Counseling Psychology Theories. Free Essay.

Psychology of counseling history

The paper takes a look at counseling psychology, its history and how the specialization on psychology relates to other academic areas. The work also looks at two theories that are in use in counseling psychology. It will also analyze research methods used for data collection and the testing of hypotheses in counseling psychology studies. It will look at two studies that have taken place in counseling psychology and their impact on human welfare. A description of an occupation in counseling psychology that I would like to pursue is also available in the study. The paper also contains my application of counseling psychology constructs gained in class.

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Keywords: counseling psychology, person-centered theory, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theory, descriptive research, correlation research, self-stigma, public stigma, child counseling

Counseling psychology is a branch of psychology that has many domains that include health and prevention, career development, training and supervision and the counseling process and its outcomes. It is a specialty in psychology that first came up in the 1940s to address issues that occurred as a result of World War II. It is a relatively new profession and subject area in psychology. Since its inception, the counseling psychology shared some of its functions with other professions, which still happens to this day (Brown & Lent, 2008). Before the early 1900s, the only counseling that took place was in the form of information and advice, and it was not known by its name counseling then. Its gradual development in the United States was in response to the development of humanitarian concern for individuals that were experiencing various adversities and especially victims of the second world war. Other numerous issues prompted the development of the profession including an influx in immigration, changes in and the spread of public education and the social welfare reform movement (Brown & Lent, 2008). Therefore, the profession developed during the transition period from one century to the other. A period that was characterized by the significant shift that altered how people perceive themselves and their view of the world.

Teachers that counsels students in school

Many pioneers in the subject did not identify themselves as counseling psychologists but as social reformers/advocates and teachers. Their focus during the early years of the subject was to teach children and the youth concerning themselves, others, and the world around them. Their work concentrated on how to deal with Intra and interpersonal relationships (Brown & Lent, 2008). The subject also advocated a moral instruction on being good and doing what is right. The pioneers had identified these aspects of the American society as a need and therefore worked on filling the gap. It remained among administrators and classroom teachers as its practitioners, and there remained to be no mention of the word counseling in any professional literature until 1931. More often than not, the history of counseling psychology is described through the landmark events that took place through the years. In early 1900, there was popularly guidance, which was discovered by Frank Parsons. His body of work laid a foundation and the center of the wheel that is a representation of current day counseling psychology. The founding of the National Vocation Guidance Association (NVGA) also boosted the growth of the subject in 1913. The 1920s presented a relative development of counseling with education courses for counselors and certification of counselors in Boston and New York.

Many other developments took place during the same period including the publication of the new psychological instruments including the Strong Vocational Interest Inventory (SVII). Abraham and Hannah Stone also developed the first marriage and family counseling center in New York in 1929. Since then significant developments have occurred that clearly define counseling psychology and make it stand out from the rest. The field of psychology has numerous areas, and counseling is one of them. Many of the fields will share concepts and ideas, and some information may be similar. For example, counseling psychology will involve similar psychological issues like social psychology. Counseling psychology is, however, different from a branch of psychology including clinical psychology in that it mainly deals with healthy individuals who do not have numerous pathological issues. Clinical psychology focuses on psychosis and mental problems that are severe.