The Future Is Now: Promoting Professionalism Among Counselors‐in‐Training

Abstract

The authors address the need for promoting professionalism among graduate students and new counselors and outline specific, practical suggestions for incorporating professional development activities into training, supervision, professional, and organizational practice.

Ethical Complaints Made Against Credentialed Counselors: An Updated Survey of State Licensing Boards

“…This focus could suggest anything from a trend toward more ethical behavior, the result of everincreasing unethical behavior, or an increased focus on professionalism and standards (Anderson, 1992;Coale, 1998;Spruill & Benshoff, 1996). Formal assessment of ethical violations by practicing counselors could assist counselor supervisors and educators in determining the kinds of ethics education that is offered and could be useful information when ethical codes are revised.…”

“…In recent years, ethical codes and ethics education have become increasingly important to counselor training and counselor education (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 1997;Cottone & Tarvydas, 1998;Neukrug, Lovell, & Parker, 1996;Welfel, 1998). This focus could suggest anything from a trend toward more ethical behavior, the result of everincreasing unethical behavior, or an increased focus on professionalism and standards (Anderson, 1992;Coale, 1998;Spruill & Benshoff, 1996). Formal assessment of ethical violations by practicing counselors could assist counselor supervisors and educators in determining the kinds of ethics education that is offered and could be useful information when ethical codes are revised.…”

Counselor Education, Program Accreditation and Counselor Credentialing in Turkey

“…One of the essential duties of counselor educators and supervisors is to promote professionalism among counselors in training (Spruill & Benshoff, 1996). As Sweeney (1995) posited, professionalism is a process and credentialing and accreditation are cornerstones of the counseling profession's efforts to gain equitable standing in the marketplace (Sweeney, 1991).…”

Professional Development of Counselor Education Students: An Exploratory Study of Professional Performance Indicators for Assessment

“…Or do we provide information about credentials, organizations, and activities and then allow students to find their own way through the process? Spruill and Benshoff (1996) argued that counselor educators have a responsibility to incorporate professional development activities throughout the curriculum. At the same time, literature suggests that behaviors that are internally attributed due to personal choice are associated with more commitment and persistence than behaviors that are attributed to external factors (Cialdini, 1993).…”

“…Throughout the counseling literature, counselor educators have conceptualized professional development in five major ways: (a) development of a professional counselor identity (Meyers, Sweeney, & White, 2002;Pedersen & Nisenholz, 1999); (b) completing prerequisites for professional credentials (Bloom, 1996;Borders & Benshoff, 1992); (c) involvement in professional activities (Gale & Austin, 2003;Spruill & Benshoff, 1996); (d) performing clinical skills in a competent manner (Egan, 1998;Hackney & Cormier, 2001;Lamadue & Duffey, 1999); and (e) engaging in supervision and consultation with colleagues and peers (Bernard & Goodyear, 1998;Borders, 1996). In the paragraphs that follow, we describe the five identified components of professional development and then present a study designed to develop performance indicators to assist counselor educators in the assessment of counseling students' professional growth.…”