Counselling Psychology and Social Justice: Is there a rhetoric-action gap?

The social justice movement in counselling psychology has gathered momentum in recent years. It has been argued that counselling psychology is ideally placed to consider issues of social justice, given the history, philosophy, and values of the profession. It has even been proposed to be a central tenet of the work that counselling psychologists do. But are people truly aware of what this means or is there a rhetoric-action gap? This workshop intends to provide an opportunity for attendees to hear about recent developments in the field of social justice in both national and international counselling psychology. In particular the following questions will be addressed: ‘What does social justice mean to counselling psychologists?’, ‘Is social justice a part of the identity of the counselling psychology profession?’ and ‘If social justice is important to us, what can we do to act on our social justice values?’ The workshop will be divided into three major sections, (1) Theoretical developments related to social justice and counselling psychology, (2) Social Justice action (or inaction) in counselling psychology, and (3) Considering the future of social justice within counselling psychology. The initial two sections will combine formal presentations with creative activities whilst the final segment will provide those attending with the opportunity to consider what role social justice will play in the future of counselling psychology in the United Kingdom.