The aim of this confidential and anonymous survey is to develop a comprehensive profile of workforce and practice characteristics of the counselling and psychotherapy profession in Australia and to understand factors which influence therapist development and practice. It aims to be comprehensive by recruiting from all relevant professional associations, registers, and training institutions.

This study is the first comprehensive study of the Australian counselling and psychotherapy workforce, their practice and client characteristics, and the factors which influence therapist development and practice.

It is also part of the International Study of the Development of Psychotherapists, a project developed by the Society for Psychotherapy Research Collaborative Research Network. Over the past two decades, this project has studied the development and practice of thousands of professional psychotherapists and counsellors in over 25 countries. The current survey utilises the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire from the international project so that Australian counsellors and therapists may be represented among and compared with colleagues around the world. We have also included questions specifically relevant to the Australian context.

This research is conducted by Australian researchers:

It has been funded by the Faculty of Health Science, La Trobe University, the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association of NSW, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, and a philanthropic grant.

Findings will provide important knowledge about the professional workforce to facilitate health service planning and professional training. It will also enable professional associations to better advocate on your behalf.

All professionals who practice counselling or psychotherapy in Australia and who are members of a professional association related to Counselling, Psychotherapy, Psychiatry, Psychology, or Social Work, or who are undergoing training in these professions.

You are invited to complete an anonymous online survey that asks questions about your professional training and experience, theoretical orientation, current therapeutic practice, client profiles, treatment modalities, and influences on your practice.

Completion of the questionnaire will take about 50-60 minutes.

No. You cannot save your answers and re-open the site to complete the survey at a later time. If you close the survey window before pressing the submit button your information will not be recorded. We ask that you complete the survey when you have enough time to finish it all at once.

No. If you close the survey window before pressing the submit button your information will not be recorded.

You do not have to answer all of the questions. The questions you do answer will still be valid, although we do ask that you attempt to answer as many questions as possible.

No. Once the survey is submitted you can not recover your information.

This research project has been approved by the LTU Faculty of Health Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee. In accordance with this approval, confidentiality will be maintained.

Your identity will not be known to anyone or made obvious by your answers, nor will your internet provider (IP) address be known to the researchers.

All data obtained from online surveys will be password protected and only available to researchers. It will be maintained indefinitely to facilitate international comparisons. There will be no way to identify you.

Findings may be presented at conferences, and/or published in journals or books. Information may also be merged with international data for comparative analysis, by the international research team of the Collaborative Research Network (CRN).

When the study is complete a report will be placed on La Trobe University Website, www.latrobe.edu.au/publichealth/departments/counselling_and_psych_health.htm, and disseminated through professional associations.

While the full results may not be available for some months, we aim to have some information available by the end of 2009.

If you have any questions about the research, please feel free to contact:

or

If you have any complaints or queries that Christine or Margot are unable to answer, please contact the secretary of the Faculty of Health Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee, Natalie Humphries at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, email n.humphries@latrobe.edu.au or phone (03) 9479 3573.

If you would like to complete the survey and meet the eligibility criteria please Click here