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SAP0010.1177/00812463221091433South African Journal of PsychologyHaine et al.

South African Journal of Psychology 2023, Vol. 53(1) 32­–43 © The Author(s) 2022
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Article
Looking back to move forward:
a scoping review of counselling
psychology in South Africa

Phillipa Haine , Charles Young

and Duane D Booysen

Abstract
Despite that counselling psychologists represent a substantial group of registered psychologists
in South Africa, literature specifically on the sub-speciality within the country is limited. The aim
of this scoping review was to provide a comprehensive summary of the literature available on
counselling psychology in South Africa and examine the extent to which literature is available
from a lifespan or career-stage perspective. Three electronic databases (EBSCOhost, Sabinet®,
and PubMed) were searched for articles published between 2000 and 2021. Titles and abstracts
were reviewed, and data extracted and synthesised thematically. Of 507 citations identified, 10
met the inclusion criteria. Findings indicate that literature on counselling psychology in South
Africa is scarce, subject to methodological limitations, and dominated by a small number of authors
conducting multiple analyses on the same sets of data. Furthermore, literature on counselling
psychologists at key career stages across the professional lifespan is largely missing from the
professional discourse. Emphasis is instead placed on counselling psychology as embedded in
the sociopolitical history of South Africa, professional identity, the contemporary status of the
profession, professional threats and challenges, and the profession’s future promise. Our review
highlights the need for more empirically informed studies making use of different methodologies,
involving multiple authors with diverse backgrounds, tracking employment trends, and soliciting
first-person accounts of counselling psychologist’s experiences at key career stages. Without doing
so, ideas about how best to support and utilise this particular group of practitioners may be
misguided, in turn compromising the successful provision of mental health care within the country.

Keywords
Counselling psychology, professional lifespan, psychologist, scoping review, South Africa

Department of Psychology, Rhodes University, South Africa

Corresponding author:
Phillipa Haine, Department of Psychology, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Makhanda 6140, South Africa.
Email: [email protected]
Haine et al. 33

Counselling psychology in post-apartheid South Africa (SA) continues to be a profession in transi-

tion. Set within the context of a demographically diverse society that is marked by historical social
inequality and a disproportionate allocation of resources (De Kock & Pillay, 2017), the discipline
requires the delivery of psychological services that are credible, accessible, relevant, and far-reach-
ing (Bantjes et al., 2016). Furthermore, counselling psychology in SA is a profession required to
address the burgeoning mental health needs of the country, face ongoing Scope of Practice (SoP)
debates, apply psychological knowledge to promote physical health and well-being, and build an
evidence base for community interventions (Bantjes et al., 2016). Simultaneously, increased calls
have been made for the profession to address issues of transformation and social justice, including,
for example, improving racial diversity and congruency with more indigenous forms of interven-
tions (Bantjes et al., 2016). Moreover, counselling psychology continues the need to achieve a
more recognisable, coherent, and socially relevant professional identity (Bantjes et al., 2016).
Counselling psychologists in SA are thus not only working in a transforming professional land-
scape but also facing transformation within the profession itself. Counselling psychologists within
the country are, in turn, constantly required to evolve and adjust to emerging practice needs and
challenges. However, as indicated by Dorociak et al. (2017), many changes occur over the profes-
sional lifespan that may additionally affect a psychologist’s practice experiences, challenges, and
corresponding needs. As such, an increasing body of international literature highlights the impor-
tance of investigating issues faced by early career psychologists (ECPs) or those within 10 years of
graduation (American Psychological Association [APA], 2014) given their enthusiasm and energy,
most up-to-date professional knowledge and skills, and mastery of the latest technology (Good
et al., 2013). For example, international literature suggests that early career counselling psycholo-
gists face a number of challenges unique to their registration category and career stage, namely,
applying the scientist-practitioner model, identifying with counselling psychology, managing feel-
ings of incompetence, obtaining employment satisfaction, and sustaining vitality (e.g., Green &
Hawley, 2009; Smith et al., 2012). On the personal side, early career counselling psychologists
struggle most with work–life balance, sexism, and racism (Fouad & Carter, 1992). Understanding
the experiences of counselling psychologists across key career stages in SA, and especially at the
early career stage, is thus crucial as it could provide information about specific professional lifes-
pan issues that are important to consider in efforts to promote resilience and bolster functioning of
counselling psychologists in SA.
Although a small number of studies are available on counselling psychology in SA, there have
been no scoping reviews conducted on this literature. The present article aims to fill this gap by
examining (1) what is known from existing literature about counselling psychology in SA and (2)
the extent to which literature is available on counselling psychologists in SA from a lifespan or
career-stage approach, focusing on early career counselling psychologists. The methodological
limitations of existing counselling psychology studies in SA will also be reviewed and directions
for future research will be suggested.

