SWOT analysis on their profession. They are looking at questions such as “Who do we serve? ” and “Do we have a clear strategic direction?
” These and other questions will help them to answer what their general purpose is in helping people in different countries (Leong and Savickas). The questionnaire is divided into five sections: strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities, external threats, and finally analysis of strategic issues facing counseling psychology in your country. Examples of the questions in the strengths section are listed above (Leong and Savickas). Examples of the questions in the weaknesses section include “What embarrasses you about our profession?
” and “What have clients or institutions asked you to do that you cannot? ” The psychologists are looking to figure out what the profession might need to change to better serve the population (Leong and Savickas). For external opportunities, examples include “Do changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyles present any new opportunities? ” and “What changes do you expect to see in demand in the next ten years? ” This is an important area because if the psychology profession is not meeting the citizens’ demands, their work is ultimately useless (Leong and Savickas).
External threat examples include “Who is doing the same thing? ” and “Are they doing it better? ” Counseling, in recent years, has been performed by medical doctors and others who are not psychologists, so psychologists must make sure they have a unique niche (Leong and Savickas). For the final section, questions include “What strength do we build on? ” and “Which weaknesses do we correct? ” This leads into the overall goals that the psychologists want to accomplish in their profession in the next several years (Leong and Savickas).
Attending psychologists were also asked to complete a mission statement that included where they saw counseling psychology heading in the next ten years. The results of these mission statements were not surprising, as there were several common themes, as well as culture-specific answers. All of the findings were detailed in separate articles relating to particular countries and their needs (Leong and Savickas). The next article is an example from one of the countries.