The Influence of Counselors’ Competence in Psychological Counseling on Their Attitude towards Professional Psychological Help Seeking —Mediation Model with Regulation

Objective: To explore the role of stigma of psychological help seeking and initiative personality in the relationship between counselors’ psychological guidance competence and professional psychological help seeking attitude. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted with the counselors’ psychological counseling competency scale, the stigma scale of psychological help seeking, the attitude scale of professional psychological help seeking, and the initiative personality scale. The questionnaire results of 229 students were collected. Results: (1) The competency of counselors can significantly predict college students’ attitude towards seeking professional psychological help. (2) The stigma of psychological help seeking plays a mediating role in the influence of counselor’s psychological guidance competence on college students’ attitude towards seeking professional psychological help. (3) The initiative personality plays a regulating role in the counselor’s psychological guidance competence to the attitude of seeking professional psychological help. Conclusion: Counselors’ psychological guidance competence influences professional psychological help seeking attitude through the stigma of psychological help seeking, and proactive personality regulates the relationship between counselors’ psychological guidance competence and college students’ attitude towards seeking professional psychological help.