TPC-Journal-V2-Issue1

34 The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 1 provider. Also reported, the most common reasons for which clients sought mental health professionals were mild depression, marital problems, and child-rearing issues. A generation ago, Gelso, Brooks, and Karl (1975) reported mental health consumers’ overall preferences to be for counseling psychologists and psychiatrists. Sharpley (1986) purported a tendency for mental health consumers to separate human service professionals into two categories, each entailing distinct perspectives. First, private practice and fee-for-service providers, psychologists and psychiatrists being the most prominent, were viewed as those who were most competent in treating mental illnesses. Second, public-utility and non-fee-demanding professionals, of which social workers and counselors prominently emerged, were perceived as being more practical and apt in providing service to the average person when addressing emotional problems. Among the various human service professionals, counselors are of particular interest to the present study. Sharpley, Bond, and Agnew (2004) indicated that the public views counselors’ roles to be primarily listening, supporting, and helping to solve problems. While 79% said counselors were needed, and the same number indicated a willingness to pay for services provided, survey respondents personally were likely to consult a counselor concerning only 13–20% of the problems they faced. Participants also reported benefits of counseling to include having an impartial person to listen and help clarify, as well as having a facilitator for problem-solving, and meeting in a safe, confidential environment. Fall, Levitov, Jennings, and Eberts (2000) described the public’s expressed general confidence in professional counselors’ abilities to treat “less serious” cases, but less confidence when treating cases which were perceived to be at higher levels of seriousness (e.g., psychopathology). These findings are congruent with those found by Fall, Levitov, Anderson, and Clay (2005) specifically studying the perceptions of the African-American population. In both studies, the participants expressed significantly greater levels of confidence in the abilities of psychiatrists when addressing severe issues, such as psychotic depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Findings further showed that doctoral-level counselors were perceived similarly to clinical psychologists, while both studies showed that in every case professional counselors with doctorates were preferred over those with only master’s-level education. Wantz, Firmin, Johnson, and Firmin (2006) reported on university student perceptions of high school counselors. This qualitative study found college students reported high school counselors as having similar empathic and desire to help skills as licensed professional counselors. Dixon, Vrochopoulos, and Burton (1997) reported the underrepresentation of counseling psychologists in introductory psychology textbooks, showing counseling to have significantly fewer references than clinical, school, and industrial psychologists. Likewise, Firmin, Johnson, and Winkler’s (2005) research showed almost no references to professional counselors in general psychology texts. Consequently, we conclude that while the public generally possesses positive perceptions of professional counselors, their presence is kept somewhat cryptic by the gatekeepers. College-educated students depend on introductory psychology texts to frame for them professional domains and functions among human service professionals. As counselors have achieved professional status through licensure over the last two decades, identity confusion has been demonstrated by the practitioners within the field (King, 2006). Inevitably, this perplexity has trickled down to the minds of mental health practice consumers regarding distinctions and roles of professional counselors. Consequently, while the public generally likes the construct of who they think of as counselors, they also are unsure of these professionals’ roles (Butterfield, 1989). Decades ago, Dahlem (1969) called for the vital need to research the general publics’ perception of counselors’ images and role perceptions, compared to counselors’ self-perceptions. He stressed the importance of clarifying consumers’ understandings and perceptions in relation to the success of the providers. Gelso and McKenzie (1973) followed up, studying ways in which students were informed of counselors’ available assistance. Students receiving only written information about hypothetical problems appropriate for counseling were less likely to experience changes of perceptions. This suggested that the most effective way to impact students’ impressions concerning counselors would be the presentation of written and oral information.