This study employed a variation of grounded theory method to investigate how seasoned counsellors in a midsized Canadian city experienced their counsellor professional identity. Six master's-level counsellors were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol to develop an understanding of how they define themselves as professionals, as well as how they view the counselling profession overall. Twenty-five themes emerged, which were further classified into five categories: (a) key influences on counsellor professional identity, which included seven themes; (b) counsellors' professional image, which included seven themes; (c) counsellors' roles and practices, which included six themes; (d) counsellor education and training, which included three themes; and (e) critical events of counsellor professional identity, which included two themes. Encouraging counsellors and counsellor trainees to reflect upon their professional identity and how it develops could foster a stronger professional identity among counsellors and ultimately promote a stronger and more unified image of the profession.
Keywords: counselling, professional identity, counsellor education
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/28489 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Antunes-Alves, Sara |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 190 p. |
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