TPC-Digests-V1-Issues-123

institutions of higher education in England and Ireland from a comparative standpoint to that in the United States. Six programs were selected, based on proximity, convenience, and/or known contacts, and these included the Cork Institute of Technology (Ireland); the University of East Anglia (England); the University of Cambridge (England); the University of Limerick (Ireland); The University of Manchester (England); and West Suffolk College (England). Information of each program was collected through websites, literature, and personal interviews. The discussion centers on four points of comparison with counselor education programs in the United States: a) The master’s degree isn’t the focal point; b) Research is required; c) Personal therapy is strongly encouraged and sometimes required; and d) A previous career prior to the pursuit of a counseling degree is relatively common. The identified themes are not meant to be conclusive, particularly given the relatively small number of courses of study involved in this article. If more courses of study were included, it is conceivable that different observations would have emerged. Nonetheless, the observations are noteworthy and present both similarities and contrasts to the general approaches of counselor education programs in the U.S. The purpose of this study was to examine counselor preparation at selected institutions of higher education in England and Ireland from a comparative standpoint to that in the United States. TPC Digest