Trouble in the village? Counselling and clinical psychology in the NHS

Abstract

Over the past two decades, counselling has sought to position itself within a number of different professional contexts. In recent years the growth of counselling in medical settings, most notably in primary care, has been considerable, and in many areas in the UK the presence of a counsellor in a GP surgery is now the norm rather than the exception. In many cases, counsellors are employed by psychological services and are supervised by psychologists. This is often an uneasy relationship and raises a number of issues that are highlighted in this paper.