A sample of 300 recent graduates in counseling psychology was surveyed to determine which activities and competencies were important for effective job performance and to what extent doctoral training programs provided adequate training in those areas. Responses, received from 72% of the sample, indicated significant differences between ratings of importance and adequacy of training for several competencies. Comparisons between selected subgroups of the sample revealed few significant differences. Although overall discrepancies between job needs and training needs were moderate, several recommendations were derived from the data.Counseling psychologists have recently been giving notable attention to issues of identity, entitlement, and future directions (Domke, 1982;Fretz, 1977;Kagan, 1982;King & Seymour, 1982). Central to the discussions of identity and future directions is the area of training. Due to the many factors that affect training, both within and outside the profession, it is an area of considerable complexity. Training is vulnerable to the idiosyncrasies of changing markets, social trends, licensing boards, accreditation requirements, and the like. For many counseling psychologists, training is an area of special significance, for it represents "the process by which we express and perpetuate our professional values" (Hamilton, 1977, p. 26). Somewhat surprisingly, however, training has been addressed inadequately by the profession. For example, of the empirical articles in the Journal of Counseling Psychology from 1954 through 1972, only 4% pertained to education and training (Munley, 1974), and during the 17 years following the 1964 Greyston Conference, no concerted efforts were made to address training and recommend worthwhile courses of action (Myers, 1982).Among the more recent efforts to identify the critical issues in training, recommendations oftentimes have emerged from general observations, syntheses of socioeconomic trends, and whatever the profession could agree on as its raison d'etre (see Kagan, 1982;Whiteley, 1980). It is also true that some recommendations have emerged from studies not directly related to training. From his 1980 survey, for example, which examined the status, roles, and responsi-We are grateful to Rennie Golec for her statistical and computer assistance and to C. Mitchell Dayton for his statistical consultation. We also express appreciation to the Department of Counseling and Personnel Services and the College of Education, University of Maryland for support of the data collection.
