An Exploration of Factors Impacting Professional Identity Among Master’s Level Counseling Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between program track, clinical experience, and supervisory relationship of counselors-in-training and their professional identity defined as counseling philosophy, beliefs about the profession, and professional engagement (Puglia, 2008). The respondents were 100 masters’ level counseling students in CACREP accredited programs. A three-step hierarchical multiple regression analysis was computed. The measures of professional identity yielded low internal reliability which indicates the findings of the analyses should be considered with caution. The final model indicated that program track, clinical experience, and supervisory relationship in counselors-in-training were unrelated to professional identity. This finding suggests that continued and additional research into measures that examine the professional identity of counselors-in-training is necessary. This study and related future research will be influential in understanding the relationship between counselors-in-training’s programs and their professional identity.