The _Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia (PACJA)_ publishes original research in the areas of counselling, psychotherapy, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing practices (including theories, models, approaches, assessment, clinical responses, supervision, training, prevention, psychological education, and advocacy). It is particularly concerned with under-researched topics such as the needs and priorities of people and communities with marginalised and excluded lived experiences in relation to counselling, psychotherapy, and Indigenous healing practices (e.g., equity, access to resources, advocacy).

Article Types

_PACJA_ has an integrative approach that considers quality research from a variety of epistemological, methodological, theoretical, and cultural perspectives. It considers a range of content, including (but not limited to): * empirical studies featuring quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods/multiple methods approaches * theoretical essays * literature reviews * experiential reports * clinical case discussions * practice reflections * traditional cultural approaches and protocols for community knowledge transmission * innovative research approaches, such as interactive pieces, co-design projects, and mixed media formats * book reviews Submissions from practitioners, researchers, community activists, advanced students, and educators—including first-time authors and people with direct lived experience of their submission topic—are warmly encouraged.

Submission Requirements

The journal accepts high quality submissions that adhere to internationally recognised standards in the field. American Psychological Association (APA, 7th edition of the _Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,_ 2020) guidelines on mechanics of style, paper format, referencing, and reducing bias in language apply to all text-based submissions. _PACJA_ is committed to promoting responsible research that meets international standards in publication ethics and adheres to the principles of accountability, diversity, human rights, cultural safety, cultural humility, and anti-oppressive practice. Specifically, the journal requires all authors to adhere to the ethical standards prescribed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Submitted manuscripts should: * Demonstrate original and scholarly research using appropriate methodology or a rigorously conducted literature review * Demonstrate relevance to research and/or practice in the fields of counselling, psychotherapy, and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing practices * Make a significant contribution to the evidence base for the effectiveness of counselling, psychotherapy, and/or Indigenous healing practices and/or increase learning and knowledge in these fields * Comply with the NHMRC National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research * Have a coherent structure and argument * Use anti-oppressive and non-discriminatory language and contain no content that is defamatory, libellous, abusive, or illegal * Comply with current APA referencing conventions * Acknowledge permissions granted to reproduce material from other sources

Manuscript Requirements

**Format:** Manuscripts must be formatted as Word documents or similar (Microsoft or Macintosh compatible). **Anonymisation:** To facilitate double-blind peer review, please submit a de-identified manuscript. **Cover page:** A separate cover page with the manuscript title, name(s) of author(s), each author's biography (up to 100 words), each author's ORCID id (if available), and contact information (postal and email addresses, and phone numbers, of all authors) should be provided as a supplementary file. One author should be designated as the corresponding author. The corresponding author's email address will be published. Declarations/disclosures, and 4 to 6 keywords must also be provided on the cover page. **Style guide:** APA Style, 7th edition. This includes bias-free language guidelines, citations, and reference list. **Maximum word count:** 10,000 words (including references) and an abstract not exceeding 250 words. **Headers:** Headers and sub-headers are created using Word's style tool and should not end with colons or periods. **Figures/tables/illustrations:** Figures and tables must be provided in JPEG/JPG or PNG format (at least 300dpi) and embedded in the main article body, not as separate files or at the end of the article. Tables are created using Word's table tools and must be editable, cell-based objects (see also Text Formatting for Tables, below). Figures with sub-parts must be supplied as one figure which contains all sub-parts appropriately labelled. Labels should be formatted and figures/tables numbered according to APA Style, 7th edition. The title and description of each figure should be included in the manuscript (placed immediately before or after the figure or table). Any permissions granted to the author(s) for reuse of material by the copyright holder must be acknowledged in each figure or table caption. **Text Formatting for Tables:** Use only separate cells, ordered lists, or unordered lists to separate content within the same cell into individual lines. Do not use spaces, tabs, HTML tags, or manual line breaks inside a table. Symbols indicating statistical significance should appear in the same cell as the value and should not have their own column. Only black text colour is accepted. Boldface type, italic type, or a single colour of shading may be used to highlight individual values in tables. Do not underline or use multiple colours of shading or font size to highlight values in tables. **Images:** Each image should be exactly one JPEG, PNG, or TIFF file inserted into the document. **Equations:** Equations should be built using Word's equation builder. **Footnotes:** To ensure proper conversion during typesetting, footnotes must be formatted as footnotes in the article, not stylised paragraph text (superscript). They must be positioned correctly (i.e., after periods and commas; before colons and semicolons). **References:** All works cited in the article must be included in the reference list (labelled "References"). URLs in References must begin with "http://" or "https://". DOIs for references must be supplied if available. **Supplementary Files:** Supplementary materials (e.g., data sets, examples, or materials) will be available for download and will appear in a list at the end of the article body. Common extension types (e.g., PPTX, XLSX, CSV) are acceptable.

Editorial and Peer Review Process

Throughout the review process, from initial submission through to publication, all papers are vetted by the Editor to ensure they meet _PACJA's_ publishing standards and focus. As _PACJA_ is peer-reviewed, authors must be prepared to address comments and make mutually agreed changes to their manuscripts. The editorial and peer review process is viewed as a form of collegial mentoring to develop the best manuscript possible. Although most papers undergo a double-blind peer review, in which the identities of the author(s) and reviewers are hidden, some manuscript topics are difficult to mask adequately or require additional considerations. Consequently, we offer an opt-in process for unmasked, open peer review, in which author(s) and reviewers know each others' identities, where this method is more likely to provide a fair and equitable editorial process.

Publication Process

Once the article is accepted for publication, the author (or first author if the article is co-authored) will be notified of an approximate publication date, whereupon it will be understood that permission to print is granted (unless the author/co-authors withdraw). Upon publication, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) holds copyright of the article.

Copyright

Prior to publication, the author(s) will be required to sign a Grant of an Exclusive Licence to the publisher of _PACJA,_ the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia Inc., in accordance with _PACJA’s_ Copyright Policy (see Journal Policies). If the manuscript reproduces any material for which the author(s) does not hold copyright, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owner before submission, and include this in the manuscript.

A Neuroscientific Perspective on the Therapeutic Alliance and How Talking Changes the Brain: Supporting a Common Factors Model of Psychotherapy