Counsellor education and accreditation in Australia: a national review

Abstract The quality and content of counsellor education is largely determined by the educators who deliver the training, yet little is known about them. The authors aimed to generate a snapshot of Australian counselling educators. Publicly available educator profile data (name, professional identity, qualifications, academic level, and professional registration status) was collected for all Australian accredited counselling courses, via systematic review of institutional websites and relevant public online sources. Included in the study were 337 educator profiles (71.5% female and 27.6% male), with 32.9% identifying as counsellors, followed by 16% as psychologists, 6.5% as psychotherapists and 3.9% as both counsellor and psychotherapist. The remaining 40.7% either did not specify or identify with another profession. The study also examined registration status, therapeutic experience, course co-ordinator professional identity and academic level. Counsellors who teach into accredited programs occupy mostly junior level academic positions, with 80% of senior counselling academics not holding any counselling qualifications. Results highlighted the wide range of professional identities that teach counselling and noted non-adherence to accreditation standards with respect to staffing profiles. We conclude that the lack of counselling professional identity amongst educators is concerning for the strength of the counselling profession and identity more broadly. Educators who are not counsellors may struggle to socialise counselling students into the profession, and clearly explain counselling philosophy and practice, as distinct from their own profession. This research can be used to inform training and accreditation standards, guide decision-making in the educating of counsellors, as well as offering a baseline to monitor change over time.