Marriage and family counselling as we know it in Australia today, where
States set up their own Councils, had its origins in the post Second World
War period when in Great Britain the stresses and strains on relationships
at that time prompted the emergence of the Marriage Guidance movement,
providing a service largely staffed by volunteers and largely church initiated.
These beginnings as a service provided by volunteers with a mostly non-professional
background set the tone and affected the nature of counselling and its
concomitant support services for many years.
The British initiative was
followed in Australia, the first Council being formed under the direction
of the Reverend W.G.Coghlin in New South Wales. Other states set up their
own Councils, and a greater focus on the proper selection and training
of counsellors was stimulated by the visit of Dr and Mrs David Mace to
Australia in the mid 1950’s. This couple had been training lay men
and women in Rogerian counselling skills after careful, elaborate selection
procedures, the emphasis being that it is of great importance that counsellors
are those with suitable personality characteristics who can be given the
necessary cognitive and counselling skills afterwards, rather than intellectual
achievement and tertiary training being the criteria for a good relationship
counsellor.
The Maces’ report influenced the 1961 Matrimonial Causes Act 1961
and included the name “Marriage Guidance”. The Attorney General’s
Department employed Les. V Harvey as its senior psychologist to set up
standards for accrediting organisations.
A national body was established as the National Marriage Guidance Council
and the training and welfare of the counsellors were the concern of the
local M.G.C.’s.
In W.A., Victoria and S.A. there were associations of counsellors and N.S.W.
had an Institute of Counsellors, and these associations were looking to
form an Australian Association. ACOMGO (a national body established in
1965, and later re-titled ACOMCO) had been bringing counsellors to Canberra
every second year. State Association members were getting to know each
other and there was more pressure for the formation of a national association
to embrace not only those involved in Marriage Guidance Councils, but those
doing similar work in other organisations.
Changes were beginning to take place. Other organisations, church and secular
were entering the field of marital and more general relationship counselling
and there was a growth in the number of professionals involved in the area.
Individual counsellors’ groups began to want a say in what their
trainers, supervisors and directors were doing to them and were also wanting
to take responsibility for their own professional development.
In February 1976 at Bruce Hall, Canberra, the Rev. Bruce Reddrop (Director
of the Anglican Counselling Service in Melbourne) convened a meeting of
counsellors at the end of the ACOMCO counsellors’ workshop. Paul
Bowen was elected chairman of the meeting and the proposal for a national
association of counsellors was accepted. Ken, Paul, Nancy Miller and Bob
Shilley were given the task of drawing up its constitution - a large and
valuable contribution.
In February 1977 at Ursula College, Canberra, a draft constitution was
presented and Helen McCarthy, Nora Huppert and Bruce Reddrop were appointed
to complete it.
Finally in February 1978 at Ursula College, the constitution was accepted
and the first three executive members declared: Helen McCarthy counsellor
of W.A. MGC (Secretary), Nora Huppert, counsellor of N.S.W. MGC (Treasurer)
and Bruce Reddrop (President). On the first management committee there
were three directors of MGC’s-the President and two Vice-Presidents,
a useful factor as they had access to the resources of agencies and were
used to management and the setting up of structures.
In 1978 members from South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, and
Tasmania had their constitutions accepted so they could form State Chapters
of the organisation. The NSW Institute applied also to be accepted as a
State Chapter.
Membership was growing slowly but steadily. Thus in 1979 fifty applications
for membership were approved by the Membership Committee.
In 1980 Queensland formed a State Chapter and the A.C.T. in 1991.
In June 1995 the Association became incorporated under the Associations
Incorporation Act 1991 of the Australian Capital Territory.
From the very beginnings Nancy Miller produced an informative Newsletter
which by 1994 has become a professional journal edited by Pat Ainsworth
and later by Doug Sotheren from N.S.W. and appeared as a valued insert
in the Australian Journal of Marriage and Family and is sent to all members.
In 1998 this arrangement changed and the Newsletter was printed within
the journal Psychotherapy in Australia and sent directly to those members
who do not subscribe.
The Association exists to promote standards of excellence in relationship
counselling across Australia and to serve its members. Part of this service
has been the provision of workshops and National Conferences. Conferences
or Symposiums have been held as follows: -
1983 Melbourne 1985 Sydney
1987 Adelaide 1989 Perth
1991 Melbourne 1993 Sydney
1995 Brisbane 1997 Adelaide
2000 Sydney 2003 Brisbane
2005 Melbourne 2007 Sydney
The change from voluntary lay workers to paid
and tertiary-trained professionals is virtually complete. There remains
the firm belief that the quality of the counsellor is dependent not only
on the possession of head knowledge but in the ability to develop good
relationship skills. This involves the counsellor being a person with
a high level of self-awareness who can develop a relationship of quality
and closeness with the client, elements that have been emphasised from
the very beginnings. The Association promotes this now by its stiff criteria
for membership at the Clinical level and an insistence on the maintenance
of high standards throughout the professional life of the counsellor,
especially
by its insistence on quality supervision.
In March 2000 the Association was accepted as a member association of
the newly formed Psychotherapy and Counsellors Federation of Australia
Inc.
(PACFA).
In order to provide greater safeguards, in February 2002 the Association
was restructured into a National Association with State Branches. The
existing Chapters have all become branches of the National organisation,
although
the ACT and Tasmanian Chapters have become unviable and combine with
New South Wales and Victoria respectively.
The scope of the Association’s activities has increased into wider
numbers of relationships and types of counselling. The fundamental bases
have not changed, although the narrow range of marriage and family counselling
has already been greatly extended to cover a diverse number of relationships.
In February 2005 the members chose to adopt a more contemporary name for
the Association - “Australian Association of Relationship Counsellors
(AARC) Inc.” and in February 2006 adopted the new logo to promote
the modern identity. |
