Editorial: The inaugural edition of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia (PACJA)

Abstract

I am delighted to be the person to launch the inaugural edition of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia (PACJA), which is the official on-line e-journal of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). Without the financial and administrative support of PACFA, and the voluntary academic support offered members of PACFA and its Member Associations, this journal would not exist. In June 2012 I examined how much research is currently being conducted in the field of counselling and psychotherapy in Australia. You might be surprised to know that between 2001 and 2012, TROVE online thesis database published 9924 theses about psychology, 4952 about social work, 619 about counselling and 260 about psychotherapy. Of course, many of the psychology theses relate to particular modalities and there is considerable overlap within these figures. In the same period, 935 theses were published about mindfulness, 259 about family therapy, 209 about art therapy, 196 about CBT, and 91 about narrative therapy. There were 1266 theses published about depression, 254 about anxiety disorder, 217 about drug and alcohol issues, 162 about child sexual abuse and 122 about domestic violence. It is not surprising that the figures for psychotherapy and counselling are lower than for psychology and social work, since psychotherapy and counselling courses generally do not offer Bachelor Honours programs or fully embrace research as a culture. However, much of the research conducted by psychologists and other mental health professionals informs our work and an increasing number of psychotherapists and counsellors are becoming research active.