Much progress has been made in integrating information and communications technology (ICT) into careers practice, but there is still room for improvement. An international lens is adopted to examine some key elements that contribute to the successful integration of ICT into careers practice. We start by exploring the role of policy, using the UK…

The speed at which technology evolves, and therefore the speed at which online mental health services evolve and the training required to keep up with them, has become a real concern for the profession. The need for training in transferring face-to-face skills to the online environment has been recognised for some years by leading professional…

We propose that writing can be employed to foster the kind of career learning required in the twenty-first century. The article offers insights into how writing exercises and approaches can be applied to help students construct their career stories in a way that allows them to engage in a dialogical learning process and work in a self-directed…

Against a backdrop of social struggles to rebalance power between colonisers and indigenous peoples, counsellor education at a university in Aotearoa New Zealand is undergoing a transformation. This article explores the creation and application of a framework that results from listening to the voices of indigenous peoples and counselling…

This paper proposes incorporating the concept of the "observing eye/I", from cognitive analytic therapy (CAT), to Hawkins and Shohet's seven modes of supervision, comprising their transtheoretical model of supervision. Each mode is described alongside explicit examples relating to CAT. This modification using a key idea from CAT (in…

Structural explanations of career choice and development are well established. Socioeconomic inequality represents a powerful factor shaping career trajectories and economic outcomes achieved by individuals. However, a robust and growing body of evidence demonstrates a strong link between socioeconomic inequality and health outcomes. Work is a key…

This paper presents an abbreviated version of a verbatim script developed from oral history interviews with individuals key to the development of counselling and psychotherapy in Scotland from 1960 to 2000. Earlier versions were used in workshops with counsellors and pastoral care practitioners to share counter-narratives of counselling and to…

Recent discussions suggest that career counsellors need to be trained in more holistic frameworks in order to deal with the career and psychological issues of their clients. In particular, research shows a strong connection between employment and suicidality, including changes in socioeconomic status, disruption in employment, sudden unemployment,…

An evolving relational dynamic approach to psychotherapy and counselling education is described. Key themes integrated within the approach are the learning community and transformational relationships. Learning is a reciprocal change process involving students, teachers, supervisors and therapists in overlapping learning communities. Drawing on…

The Coalition Government's policies on career guidance are analysed. Its rhetorical concern for career guidance provision is based largely on its support for social mobility, and its recognition of the role of career guidance in moving towards a demand-led skills system. Initial policy statements affirmed its intention to establish an all-age…

Beginning with Carl Rogers' exhortation for counsellors to be non-judgemental of their clients, this article explores the rationale for withholding judgement in therapy, including diagnostic judgement. It traces Rogers' incipient sociopolitical analysis as a foundation for this ethic and argues that Michel Foucault provides a stronger…

This article draws on insights from the sociology of professions to explore the regulatory debate in the psychotherapy and counselling field contrasted with the regulation of arts therapists (art, drama and music therapists). A partial explanation is offered, illustrating the applicability of theory to these groups, but with adaptations to reflect…

What is "right-touch regulation"? In this article we explain why the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (the Authority) has focussed much of its policy work in recent times on seeking an answer to this question, and why it wants to know. We explain why the Authority's predecessor body, the Council for Healthcare Regulatory…

Like the Canadian landscape and culture, the status of professional regulation for counselling and psychotherapy is a mosaic reflecting the unique cultural, linguistic and contextual realities of Canada. Statutory regulation in Canada is constitutionally a provincial/territorial matter. In the past five years, a major movement towards professional…

After identifying historical and current problems in career counselling research, we propose a research agenda based on contextual action theory. This theory has been used as a framework for research in the career field and for general counselling practice. It is advantageous for several reasons including its conceptual basis, its detailed…