The Development of Counsellor Identity — A Visual Expression

Abstract

The diversity of the South African population requires counsellors who are able to promote the mental health of all persons who express a need for this service. The newly introduced registration category of registered counsellors aims to provide mental health services on a primary level; yet the professional identity of registered counsellors is not well established. This is reflected in the lack of an integrated and standardised national training policy for the BPsych programme as well as a disregard by potential employers of graduates of this programme, as seen in the limited number of appropriate job advertisements and placements in the media. In this study we explore the development of counsellor identity by means of the visual presentations participants produced regarding their development. The social constructionist notion of the self as being composed of different selves is used as the theoretical background for this qualitative investigation. An analysis of the visual presentations revealed that counsellors developed a capacity for experiences of uncertainty, increased self-knowledge and ability to reflect on themselves. They experienced personal growth as part of their identity development-in-process. Visual material as a form of expression makes it possible to challenge some of the limitations of verbal text to construct knowledge and facilitates thinking about those elements of the social world which cannot be expressed in talk.