Abstract

This study investigated wisdom as defined and perceived by counseling psychologists. Three consistent studies and two methodological approaches were used. Study 1 was based on in-depth interviews with seven professors in counseling psychology. Study 2 was based on a survey with forty college students. Study 3 was based on a survey with 202 counseling psychologists. ;In Study 1, the results showed that counseling psychologists define wisdom based on their unique personal experience, their philosophical and theoretical orientation in counseling, and their speciality, counseling psychology. Seven senior professors descriptively emphasized the importance of wisdom in counseling in that counseling psychologists help every unique client to change his/her unique problem using their acquired techniques and training. In Study 2, forty college students defined counseling psychologists' characteristics and wisdom by open-ended questions. Study 2 formed a bridge between Study 1 and Study 3, and assisted in the interpretation of the results from Studies 1 and 3. ;In Study 3, the Counseling Psychologist Wisdom Scales was developed and thirteen hypotheses were tested. The CPWS consists of seventy components of wisdom of a counseling psychology and is divided into nine scales. Those nine scales are Personality, Ethical Responsibility, Attitude, Cognitive Knowledge and Intellectual Skills, Knowledge Based on Experience, Training, Relationship Styles, Understanding of Human Differences, and Understanding of Human Nature. The components of wisdom in the CPWS were discriminated with a different degree of importance. The results showed that wisdom in counseling is an inclusive concept with nine dimensions. ;The results suggested that the older counseling psychologists generally perceived the nine scales on the CPWS more importantly than the younger counseling psychologists. Ethical Responsibility and Understanding of Human Differences scales were regarded differently by male and female counseling psychologists. The cognitively oriented counseling psychologists perceived Cognitive Knowledge and Intellectual Skills more importantly than the affectively oriented ones. Six scales showed relevance to the period of study of the counseling psychologist. Finally, the current job position of a counseling psychologist was regarded as important in perceiving six scales of the CPWS