journal article Open Access May 12, 2025

Building the Australian Counselling Profession's Research Capacity for the Future: A Collaborative Strategic Approach

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/capr.70022
Abstract
ABSTRACT

Background
This paper presents an analysis of the current research landscape within the Australian counselling profession, identifying key challenges and proposing a strategic approach to building research capacity.


Problem Statement
Written by a taskforce of educational leaders, it reports their perceptions and experiences of the multifaceted challenges hindering research development. These challenges encompass the limited pipeline of future doctoral‐trained counselling educators, the barriers to promotion opportunities for current counsellor educators, and the impact these deficits may have on the profession overall.


Proposed Solutions
To address these challenges, the paper proposes a series of targeted strategies aimed at stakeholders across the research ecosystem.


Conclusion
The intention of disseminating these strategies is to support counselling professionals in other regions who may be interested in further development of their own research capacity.
Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References
41
[1]
ACA (2012)
[2]
ACA (2024)
[3]
ACA.2024b.“Constitution of the Australian Counselling Association.”https://theaca.net.au/wp‐content/uploads/2024/10/ACA‐Constitution‐2024.pdf.
[5]
Australian Psychology Accreditation Council.2019.“Accreditation Standards for Psychology Programs.”https://www.psychologycouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/public/Standards_20180912_Published_Final_v1.2.pdf.
[6]
BACP (2021)
[7]
Balkin R. S. (2023)
[10]
Beel N. (2022)
[11]
Beel N. andM.Purvis.2024a.“Australian Educators Teaching in ACA and PACFA Accredited Counselling and Psychotherapy Courses ([Dataset]).”https://research.usq.edu.au/item/z97qw/australian‐educators‐teaching‐in‐aca‐and‐pacfa‐accredited‐counselling‐and‐psychotherapy‐courses.
[14]
CACREP (2024)
[16]
Dentleegrand K. R. (2024)
[19]
Farrell K. (2009)
[20]
Griffith F. "Counselling—Recognising Our Profession in Its Own Right" Psychotherapy & Counselling Today (2019)
[21]
HCE (2012)
[24]
Johnson W. B. (2014)
[27]
Mate K. E. (2019)
[28]
Moir‐Bussey A. "Toward a Unified Vision of Professional Counselling Identity: A Preliminary Australian Perspective" Australian Counselling Research Journal (2016)
[30]
NHCPE (2023)
[32]
PACFA (2022)
[33]
Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia.2022.“Constitution of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia.”
[34]
Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia.2023.“PACFA'S Purpose Mission and Values.”https://www.pacfa.org.au/Portal/About/What‐is‐PACFA/Purpose‐mission‐values.aspx.
[37]
SCImago Lab.2024.“SJR.”https://www.scimagojr.com/.
[38]
SCoPEd Collaboration.2022.“SCoPEd Framework: A Shared Framework for the Scope of Practice and Education for Counselling and Psychotherapy Adults.”https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/media/5kzfc1sr/scoped‐framework‐january‐2022.pdf.
[39]
Stevens M. M. (2021)
Metrics
0
Citations
41
References
Details
Published
May 12, 2025
Vol/Issue
25(2)
License
View
Cite This Article
Nathan Beel, E. A. Cocodia, Katrina Andrews, et al. (2025). Building the Australian Counselling Profession's Research Capacity for the Future: A Collaborative Strategic Approach. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.70022