Method
Scoping reviews are useful to summarise and disseminate research findings as well as to identify gaps
in the existing literature (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005). Scoping reviews are similar to systematic
reviews in that they follow a structured methodological process (Munn et al., 2018). Scoping reviews,
however, are generally used to examine emerging evidence when it is still unclear which specific
questions should be posed, and more precisely addressed, through use of a systematic review. Scoping
reviews are thus valuable precursors to systematic reviews (Munn et al., 2018). Given that the aim of
this review was to map the available literature, as opposed to answering specific questions, a scoping
34 South African Journal of Psychology 53(1)

review was deemed appropriate. Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage framework for scoping
reviews was thus followed: (1) identify the research question, (2) search and retrieve studies, (3)
select studies, (4) extract and table the study data, and (5) synthesise and summarise the results. This
ensured the utmost methodological rigour in alignment with a systematic review (Seidler et al., 2018).

Identifying the research question

The research questions established to guide this review were the following: (1) What is known from
the existing literature about counselling psychology in SA? and (2) To what extent is literature
available on counselling psychologists in SA from a lifespan or career-stage approach, focusing on
early career counselling psychologists?

Identifying relevant studies

The steps detailed in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
(PRISMA) statement were adhered to (Moher et al., 2009). The scoping review was conducted
by searching three electronic databases, including EBSCOhost’s® Academic Search Premier,
PsycArticles and PsycInfo; Sabinet®; and PubMed. The electronic databases were selected as they
offer international and African-focused multi- and interdisciplinary academic literature. Reference
lists of identified articles were also further manually searched (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005).
The following general keywords were searched for while making use of a Boolean Search query
to ensure inclusivity and breadth of coverage: ‘counselling psychology’ OR ‘counselling psycholo-
gist’ OR ‘counseling psychology’ AND ‘South Africa’. The keywords were searched for within
article titles, keywords, and abstracts, although some databases also included full texts; a publica-
tion date specifier was set at 2000–2021.

Study selection
All search results were saved to Zotero (a referencing software). Results were screened in two
phases: (1) title and abstract screening and (2) full-text screening. Article titles and abstracts were
screened using the open access software, Rayyan (see https://rayyan.qcri.org/welcome). Full-text
articles were then screened by the first author to ensure that all inclusion criteria were met.
Studies selected for inclusion in the scoping review met the following criteria: (1) conducted
between 2000 and 2021 (this time frame was chosen to focus on literature in the new millen-
nium); (2) published as a peer-reviewed journal article; (3) contextually relevant to SA; and (4)
provided a direct linkage to the counselling psychology category. Grey literature as defined by
Laher and Hassem (2020) was excluded from the study, as the authors deemed peer-reviewed
research to be more rigorous. All literature focusing on the professional training of counselling
psychologists in SA, including the masters and internship years, was excluded. Furthermore, all
literature not providing independent results for the counselling psychology category was
excluded. No language restrictions were applied. Any discrepancies or disagreements on which
articles should be included were discussed among the authors to reach consensus.

