So, today it's my turn to share with you some thoughts.
As an almost qualified psychologist I have been pleasantly surprised over the last two weeks to hear 2 Christians comment about the value of m career. Why pleasantly surprised you ask? Well, as a Christian and a Psychologist I often hear people make comments about how my career choice is not as respectable as Christian Counselling. Now, don't get me wrong, Counselling is an important field and not all Counsellors are bad just as not all Psychologists are good. And, as a Christian, I think Christians in any field of work is fantastic, we need to get out there are show God to the people we work with. However, back to what I was actually talking about, I often find that Christian Counsellors do not fully understand what I, as a psychologist, do.
So you ask, what does a psychologist do, well, many things really. First we must understand that there is not only 1 type of Psychologist, there are actually about 8 broad categories that we classify ourselves under; Clinical (the one everyone seems to think of), Counselling, Sport, Health, Forensic, Occupational/Organisational, Neuropsychology and Development and Educational. I am an Educational Psychologist. To explain what all psychologists do would be huge but basically we counsel, some of us will work in the area of mental illness and to some degree diagnose, some of us work with development disorders or intellectual disabilities, we also run groups and programs as preventative measures and so much more. So as an Educational Psychologist I work across a broad range of activities within a educational settings such as school and universities as well as early intervention settings with preschoolers. So, I do what a counsellor does and more.
So you still ask, why was I pleasantly surprised that Christian's responded positively to my career? Well, all through my study I have heard people suggest that what I do is not Godly because we study evolution and we studied some really anti-God philosophers. Well, I think that as Christians we should get off our high horses and mix with the plebs and critically think about these issues. I bet Jesus would have been at the secular uni's loving philosophy where he would have out debated anyone and people would have really thought about what he said, who knows some might have been converted. I have learnt to critically analyse what I am taught and I tell you what some of my psychology lectures have shown me, God is amazing, he has made us incredibly amazing, did you know the brain can compensate for injury if it occurs young enough? The brain can re-wire and use a different section of the brain to ensure the vital things such as language and motor control are maintained, it's called neural plasticity and it is cool.
So that's my rant, it is time that we all got off our high horses, learnt what each other do and start to pull together rather than apart. Maybe one day I'll find more Christians acknowledging the value of what I do and maybe even the high level of education and training I have. Let's start a discussion to get to understand each other.
How will we view them?
About Us
- Working for Youth
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- As a youth worker and an educational psychologist we've seen the issues surrounding young people. It is important to us that young people are not seen as problems but as people so we are setting out to champion their cause.
11 comments:
I hear ya Jen! I think what you're doing is a very valuable thing. I had how people classify things as "godly". God calls us to interact with our world. And anything we do in the world that we take God into is godly in my eyes. I'm studying to be a counsellor, but I'm not sure what a lot of people think Christian Counselling is. It's not just prayer ministry and reading the bible.
Apparently psychology isn't Christian in some people's eyes. Well I think anything we do that helps people become more of the person God created them to be is a Christian thing to do. And I think good psychologists and counsellors do that.
Thanks Megan, I think we need to have open and honest conversation about each role. We need to be sure that psychologists understand what a counsellors role is and vice versa.
I am not nearly as bothered by people thinking that it is un-Godly as I am by people suggesting that I know less about psychology than a counsellor, sounds snobby but I have studied psychology too. I think you could understand how annoying it can be when people tell you their 'lay' ideas and they are convinced they are right and you are wrong!
I get it the other way around. I'm like a try hard psychologist in some people's eyes because I'm studying counselling. I think both have a very important role! I agree that it's important for people to understand the difference and for them to work in conjunction with one another.
aaron here:
as a youth worker i am told many times over to refer to both counsellors and psychologists. having been a a youth "at risk" i had the opportunity to see both in action... and not just one of each but many.
for many years i couldn't think of anything worse than sending a young person to a Psychologist or a counsellor. however my opinion has changed over the past year or so.
i have decided that there are probably some really good counsellors out there. however i would not personally or professionally feel comfortable in refering a person to a counselor as they technically do not NEED a qualification to do there job. i know most people decide to do at least a diploma and some decide to do a degree or a post grad. i feel much more comfortable sending people to a psych who has had to have at least a masters which means a minimum of 6 years study and then they need to be registered by the psych reg board.
having met and seen some christian counsellors it is my opinion that most of them need to do some more study and more living in the real world.
i know this sounds harsh and believe me there are some psychs out there who are not worth the paper they are registered on but i know more psychs i would refer to than i know counsellors.
