Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Counseling

Abstract

The negative attitudes of people towards seeking professional help for mental health issues have been a persistent challenge in promoting access to mental health services. The purpose of the present study is to explore the attitudes of college students toward seeking professional psychological help, with a particular focus on differences between psychology majors and students majoring in other subjects. A total of 250 college students, including 125 college students majoring in psychology and the other 125 majoring in non-psychology subjects, completed a self-report survey-Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form (ATSPPHS-SF), measuring their attitudes toward seeking psychological help. The results indicated that psychology majors had a more positive attitude towards seeking professional psychological help compared to students majoring in other subjects. These findings have important implications for mental health providers, educators, and policy-makers, as they suggest that interventions to promote positive attitudes toward seeking psychological help may be most effective when targeted toward specific populations, such as students in certain academic programs.