Charting the data

Data were extracted by the first author and verified by the two other authors (CY and DB) to ensure
accuracy. The extracted data included author(s) and year, study aim, design, sample, and whether
or not a career-stage or lifespan approach was taken.
Haine et al. 35

Figure 1. PRISMA diagram.

Source: Adapted from Moher et al. (2009).

Collating, summarising, and reporting the results

Given their heterogeneity, the findings of the included articles were synthesised through employ-
ing a thematic analysis approach (Thomas & Harden, 2008). First, the author (PH) read all articles,
annotated them, and established a wide range of topic categories through free line-by-line coding.
These codes represented recurring phrases across articles. Further articles read were positioned
according to previously identified categories and additional categories were included as new topics
were revealed. These free codes were clustered into relevant areas of focus or ‘descriptive’ themes
based on their general emphasis. A second author (CY) independently analysed 20% of included
articles and established their own categories to enhance trustworthiness.

Results
Through electronic database searches and manual searching of reference lists, a total of 507 articles
were identified. After removing duplicates, 469 article titles were screened. The total number of
articles excluded based on titles and abstracts amounted to 451, whereas full-text articles excluded
totalled eight. Ten articles were identified for inclusion in the study (see Figure 1).
36 South African Journal of Psychology 53(1)

Article characteristics
The reviewed articles included peer-reviewed commentary or review articles, as well as qualitative
and quantitative research. Table 1 presents the full characteristics of each article. The following
section provides an outline of this information.

Author(s) and year of study

All included articles were published between 2000 and 2021; however, eight articles (80%) were
published within the last decade (2011–2021). The majority (50%) of articles were solely authored,
first-authored, or co-authored by Young, whereas Bantjes, Kagee and Leach each first-authored or
co-authored the second most number of articles (20%).

Study design
Five articles (50%) did not contain original data and were categorised as a commentary or review.
Three articles (33%) employed qualitative methods, whereas two (22%) employed quantitative
methods. One article (11%) was a secondary analysis of original quantitative data collected.

Sample and participant characteristics

In total, the empirical studies reported data on 249 participants. Sample sizes ranged from 2 to 228.
Four studies (40%) included a counselling psychologist sample, whereas two studies (20%)
included a counselling psychologist-only sample. One article (10%) included a mixed sample of
in-training (33%) and independent practicing counselling psychologists (67%), whereas one arti-
cle’s (10%) ‘sample’ involved official definition statements of counselling psychology divisions,
institutes, or colleges of national psychology associations or societies.

Career-stage or professional lifespan approach

No studies specifically examined counselling psychologists in SA from a career stage or profes-
sional lifespan approach, whereas one study (10%) included an exploration of the professional
experiences of a combined sample of early career clinical and counselling psychologists in SA.

Thematic analysis of findings

Thematic analysis of the 10 articles revealed five unique, though interrelated, superordinate
themes. These five themes are delineated below.

Theme 1: Counselling psychology as embedded in the sociopolitical history of SA

Nine articles explicitly made reference to the sociopolitical history of SA, in which the present-day
counselling psychology category is inextricably embedded. One study (Goodyear et al., 2016) did
not comment on the sociopolitical context of SA, given that it was a global study on counselling
psychology. Of the nine articles, four articles proposed that many of the challenges that counselling
psychologists face today strongly reflect the country’s colonial past and the sociopolitical and eco-
nomic consequences of apartheid (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Leach et al., 2003;
Watson & Fouche, 2007).
Table 1. Article characteristics.
No. Author(s) and year Aim Design Sample Career stage
or lifespan
Haine et al.

