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Research and Practice in Counseling: A Conflict of Values
Author(s) -
WOOLSEY LORETTE K.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
counselor education and supervision
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.608
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1556-6978
pISSN - 0011-0035
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6978.1986.tb00700.x
Subject(s) - psychology , existentialism , humanism , value (mathematics) , counselor education , natural (archaeology) , humanistic education , qualitative research , humanistic psychology , psychotherapist , social psychology , engineering ethics , epistemology , higher education , sociology , social science , philosophy , archaeology , machine learning , political science , computer science , law , history , engineering
A long‐standing problem confronting counselor educators is the antagonism of counseling students toward research. In this article the author presents the thesis that a major source of the practitioner‐researcher split is the conflict of values between the underlying assumptions of the traditional methods of research and theories of counseling. Scientific methods have often been narrowly interpreted in counseling. The emphasis in research has thus been on that which can be measured objectively, demonstrated by experiments, and replicated. Observation of natural events and people's own purposes frequently have been excluded. In contrast, humanist and existential theories of counseling focus on inner experience, qualitative, empathic understanding, and the importance of personal goals and purposes. Behind these disparate perspectives of research and practice are assumptions about the nature of reality, of knowledge, and of human nature. The result is a conflict of two value systems. Implications for counselor education are discussed and suggestions for resolving the conflict are presented.