Adventurous beginnings to professional identity development during professional counselling psychology education : a narrative analysis

Abstract

The development of professional identity during professional counselling psychology education is seen as a cornerstone of the professional development of prospective counselling psychologists. This research project looked at how students in an MA (Counselling Psychology) programme at the University of Pretoria constructed their professional identity(ies) through adventure experiences - which included archery, a ropes course, sea rafting, sea kayaking, and abseiling. This research project was conducted from a Narrative approach. The participants were required to construct their professional identity(ies) through written adventure narratives in which spontaneous metaphoric transfer had taken place. These narratives were then analysed through the “Problem-Solution Approach” to narrative research. Thereafter, the findings were given back to the participants, who were then asked to apply the findings to the different scopes of practice in counselling psychology. The research found that the participants were able to move from the dominant cultural narrative of psychologists as “experts”, and construct preferred professional identities through the adventure experience.