An occupational analysis of consulting psychology: Results of a national survey.

Abstract

Unlike the four de facto specialties in psychology—counseling, clinical, school, and industrial/organizational psychology—consulting psychology is not formally recognized as a predoctoral training area. In spite of this, many psychologists offer consulting services as part of their professional practice. To obtain an occupational analysis of consulting psychology, this study was designed to examine the parameters of practice and professional identity of 143 consulting psychologists who are members of the Division of Consulting Psychology. Results suggest that consulting psychologists see themselves as primarily serving individual and organization consultees in business/industrial and hospital settings. The skill most important to professional identity is general problem solving. When the graduates of the defacto specialties were examined for consultation education and practice differences, few differences emerged, indicating that no recognized current specialty better trains consultants. Results are discussed in light of the need for specific course work, supervised experiences, and professional development in consulting.

Content analysis of Consulting psychology journal: Practice and research (Volumes 44-59).

“…A year later, Hellkamp (1993) followed suit with a more contemporary history . Robinson Kurpius, Fuqua, and Gibson (1995) surveyed consulting psychologists to identify the tasks they performed and Garman, Zlatoper, and Whiston's (1998) content analysis attempted to identify the extent to which different doctoral programs prepared students for these tasks. More recently, two major efforts have attempted to specify the competencies required of consulting psychologists.…”

“…In service of this mission, the journal publishes conceptual articles with practical implications, original research focused on consultation, reviews of specific consultation arenas, innovative case studies or ones that relate to critical or overlooked elements of consultation, articles to aid consultants in developing their practice, and articles addressing how consultants apply their skill to solve clients' problems (Instructions to Authors, 2008, citing, www.apa.org/journals/cpb/submission.html). In addition, research in the journal has attempted to clarify what consulting psychologists are and what they do, through histories, surveys, or other means (Garman, Zlatoper & Whiston, 1998;Hellkamp, 1993;Hellkamp, Zins, Ferguson, & Hodge, 1998;Rigby, 1992;Robinson Kurpius, et al, 1995). Perhaps a reason for these reflective endeavors is to foster the development of an identity for consulting psychology.…”

Graduate training and consulting psychology: A content analysis of doctoral-level programs.

“…Expert technical support was excluded because of its heterogeneity; tying specific course work to this set of tasks would be very difficult. The computer-assisted services area was excluded because it appeared too specialized (i.e., not necessarily performed by the average consulting psychologist), a conclusion supported by its relatively low "extent of practice" rating in the Robinson Kurpius et al (1995) study. With these two categories eliminated, the items remaining were as follows.…”

“…

The practice of consulting psychology is associated with a definable set of professional activities; however, the vast majority of consulting psychologists are trained in non-consulting~oriented doctoral programs. The present study examined existing programs, in light of Robinson Kurpius et al's (1995) occupational analysis, to determine (a) the extent to which various types of doctorallevel programs prepare students to assume these roles and (b) the skill gaps that graduates from each program type would need to address. Results of these analyses are discussed, and recommendations for those interested in respecialization are provided.

MethodThe review process involved the defining and synthesizing of two elements: the professional roles or tasks most relevant to CP and the courses

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Toward a Feminist and Multicultural Model of Consultation and Advocacy

“…In support of these explanations, a summary of an occupational analysis of the field of consultation by Kurpius, Fuqua, Gibson, Kurpius, and Froehle (1995) found that the typical consulting psychologist is an older White male who graduated from an APA-approved training program with little specific course work in consultation. In addition, these consultants reported that the majority of their consultation interventions were with individuals rather than with systems where the need to consider multicultural variables might be more salient.…”