DIGEST-V8-i1

7 TPC Digest 7 | S ince being identified in 1949 at the Council of Guidance and Personnel Associations conference, counselor professional identity remains a large concern. The lack of a consistent and clear counselor professional identity has led to many contemporary problems, such as transferring licensure to another state, achieving equality with other mental health professions in hiring practices, addressing the lack of recognition of the counseling profession in American society, and being reimbursed for services by private and government health insurance providers. Many professional counseling organizations look to the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards to strengthen counselor professional identity. CACREP accreditation requires core faculty members to have degrees specifically from counselor education programs, as well as hold professional memberships, certifications, and licenses within the profession of counseling. CACREP also requires a professional orientation course in counselor education programs that covers the history, ethical standards, professional roles and responsibilities, professional associations, credentialing and licensure processes, professional advocacy, wellness, and public policy issues relevant to the counseling profession. Lastly, many states mandate that independently licensed counselors exclusively provide postgraduate supervision so that counselors understand the role and scope of practice of their profession and are able to communicate their professional identity to others. Most studies have focused on counselor professional identity development with master’s students. We investigated independently licensed counselors’ views on counselor professional identity training and state supervision standards to achieve independent counseling licensure. Ultimately, we wanted independently licensed counselors’ views on the importance of identifying as a counselor to others as well as five professional identity standards. Scores for participants fell between Sometimes Clear and Often Clear when asked about consistency in identifying to others as a counselor. Participants rated supervision pre- and post-graduation by an independently licensed counselor (items one and two); counselor educators licensed and trained as counselors (item three); the unique philosophy of the profession of counseling taught in counselor education programs (item four); and the importance of CACREP accreditation for clinical mental health programs (item five) between Slightly Important and Moderately Important. These five results suggest that independently licensed counselors have an awareness that a consistent and clear professional identity could help address many contemporary problems. We lastly investigated the relationship between independently licensed counselors’ clarity in identifying as a counselor to others and their score on the combined scale of the five items measuring the importance of professional identity standards. We found significance with a moderate positive association between independently licensed counselors consistently identifying as counselors and finding some value in CACREP and state standards for clinical mental health counseling students. This outcome suggests that independently licensed counselors have some connection to the fundamental set of values, beliefs, and assumptions specific to the counseling profession. Stephanie T. Burns, NCC, is an assistant professor at Western Michigan University. Daniel R. Cruikshanks is a professor at Aquinas College. Correspondence can be addressed to Stephanie Burns, 1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5226, s19burns@gmail.com. Independently Licensed Counselors’ Connection to CACREP and State Professional Identity Requirements Stephanie T. Burns, Daniel R. Cruikshanks