Chapter 1: Introducing Decision-Making in Professional Practices

This introductory chapter helps to orient and situate readers to the rest of the book about decision-making in four healing, helping and community or human service professions: education, policing, counselling or psychotherapy and medicine. This chapter starts by reflecting on the ubiquity of decision-making and how research on the topic is typically siloed in different occupations and academic fields. Following a brief description of working in the helping professions, examples of possible invisible influences on professional decision-making (e.g. social influence and social interest) are discussed. This segues into an overview of some central themes and assumptions throughout the book before touching on education’s role(s) in supporting the development of professional decision-making competencies. This chapter closes with an overview of the remaining chapters in the book.