Experiences of Early Career Counseling Psychologists Working in Integrated Health Care

Psychologists are increasingly represented among interprofessional health care teams, yet little is known about counseling psychologists who fulfill these roles. We interviewed 13 early career counseling psychologists in different settings across the country about their roles and functions, the nature of their relationships with other health professionals, and counseling psychology identity and values. Results showed that counseling psychologists perform a variety of duties by adapting their counseling psychology training to medical settings, and that they find this work both challenging and rewarding. Participants incorporated traditional counseling psychology pillars of prevention, diversity, social justice, and strength-based interventions to make contributions to patient and community care in integrated health care settings. Implications for training and future research are discussed.