perspective

1 Leach et al. (2004) To describe the current status of CP within the cultural Commentary/ – No
contexts of both historical and modern-day SA review
2 Watson and Fouche To seek a convergent vision for CP from an analysis of Qualitative SWOT n = 19 No
(2007) divergent perspectives analysis (combination of practising and
in-training CPs)
Literature on the CP profession
3 Young (2013) To review the official definition statements of CP in countries Qualitative Official definition statements No
(the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, of CP divisions, institutes or
Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and Hong Kong) where the colleges of national psychology
profession is formally recognised and well established, to associations or societies, and
make a contribution to the understanding of CP and point the where they exist, national
profession towards future possibilities regulatory authorities
4 Bantjes et al. (2016) To provide a portrait of CP in SA, by describing the origins Commentary/ – No
of CP in SA, the current character of CP, the contemporary review
context in which SA CP’s practice and by discussing the
challenges facing the profession
5 Young et al. (2016) To discuss the professional boundaries and the identity of CP Commentary/ – No
in SA review
6 Goodyear et al. A global study to explore (1) ways in which CP is distinctive Empirical, n = 228 No
(2016) within eight participating countries (Australia, Canada, New quantitative (SA sample)
Zealand, SA, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and
the United States), as well as (2) that which is characteristic of
CP across them
7 Ægisdóttir et al. To provide examples of sociopolitical, cultural, and historical Commentary/ – No
(2019) contexts that influence CP development and practice in four review
countries (Iceland, SA, Thailand, and Turkey)
8 Young and Saville To compare clinical and counselling psychologists’ practitioner Secondary n = 228 No
Young (2019) demographics, key activities, theoretical orientations, values, quantitative analysis (CP sample)
and career satisfaction in SA
9 Haine and Booysen To explore the professional experiences of early career clinical Empirical, n=2 Yes
(2020) and counselling psychologists in SA qualitative (CP sample)
10 Moodley (2021) (1) To describe relevance as a discursive frame in psychology as Commentary/ – No
an applied discipline and in CP as a registration category; (2) to review
analyse the trope of a crossroads in CP; and (3) to present an
37

alternative frame and positioning for both psychology and CP

CP: counselling psychology; SA: South Africa.

38 South African Journal of Psychology 53(1)

Five articles provided a more detailed historical overview of the counselling psychology cate-
gory, including its genesis within the country (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Leach
et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007) as well as the ‘scope-war’ phase (Moodley, 2021, p. 114).
Four articles asserted that counselling psychology was initially established as a professional cate-
gory to better serve the needs of the Afrikaner national government (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes
et al., 2016; Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007). More specifically, these articles claimed
that counselling psychology was established in opposition to clinical psychology to focus on pro-
moting the career development and psychological well-being of White Afrikaans-speaking citi-
zens. Three articles highlighted that a minority of counselling psychologists were opposed to such
ideologies who focused, instead, on advocating for equality (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Leach et al.,
2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007). Four articles called attention to the development of counselling
psychology in SA as mirroring the development of counselling psychology in international con-
texts, namely, that of the United States (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Leach et al.,
2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007).
Emphasis was made by three articles suggesting that while the professional training programmes
of counselling psychologists were initially inaccessible to the majority of South Africans, today,
counselling psychology training programmes are situated at English- and Afrikaans-language uni-
versities and are accessible at both historically White and historically Black universities in SA
(Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Leach et al., 2003).

Theme 2: Professional identity: Values, domains, and scope of practice

All 10 studies made reference to the profession grappling with and addressing its professional
identity, including its distinctions in professional values, domains, and SoP. More specifically, nine
studies lamented counselling psychology’s failure to achieve a recognisable, coherent, and socially
relevant professional identity that differentiates the speciality from the other disciplines of applied
psychology. In contrast, one article (Moodley, 2021) questioned whether socialisation into a par-
ticular version of counselling psychology professional identity is required.
Although interrelated, the focus of the nine articles somewhat varied with most highlighting the
values and foundational domains of counselling psychology practice, including development,
strengths, prevention, cultural context (Goodyear et al., 2016; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young, 2013;
Young et al., 2016), and others illuminating issues of SoP (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016;
Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Moodley, 2021; Young & Saville Young, 2019). In this
regard, seven articles reflected the blurring of professional boundaries between clinical psychology
and counselling psychology, suggesting the major distinction to fall along the normality–pathology
continuum, with clinical psychology more strongly associated with the latter (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019;
Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young,
2013; Young & Saville Young, 2019). Similarly, five articles acknowledged a historical bias in power,
status, and opportunities towards clinical psychology, as also reflected in the international context
(Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young &
Saville Young, 2019). According to authors, this comes as a result of clinical psychology’s historical
associations with the medical model (Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Moodley, 2021;
Young et al., 2016; Young & Saville Young, 2019).
An array of recommendations to resolve disputes over professional identity and SoP were
mentioned by all 10 studies. Most notably, however, five articles made reference to the merging
the specialities to create a ‘generalist category’ (Leach et al., 2003; Moodley, 2021; Watson &
Fouche, 2007; Young, 2013; Young & Saville Young, 2019). In spite of such suggestions, four
articles emphasised the significant and unique strengths of counselling psychology and argued
Haine et al. 39

