Counselling is a Profession not just a Verb
When looking for employment in the Counselling field, I have noticed that sometimes terms to describe a role are used interchangeably. Many positions are advertised as Counselling roles, that on closer inspection, require someone with Psychology qualifications and registration. The difference between a Counsellor and a Psychologist is still not clear to many, and until regulation is refined and clarifies the difference between role titles and their usage, people will still confuse the two.
Similarly, I have come across the role confusion between Social Workers, Caseworkers, Case Managers, and Counsellors. I understand how counselling is often seen as a verb that can be included in many different job descriptions, but the Counselling profession has changed and the role of a Counsellor is a specialised and more complex profession than previously considered, no longer being merely a task or activity performed by a variety of job titles.
Both concepts are true. Nurses, Teachers, Doctors, Psychologists, Social Workers and many more jobs, will at one time or another need to provide counsel to the people they look after and serve. But to be a professional Counsellor is something else, when that role is the central activity and responsibility of the practitioner. It requires a specific set of skills, sometimes developed over a long period of time, as well as specialised training and qualifications, that are of a high standard. Counselling is no longer just an incidental action. It is an evidence based framework for providing social, emotional and psychological support through a therapeutic relationship. It requires adherence to best practice models, ongoing engagement with up to date epistemological data, interaction with peak bodies, peer networks and supervision support, and participation in deep self-reflection, self-awareness and self-care practices.
Social Workers are often required to do Casework, which provides practical support services involving extensive case management, administration and referral. When I was a Caseworker in a Domestic Violence refuge 30 years ago, the work we did involved on-site residential support for women and children. We aimed to help fulfill the practical needs of clients, like finding safe and long term accommodation, gaining access to medical treatment when required, accompanying women to court for support to establish Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs) and custody/co-parenting arrangements, and eventually facilitating the client’s transition into autonomy, safety and independence.
Of course incidental counselling took place along the way where we provided emotional and psychological support, built trust and rapport, and established a safe space to heal and grow. Sometimes counselling occurred formally in a quiet corner of the house or our office, the worker usually holding a clip board, pen and paper, using motivational questioning and documenting circumstances, needs and any other relevant information we needed to build a case and provide support. This was done sensitively, deliberately and collaboratively; it was a means to an end. Sometimes, those conversations occurred on the drive to court, out the back over a coffee, while cooking the evening meal or doing household chores, or watching the kids play outside. The act of counselling was happening through every interaction, but it was not always the formalised, contained and structured framework used in the profession that is Counselling today.
Counselling, as a specialised discipline, is now exclusively that part of the work. The relationship building between client and therapist that provides safety to explore events, emotions, thoughts and behaviours. It allows the practical things to occur independently of the Counselling service by facilitating clarity, release, decision making and integration towards acceptance, healing and transformation. In short, Counselling is the foundational support a client can lean on to move through challenges with intention, to arrive at a place of wellbeing and learning. It is intensive, evidence based work, curated through a tertiary, academic, and peer assessed process, that complements the Psychology discipline. Psychology has primarily a cognitive/executive functioning focus, whereas Counselling tends to encompass emotional, somatic and social wellbeing. These disciplines intersect both in theory and in practice, and depending on the presenting issues, Counselling or Psychology can support a client independently, or in collaboration with other disciplines and services to provide holistic and thorough care.
I think the combining or separation of disciplines occurs to suit an economic rationalist (and sometimes ideological) agenda. This is systemic and structural, not necessarily malicious, deliberate or conspiratorial (but sometimes it is!). For example, academic elitism, classism, and unearned privilege can sometimes result in mediocrity in disciplines that are considered superior (like Psychology over Counselling), when in actual fact, there is excellence in both disciplines and people arrive at their chosen profession through many diverse pathways. The test of a good therapist lies in the quality of the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and client.
It is often easier and cheaper for employers to cast a wide net when employing people to fill a role. They might also expect that employees will cover many bases through a position description that requires every scenario and task will be undertaken by the person in that role. This is how so many people in caring professions burn out. We don’t expect that of other professions. It is understood that an Arborist is not a Gardener, a Mechanic is not a Welder. Sometimes the tasks may overlap, but the individual expertise is valued separately. The caring professions are not yet valued in the same way, but we are getting there. And distinguishing Counselling from other job titles that do mainly other things is a good place to start.
If it suits to lump Casework, Social Work, Psychology and Counselling together, if it's more affordable, places a lot of responsibility and accountability on fewer people, requiring less “cumbersome” collaboration and oversight, some organisations will do it. Often they are forced to do it. And don’t get me started on the use of Volunteers in this profession - that’s a whole other blog post. On the other hand, training for incidental counselling skills is being offered to assist people who may need those skills when performing their job, like Hairdressers or Pharmacists for example. These roles might need skills to identify distress, encourage emotional navigation and provide referral to suitable services.
For better client outcomes, distinguishing between the practical and administrative support of Casework and Social Work, the cognitive and behavioural data based function of Psychology, and the social, somatic, and emotional focus and expertise of Counselling is the model we need to move towards. We need to make it clear to clients, but also to each other, what the scope of each title actually means and does. This gives clients more choice around what support they need and will respond to, and ensures practitioners are not only working within their scope of practice and expertise, but are also containing and protecting their labour to ensure they avoid burnout and are being valued (and remunerated appropriately!) for the work they are experienced, trained in and are qualified to perform. Even when ideas, frameworks and methodologies intersect, role definitions and title integrity should be maintained.
The ideal scenario would be that Casework and Case Management (administrative), Social Work (community based), Counselling (social, emotional, somatic wellbeing), Psychology (cognitive and executive functioning), and of course other disciplines like Nursing (medical triage and {mental} health management), Psychiatry (diagnosis/medication/hospitalisation), Education (primary/secondary/technical/tertiary education), Early Childhood Education (infant learning and care), Primary Healthcare (pre/post natal care), Aged Care (elderly care), Allied Health (specialised services) and Disability Services (disability, neurodiversity care and support); all work closer together whilst remaining autonomous and contained as separate formal professions.
This would result in collaborative practices with lots of specialised parts making an integrated whole that provides holistic care services to those who are most vulnerable and in need of support, which frankly can be all of us at any one time or another. I can dream!
Book today for a FREE introductory Counselling session. I look forward to meeting you.
