Counsellors Negotiating Professional Identity In The Midst of Exogenous Change: A Case Study

• Main Author: Gignac, Kate
• Other Authors: Gazzola, Nicola
• Language: en
• Published: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa 2015
• Subjects: professional identity; counsellor identity construction; case study research; regulation of psychotherapy; Canadian counsellor identity
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/33154; http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-4080

This research study sought to understand how Canadian counsellors in the province of Ontario negotiated and constructed their professional identity amid unfolding regulatory changes. These changes would bring restrictions to both title use and practice of psychotherapy once the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario was established and legislation was fully enacted. For those who identify with the title of ‘counsellor’ and share overlapping scopes of practice with psychotherapy it is uncertain what they will draw upon to construct, rework or maintain their counsellor professional identity. The intention was to build a descriptive, experiential account of the identity work being done by counsellors as they navigated through the uncertainty accompanying this period of transition. A qualitative single case study design was used to explore the particularity of this contemporary occurrence of professional identity construction employing multiple data collection sources to garner a holistic picture of this phenomenon. Input was gathered from twenty-four Ontario counsellors who were students, novice or experienced practitioners who either participated in two semi-structured interviews (n=10) or an asynchronous virtual focus group hosted in the discussion forum of Blackboard Learn™ (n= 14). Additional data sources included the use of a demographic questionnaire, participant observation, and document analysis. In order to augment more subtle or deeper meaning levels additional data collection instruments were employed and these included the use of participant diagramming, a request for a descriptive metaphor, and graphic elicitation diagram. Using a thematic analysis strategy, a within case and cross analysis of the embedded subunits was undertaken. Findings from the data analysis revealed a number of salient themes that offered insights into how counsellors construct their professional identity during periods of uncertainty. There were five higher order or global themes which emerged: (a) counsellors have a sense of agency around the construction and communication of their professional identity, (b) identity construction is a process of organic, emergent growth that continues throughout professional life; (c) the shaping and negotiation of counsellor professional identity is guided by values; (d) when change contexts arise counsellors safeguard identity integrity by protecting its distinctiveness, definitional parameters and characterization in practice settings; and (e) during transition periods counsellors are willing to execute adaptive shifting as part of their identity work provided this does not infringe upon their professional values. Results indicate that meaning, values and agency galvanize the professional identity work done by counsellors and during transition brought about by a significant exogenous change event, such as the recent moves toward professional regulation, these negotiation strategies prevail. This case study took advantage of a contemporary instance of counsellor professional identity construction during unprecedented change to provide not only a rich description of this phenomenon but also to introduce a thematic diagram to act as a starting point for further discussion. Implications for counsellors, counsellor education and training programs, the profession, and future research are each discussed along with ideas for fostering informal avenues for counsellors across the experience spectrum to nurture their professional identity in a protean, agential manner.