Public Perception of Counselling Psychology in Region Six, Guyana
Abstract:
On
a global scale, there has been a significant increase in mental health issues. Over
the past years, Guyana has seen a 1.9% increase in suicide between the years 2010-2015.
One approach to fighting this pandemic is through the field of counselling psychology.
This field of study provides advice, guidance, coping methods, et cetera, on how
to deal with difficult circumstances or just everyday life situations. The objective
of this research was to find out the public perception of counselling psychology,
which in turn gives us an idea of the issues the country is facing in relation to
this field of study. Subsequently, aiding the country in fighting suicide and other
mental health issues. A survey was conducted in Region 6, Guyana. A questionnaire
was designed and used for the survey and was administered to 383 persons. The SPSS
software was used for data analysis. Based on the survey done, there were 216 female
and 167 male respondents. 78.1% of the respondents said they think counselling is
important while 1.3% said it was not important and 20.4% did not know or have never
heard of the term counselling/counselling psychology. 58.7% of the respondents found
no stigma/shame in counselling while 17.8% said there is stigma/shame in counselling.
Also, 41.5% stated that there are no counselling centers in Guyana while 36.6% said
that there are. By analysing the data, the realization obtained from this research
was that the public believes that counselling is important, however, persons are
not aware of this field of study and the counselling facilities and services available
in the country.
Keywords:
Guyana, counselling, counselling psychology,
suicide.
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