against the merging of the sub-disciplines (Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young,
2013; Young & Saville Young, 2019).

Theme 3: Contemporary status of counselling psychology in the SA health system

The majority of articles attempted to provide a contemporary portrait of counselling psychology in
the SA health system (Bantjes et al., 2016; Goodyear et al., 2016; Young, 2013; Young & Saville
Young, 2019). More specifically, most articles discussed the significant burden of mental health
disorders and inadequate mental health services in SA while also outlining the professions socio-
political search for relevance. For example, seven articles discussed issues of relevance pertaining
to the misalignment of counselling psychology’s individualistic and Eurocentric-focused psychol-
ogy within the context of multicultural SA (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach
et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young & Saville Young, 2019). In addition, three articles
discussed issues of relevance relating to the fact that most counselling psychologists in the country
do not speak the indigenous languages of the Black majority (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al.,
2016; Watson & Fouche, 2007). In contrast, one article (Moodley, 2021) described the search for
relevance as a discursive frame in counselling psychology.
Six articles discussed the contemporary employment options and work settings of counselling psy-
chologists in SA (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al.,
2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young, 2013; Young & Saville Young, 2019). More specifically, one
article (Watson & Fouche, 2007) suggested that counselling psychologists can be found within a vari-
ety of public and private sectors, whereas four articles opposed this notion, suggesting that the range
of employment options for counselling psychologists outside of private practice and higher education
is limited (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Young & Saville
Young, 2019). Four articles indicated that the majority of counselling psychologist in SA currently
work in private practice (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Goodyear et al., 2016; Young &
Saville Young, 2019), whereas two articles demonstrated the demographic profile of counselling psy-
chologists as being dominated by White, females (Goodyear et al., 2016; Young & Saville Young,
2019). Six articles specifically called for the (re-)integration of counselling psychologists into the SA
primary health care system through the creation of posts (Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020;
Leach et al., 2003; Young, 2013; Young et al., 2016; Young & Saville Young, 2019).

Theme 4: Professional threats and challenges

Articles suggested that counselling psychology practitioners face a number of professional threats
and challenges, as indicated in all 10 studies in this review. In addition to professional identity
challenges, a discussion of the threats and challenges facing counselling psychologists in SA
included the provision of relevant and effective psychological services (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019;
Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007), the need
to better balance individual-based interventions with broad-based community and public health
interventions (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Leach et al., 2003; Young et al., 2016),
the need to address the mental health treatment gap of the country (Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine &
Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young, 2013; Young & Saville Young,
2019), the need to respond to the call for racial diversity and congruency with more indigenised
interventions (Ægisdóttir et al., 2019; Bantjes et al., 2016; Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche,
2007; Young & Saville Young, 2019), the facing of macro-environmental issues such as the avail-
ability of jobs (Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche,
2007), and the lack of payment from medical aid membership schemes (Haine & Booysen, 2020;
Leach et al., 2003; Moodley, 2021; Watson & Fouche, 2007; Young & Saville Young, 2019).
40 South African Journal of Psychology 53(1)

