Portrait of Counseling Psychology: Demographics, Roles, Activities, and Values Across Three Decades

Abstract

We summarize the results of a national survey (N = 799) conducted to provide a current snapshot of counseling psychologists, what they do, how and where they do it, and the extent to which they ascribe to specific counseling psychology values. We describe our sample and compare Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP) members to non-SCP counseling psychologists belonging to the American Psychological Association. Of those within the SCP, we compare early career professionals (ECPs) with mid to senior-level professionals. Finally, we compare findings from our survey with those from two previous surveys. Our findings highlight the diversity in the roles, activities, workplaces, and perspectives of contemporary counseling psychologists; differences between counseling psychologists who are SCP members and nonmembers, and between ECPs and more senior professionals; and changes in the profession’s character over time. Considerations for the SCP are discussed.