Comparing clinical and counselling psychologists’ practitioner demographics, key activities, theoretical orientations, values, and career satisfaction: a contribution to the Scopes of Practice debate

Abstract

This article conducts a secondary analysis of combined survey data collected from clinical and counselling psychologists in South Africa with a view to contributing to the debate about their respective Scope of Practice. A comparison of clinical and counselling psychologists’ activities, where and how they are doing these activities and with what emphasis, as well as the similarities and differences between these categories with respect to demographic variables of their practitioners, values and career satisfaction, and views of their respective Scopes of Practice should provide guidance for the future regulation of both categories. In total, 1105 participants’ (comprising 877 registered clinical psychologists and 228 registered counselling psychologists) survey responses were analysed. Findings suggest that counselling and clinical psychologists are more similar than they are different, with responses indicating shared demographic characteristics, areas of overlap in terms of their key activities and theoretical orientations, and their satisfaction with their training and careers. Significant differences, where they did occur, included the race and gender of practitioners; time spent on assessment and research; emphasis on psychodynamic orientations; endorsement of values; views on the Scopes of Practice regulations that were promulgated in 2011; and in each specialties sense of distinctiveness. Findings are discussed in the context of vigorous contestation over the Scopes of Practice in South Africa, where access to mental health services remains poor and the profession largely untransformed.