Theme 5: The future promise of counselling psychology in SA

Seven articles made reference to the potential of counselling psychology to be an important influ-
ence within SA’s communities and offered ways in which such opportunities may be seized
(Bantjes et al., 2016; Haine & Booysen, 2020; Leach et al., 2003; Moodley, 2021; Watson &
Fouche, 2007; Young, 2013; Young et al., 2016). For example, three articles proposed that coun-
selling psychology has the potential to be an important influence within indigenous and under-
served communities of SA, by adopting advocacy roles, becoming integrally involved in policy
formation, and actively working to change oppressive sociopolitical and economic structures that
have a negative impact on psychological well-being (Leach et al., 2003; Watson & Fouche, 2007;
Young et al., 2016). Furthermore, with its traditional emphasis on health promotion and roots in
health psychology, four articles discussed counselling psychology as well positioned to make
meaningful contributions within SA’s low-resourced medical settings (Bantjes et al., 2016; Leach
et al., 2003; Young, 2013; Young et al., 2016) by applying psychological knowledge to promote
physical health and well-being.

Discussion
Counselling psychologists represent a substantial group of registered psychologists in SA (Watson
& Fouche, 2007). Presented here is a synthesis of the literature available on the registration cate-
gory within the country. Spanning just over two decades, the current scoping review identified
literature diverse in aim, design, and sample, yet demonstrated thematic content that was relatively
recurrent in nature. Taken together, the current findings suggest that literature on counselling psy-
chology in SA involves a focus on (1) counselling psychology as embedded in the sociopolitical
history of SA, (2) counselling psychology professional identity, (3) the contemporary status of
counselling psychology in the SA health system, (4) professional threats and challenges, and (5)
future promise. The themes revealed from the current scoping review correspond greatly, with
content afforded in books published in the same era (e.g., Naidoo & Kagee, 2009). We suggest that
the relatively consistent nature of the thematic content can be attributed to the significant number
of commentaries and reviews demonstrating an absence of primary data to make empirical claims.
It is more than likely that if these articles involved the analysis of primary empirical data, the limi-
tations of their claims may have been waylaid. Nevertheless, the strength of this review is that, in
synthesising the 10 articles, associations were able to be drawn by clustering content consistently
discussed on the counselling psychology category in SA.
This scoping review reveals that while in recent years more literature has become available on
the counselling psychology category in SA, the sub-speciality within the country generally remains
under-researched. We propose that while the recent increase in research activity on counselling
psychology in SA is likely linked to the incoherent and idiosyncratic SoP published in 2011, it is
imperative that further research activity on the sub-discipline does not stagnate. Furthermore,
while this review reveals limited literature specifically on counselling psychologist in SA from a
career-stage or lifespan approach, several methodological limitations are also exposed that limit
one’s ability to draw conclusions about the counselling psychology category as a whole.
First, most of the studies reviewed involve relatively small sample sizes from which the research
findings are drawn (e.g., Haine & Booysen, 2020; Watson & Fouche, 2007). The transferability
and generalisability of these findings are, in turn, compromised. Moreover, the few studies that
attempt to recruit nationally representative samples make use of a snowball, or convenience, sam-
pling method, undermining the representivity of the counselling psychology category and also
increasing risk of bias with the use of nonprobability sampling (e.g., Goodyear et al., 2016; Young
& Saville Young, 2019). These studies are further limited as they suffer from low response rates.
Haine et al. 41