I guess you need to make sure you know who you're referring to. There are lots of great counsellors out there, even great christian ones (shock horror I know!)! Just make sure you know who you are referring them to and what kind of study they have done.
this is still far from the orignal discussion, do psych's and counsellors know what each others role is? And yes I also spoke about the frustration of being ostracised because of my supposedly un-Godly career but if we are get down to the business of work together we have to know what each other do, I am still not convinced that this is the case, particularly from the perspective of counsellors knowing what psych's do. What does your teach is the difference?
Oh, and I'm with Aaron, if refering someone on, I'll probably choose a psych too.
I think I have a fairly good understanding of the difference. I personally don't think one profession is above the other. I think they play different roles. I agree that there should be better communication between the two and a greater understanding.
By the way. Counsellors need a qualification and a minumum of 200 hours practice before they can be considered for registration with PACFA (the main registered counseling body). There are other organisations you can be registered with too. There has been a massive shift over the last couple of years to register and streamline counselors and their qualifications to ensure that they know what they're doing and they're not just anyone who thinks they know what they're doing.
Sounds like a good move, it will mean that those of you who have studied and had supervised practice will have far more respect.
I didn't mean to suggest you didn't have an understanding of what psychologists do, I was wondering what your course teaches. That was a question simply to see what the qualifying bodies are teaching and as you study at one I thought you were a perfect person to ask. Unfortunately there is still loop holes and people who have been deregistered by the psych reg board can still be counsellors but as this is the beginning of this process I guess that will work itself out.
Unfortunately the world at large have very little understanding of what we do, I think that is something between reading people's minds and analysing them and categorising them as crazy. I guess as a counsellor you probably find people have some whacky ideas about what you do.
I think that I would refer to a psychologist because I would only refer out really serious issues because I am qualified to counsel and would only refer out in extreme cases and if I refer out to psych via a doctor then they can get the medicare subsidy, I tend to find it's those from lower SES that I need to refer.
Fair enough.
Most of my lecturers have actually been psycholgists rather than counselors (although a couple are), so I think perhaps that's why I have such a good understanding of the difference between the roles.
Excellent discussion. I think we need to reclaiming a whole host of so called 'secular' vocations and areas of study. If God is the God of Creation, then all these areas are in need of re-creation. We are to step out into them and battle the powers who have taken them captive. I don't mean 'battle' in some dramtic emotive way, but mentally. We are called to renew our mind - the Kingdom extends over all these areas. Being on Mission means being the very best Psychs., counsellours, physicists, techers, social workers, anthroplogists, biologists etc etc.
There is no duality - "christian psych" or "christian music" - there's only the pursuit of good, truthful psych or music or whatever. And we should be at the forefront of that!
Hi Jen and Aaron,
Its Ben Roberts here. I don't have a blog mainly because I wouldn't have much time to tend to it. But I do enjoy reading a lot of what you guys and others have to say.
I really just want to affirm you jen in what you do. Having known you for a number of years I know that in being a psychologist you are doing what God has called upon you to do and that you as the strong christian you are will reflect God's love through doing it.
I guess its in line with what the "rev head" (I do know who you are but not sure if you want your identity revealed) said that there has to be re-claiming of secular vocations. In a sense if we choose to label certain jobs as being not in the "christian spirit" than we write off a whole industry in some circumstances to not ever be exposed to the good news. We must always remember, and it is a difficult thing that I maybe more than others struggle with, that all persons despite there choices/attitudes in life are part of gods world and are loved by him and should be loved by us.
So good on you Jen - Keep striving for what you know God wants you to do.
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