A strong professional counselor identity is vital for supervisees in training (Hansen, 2003). Supervision has been linked to enhancing the development of a professional identity in supervisees (Bernard & Goodyear, 2004). In a study of counselor interns, Weaks (2002) found supervisees require three core conditions in supervision necessary for developing a professional identity: equality, safety, and challenge. In a similar study, Howard, Inman, and Altman (2006) found beginning practicum supervisees experienced five critical incidents in their professional growth: professional identity, personal reactions, competence, supervision, and philosophy of counseling. The purpose of this study was to explore how practicum and internship supervisees across the two varying educational levels (practicum and internship) experience the development of a professional counselor identity in supervision. This study examined (a) whether internship supervisees experience the same five critical incidents in their development of a professional identity as practicum supervisees (Howard, Inman, & Altman; 2006), and (b) whether practicum supervisees require the same three core conditions (Weaks, 2002) necessary for developing a professional identity that internship supervisees experienced. My study found that internship supervisees experienced the same five critical incidents with fluctuation in their development of a professional identity as practicum supervisees in Howard et al.'s (2006) research. Conversely, practicum supervisees in my research did not require all three core conditions necessary for developing a professional identity that internship supervisees experienced in Weaks’ (2002) qualitative study. This study was significant in that it provided empirical research to assist supervisors and counselor educators in understanding the experiences of practicum and internship supervisees.

The purpose of this study was to describe an appropriate protocol for developing a psychometrically sound instrument to assess perceived influences motivating graduate students to enter the counseling profession. The self-report, 124-item inventory was administered to a sample of 347 graduate students pursuing counseling as a profession. All participants responded to the inventory anonymously. A factor analysis from responses grouped scale items into six different factors, and helped condense the scale into a shorter, more psychometrically sound instrument by identifying those items with low or ambiguous factor loadings, suitable for removal. A factor analysis also identified those items most relevant for interpretation, ultimately yielding six major factors, operationalized by a variety of statements regarding various influences most consistent with students' decisions to pursue a career in the field of counseling. The literature review for this study proposes a model with four "hypotheses" of altruism upon which scale items were based. These theories identified possible motivating influences for prosocial behavior- further generalized to one's the decision to enter the helping-oriented career of counseling. This study may benefit the profession by adding to the research base on scale construction and career choice as well as offering a new inventory suitable for use with future research.

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