Counseling Psychologists’ Interprofessional Collaboration with Social Workers: An Exploration of Grounded Theory

This qualitative study used grounded theory to construct a theoretical model of interprofessional collaboration between counseling psychologists and social workers across practice settings. Eighteen counseling psychologists who worked in a school or community setting participated in this study. The study formulated what it calls the “model of inclusive, client-centered counseling” that is grounded in the dynamic interaction between counseling psychologists and social workers. This model describes the negotiation and discussion process that social workers and counseling psychologists participate in, driven by shared concerns for the wellbeing of clients. The model states that interdisciplinary collaboration between counseling psychologists and social workers is intertwined within the intersectional context and is constituted by four dimensions: individual aspirations, professional training, institutional expectations, and policy implementation. Individual aspirations refer to the aspirations or sense of calling that counseling psychologists feel toward their career. The participants stated that institutional expectations or attitudes were essential to their collaboration with social workers. Moreover, the participants reported that policy implementation facilitates collaboration among counseling psychologists and between them and social workers. Furthermore, collaboration was promoted by referral from the social workers, continuous communication, and cooperation encouraged by the institutional climate. Finally, the findings indicated that counseling psychologists’ actions determined their preference for collaborating with social workers. Exchanging information and maintaining connections resulted in both groups of professionals working together, whereas a lack of connection or consideration for the different perspectives of social workers resulted in them working separately. Irrespective of whether they collaborated, counseling psychologists and social workers agreed that their objective was to protect their clients’ welfare. The participants stated that interprofessional collaboration came with a learning curve. In general, the context-based theoretical structure of this study suggests that interprofessional collaboration requires contextual support from institutional encouragement and policy mandates. Secondly, interprofessional collaboration requires continuous communication throughout the collaboration process. Counseling psychologists can solidify their professional identities and experience professional growth by communicating with social workers and giving their professional opinion. Finally, counseling courses should teach interprofessional collaboration. We discuss the implications of our findings on counseling training, counseling psychologists’ interprofessional collaboration practice, and future research.