For example, Young and Saville Young (2019), and Goodyear et al. (2016) indicate a 13% repre-
sentation of the entire counselling psychology population in SA. Although these studies arguably
succeed in providing some quantitative insights into the counselling psychology population, gen-
eralisability of the data to the broader population of counselling psychologists in SA remains chal-
lenging. Nationally representative studies are thus needed to more accurately examine trends in the
counselling psychology category in SA.
Second, although online survey questionnaires are advantageous in assessing certain standard-
ised correlates of the counselling psychology category (such as demographic information and work
settings), they do not offer the opportunity for counselling psychologists to introduce further areas
for exploration, nor do they offer an in-depth understanding of the trends in survey findings (e.g.,
Goodyear et al., 2016; Young & Saville Young, 2019). Furthermore, the qualitative SWOT analysis
conducted by Watson and Fouche (2007) faces issues of subjectivity where an identified strength
may be viewed as a potential weakness and a threat as an opportunity, depending on the reader’s
perspective. Alternative research methodologies would thus allow for a more systemic exploration
of counselling psychologists in relation to their sociopolitical and cultural contexts. Young and
Saville Young (2019) and Haine and Booysen (2020) specifically call for future studies to incorpo-
rate more qualitative designs.
Third, all existing studies on counselling psychology in SA are cross-sectional in nature, as
opposed to longitudinal. As a result, it is unclear which variables support or inhibit the practice
experiences of counselling psychologists across the professional lifespan. Similarly, although one
study has examined the professional experiences of early career clinical psychologists and counsel-
ling psychologists in SA (Haine & Booysen, 2020), no studies have specifically explored, nor
compared, the experiences, challenges, and specific support needs of counselling psychologists at
key career stages across the professional lifespan. This is significant given the ongoing transforma-
tion occurring both within the counselling psychology profession and within the professional land-
scape in which counselling psychologists practice. Furthermore, this is significant given that the
early career stage has been identified in international literature as being fraught with professional
challenges, yet is a critical developmental point for maintaining a healthy and vibrant mental health
workforce (Good et al., 2013).
Finally, although it is evident that a number of studies on counselling psychology in SA cur-
rently exist, much of the literature available is dominated by a small number of authors in the field
conducting multiple analyses on the same sets of data. Increasing the number of authors writing on
the topic, as well as increasing the collection and analysis of primary data on counselling psychol-
ogy in SA, would increase understanding and develop a more balanced perspective of the field.
Directions for future research are thus plentiful.
This review is subject to limitations that should be taken into consideration. First, only three
databases were chosen; however, reference lists were screened to broaden the scope. Second, the
themes revealed in the thematic analysis were based exclusively on the number of studies indicat-
ing similar findings; thus, the importance of the identified themes should not be directly inferred.
Third, it is possible that some relevant studies may exist, but that these lie beyond the parameters
established for this scoping review. Finally, given that a large majority of the included articles
involved commentaries and reviews, indicated findings are undeniably subjective in nature.

Conclusion
Despite counselling psychology’s fairly brief and exclusionary history in SA, as well as the numer-
ous professional threats and challenges that the profession currently faces, increasing literature
demonstrates counselling psychology’s promise to be an important influence within the country’s
42 South African Journal of Psychology 53(1)

health care system. This is in alignment with the discipline’s emerging professional identity.
Although encouraging, the existing literature on counselling psychology in SA is small, subject to
methodological limitations and dominated by only a few authors in the field conducting multiple
analyses on the same sets of data. Furthermore, almost no literature exists on the counselling psy-
chology category from a lifespan or career-stage approach to explore specific challenges and sup-
port needs at key career stages. Future studies making use of different methodologies, involving
multiple authors with diverse backgrounds, tracking employment trends, and soliciting first-person
accounts of counselling psychologist’s experiences at key career stages across the professional
lifespan is thus needed to advance knowledge and understanding of the field. Without doing so,
ideas about how best to support and utilise this particular group may potentially be misguided, in
turn affecting the successful provision of mental health care within the country.

Authors’ note
This article is based on a review of the counselling psychology literature and involves no human subjects.
Accordingly, ethical procedures were not applicable to this study.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publi-
cation of this article.

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publica-
tion of this article: The financial assistance of the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority
(HWSETA) (Reference No. G18H6216), and the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences
(NIHSS), in collaboration with the South African Humanities Dean Association (SAHUDA) (Reference No.
SDS20/1269) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at
are those of the authors and are not necessarily to be attributed to the HWSETA, NIHSS, and SAHUDA.

ORCID iDs
Phillipa Haine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6292-8862
Duane D Booysen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6349-3178

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