The Perceptions and Attitudes of Kenyan University Trainee Counsellors Towards Counselling Psychology as a Profession

The demand for counselling services in Kenya has increased rapidly because people are experiencing a wide range of conflicts in their everyday lives. This can be attributed to the escalating social, cultural and economic pressures. In response, universities across the country have initiated and implemented counselling psychology programmes with an aim to train professional counsellors who can provide counselling services to the people. This descriptive survey study was designed to reveal the perceptions and attitudes of university trainee counsellors towards counselling psychology as a profession. The study was conducted in two Kenyan universities. A sample of 120 trainee counsellors was purposively chosen for the study and was asked how they perceive counselling psychology as a profession. Most of these trainees were secondary school trained teachers. A questionnaire of 40 items Likert type scale was used to gather data. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results are presented in form of frequencies and percentages. The results indicate that counsellor trainees have clear positive attitude for their future profession.