A portrait of counselling: comparison of private practice with agencies.

Abstract

In order to compare what happens in counselling agencies with what takes place in private practice, an evaluation of counselling records provided by a counsellor in private practice was carried out for the years 2012-2017. The information gained from 762 closed counselling cases was analysed, summarised, and then compared with similar data taken from over 5,500 clients in a Christchurch agency during the years 2010-2014. Results showed that the counselling in this particular private practice was briefer (99% of clients had fewer than ten sessions vs 90% in agencies); more clients were male (46% vs 37%, respectively) and Mäori (18% vs 5%, respectively); and counselling involved, on average, fewer sessions (3.1 vs 4.6, respectively). Although the data revealed ways in which what happened in this one private practice was similar to what happened in a large agency, they also indicated the need for further research of this sort. For the counsellor involved, the analysis provided detailed information with which to re-evaluate his work. Finally, the results indicated the need for counsellors and counsellor educators to acknowledge the general brevity of counselling relationships and, consequently, the goal for all counsellors to be prepared for and competent to deliver brief counselling to the majority of their clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)