This study collected information on the acceptance rates, admission standards, financial assistance, student characteristics, theoretical orientations, and select outcomes of American Psychological Association—accredited counseling psychology programs (99% response rate). Results are presented collectively for all 66 counseling programs as well as separately for practice-oriented PhD, equal-emphasis PhD, and research-oriented PhD programs. Practice-oriented programs accepted more applicants (29%) than equal-emphasis or research-oriented programs (19% and 17%); however, they offered less full funding (30%) than equal-emphasis (72%) or research-oriented programs (83%). Average Graduate Record Examination scores (594 quantitative, 552 verbal) and average grade point averages (3.57) were strong and similar across programs. Approximately 70% of incoming students were women, 29% ethnic and racial minorities, and 8% international students. On average, 89% of students secured an accredited internship as part of their 5.5-year-long program. The research-driven portrait of doctoral training in counseling psychology is of highly competitive, multiculturally diverse, and theoretically pluralistic programs in which the training model does matter in several respects.

The authors examined the attitudes and reasons of 119 American psychologists, counselors, and clinical social workers who had never sought personal therapy. Nontherapy seekers, compared to therapy seekers, expressed less-positive attitudes toward its value as a prerequisite for clinical work and for ongoing professional development. Women, men, and members of all three professions were equally likely to have sought therapy, but cognitive-behavioral therapists and academics were significantly less likely to do so. Top reasons for not undergoing personal therapy entailed dealing with stress in other ways, receiving sufficient support from friends and family, believing coping strategies were effective, and resolving the problem before therapy was needed. The likelihood of seeking personal treatment in the future as well as reasons for doing so are discussed.

How do mental health professionals choose their own psychotherapists? This study replicates and extends a 1987 national survey of psychotherapists regarding the selection criteria and sociodemographic characteristics of their personal therapists; 608 psychologists, counselors, and social workers participated. Therapists' therapists tended to be middle aged and White (94%) but equally female and male. Their most frequent theoretical orientations were integrative, eclectic, cognitive, and psychodynamic (but rarely behavioral or systemic). Psychology was their most prevalent profession, followed by social work, counseling, and psychiatry. Topping the list of therapist selection criteria were competence, warmth, experience, openness, and reputation. The prototypical positive features of personal treatment that therapists repeated with their own patients all concerned cultivation of the therapeutic relationship. The 2007 results are tentatively compared with those obtained in 1987, thus chronicling the evolution of therapists' therapists over the years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

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