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The professional identity of counsellors and guidance practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand is currently under review as a result of the passing of legislation regulating health professionals and the proposed introduction of national registration of counsellors. In this paper I explore this debate, and examine the professional identities claimed by counsellors, counselling psychologists and psychotherapists. The current discussion in this country is both informed by and provides an illuminating lens on professional identity issues in Australia, the UK and the US. An alternative construction of professional identities that are localised and dynamic, yet distinctly of Aotearoa New Zealand, is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article considers a number of issues facing those involved in counselling and psychotherapy training within United Kingdom Higher Education Institutes. It is proposed that the increasing professionalisation of counselling and psychotherapy has significant implications for lecturers and trainers. The article will explore the tension between the Higher Education Institute's responsibility to maintain an ethical position when the market driven work place into which trainees enter is calling for greater specification and standardisation in practice. Finally, the paper draws from the work of Paulo Freire and calls for a radical alternative pedagogy in response to the increasing standardisation of counselling and psychotherapy education. The proposed alternative explores the role and position that the lecturer-trainer might adopt when delivering and developing psychotherapy curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]