Counselling Psychology in South Africa
Jason Bantjes
Ashraf Kagee
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Abstract
The origin and development of counselling psychology in South Africa has been profoundly influenced by the country’s socio-political history and the impact of apartheid. As a result of this, counselling psychologists in the country face a number of challenges and opportunities for the future. In this paper we provide a portrait of counselling psychology in South Africa by describing the current character of the specialty and the context in which South African psychologists work. We critically discuss the challenges that the specialty faces to meet the country’s mental health care needs, contest the current Scope of Practice; affirm multiculturalism without essentialising or reifying race and ethnicity, and build an evidence base for community interventions in the country. We also consider how, in the future, counselling psychologists in South Africa may make a more meaningful contribution within public health and the country’s health care and education systems.
Key takeaways
- The limited employment opportunities for CPs in the country's public health care system has resulted in a decline in the popularity of counselling training programmes, with many masters students instead electing training in clinical psychology to improve their employment opportunities.
- Explicit in the new SoP is the directive that clinical psychologists focus on "treating psychological and psychiatric conditions", (Government Gazette, 2011, p. 6) and CPs focus on "offering counselling interventions to resolve development issues and adjustment disorders" (Government Gazette, 2011, p. 7).
- Leach et al. (2003) Counselling Psychology Quarterly maintain that CPs need to prove their viability to other professions and the community at large by addressing the social ills currently facing the country.
- Given the high rates of mental disorders and the significant lack of access to mental health care services, there is an implicit challenge to CPs in SA to apply their knowledge and skill in order to help close this treatment gap.
- Watson and Fouche (2007) note that while much has been written about professional psychology in SA, very little of this is specifically about the practice of CP.
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