PACFA Workforce Survey

The first PACFA Workforce Survey is a tool developed by PACFA to gain accurate and up to date information about PACFA members and the counselling and psychotherapy professions in general. The Survey applies to all members of PACFA and aims to provide PACFA with vital information needed to support our advocacy work and our overall credibility and provide us with a valuable base of information to begin to document the credentials, legitimacy and practice characteristics of our profession, as well as identifying the needs and views of members to help guide our planning for the future.

Members of PACFA Member Associations participated in the Workforce Survey and the report is in the final stages of preparation and will be published by PACFA in 2012.

Thank you to those who have completed the survey.

Orlinsky, D.E., Schofield, M. J., Scchroder, T. and Kazantzis, N. (2011). Utilization of Personal Therapy by Psychotherapists: A Practice-Friendly Review and a New Study. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 67(8), 828-842.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jclp.20821/abstract

Abstract:
This article offers both a practice-friendly review of research on therapists’ personal therapy and a new study of personal psychotherapy among 3,995 psychologists, counselors, social workers, psychiatrists, and nurses in 6 English-speaking countries. The prevalence of personal therapy as it relates to professional discipline, theoretical orientation, gender, and career level are studied. Findings showed that 87% of the overall sample embarked on personal therapy at least once: 94% of analytic/psychodynamic therapists, 91% of humanistic therapists, 73% of cognitive-behavioral therapists, 82% of the novice therapists to 89% of senior therapists. Both the existing research and this new study demonstrate the extraordinary commonality of personal therapy among psychotherapists,
and encourage further use for professional training, clinical practice, and therapist self-care.
Australian counsellors and psychotherapists: A profile of the profession. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 8(1), 4-11.
http://www.researchgate.net/journal/1473-3145_Counselling_and_Psychotherapy_Research

Abstract:
In the absence of comprehensive Australian data on the counselling and psychotherapy profession, this study aimed to examine the profile of professionals affiliated with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) to inform future policy and service planning. PACFA’s first workforce survey was undertaken in 2004. This cross-sectional survey was mailed and e-mailed to all members of the 41 professional associations affiliated with PACFA. A total of 316 full responses were received. This paper presents findings related to demographics, training and specialisation, theoretical orientation, professional affiliations, work and practice settings, and work roles. The study provides a baseline for future workforce surveys and a resource for policy development for the profession.