TPC Journal V7, Issue 2 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 2 203 the profession of counseling are foundationally tied to the ACA Code of Ethics, the 2016 CACREP Standards, and the NCE? If counselor educators fail to tie counselor professional identity to the foundational blocks, and teaching students counselor professional identity amounts to encouraging membership in ACA and state counseling associations, it is little wonder that students graduate not tied to the foundations of the profession of counseling. As discussed in the literature review, many authors have discussed methods to support counselors in establishing their professional identity: behaving in harmony with the philosophy of counseling, becoming licensed and/or certified as a counselor, engaging in professional counseling associations, disseminating scholarship for and about the profession of counseling, understanding the history of the counseling profession, understanding counselors’ roles and functions and utilizing counselor ethical codes. The profession of counseling clearly lacks a concrete understanding of what is truly required to create a counselor professional identity with independently licensed counselors. What is apparent is that the status quo in developing counselor professional identity is not working. The biggest threat to counselor professional identity is that over 54% of participants did not use the words counselor or counseling when discussing their occupational role. The word counselor can be used by attorneys, camp counselors, debt counselors and others. It is possible that independently licensed counselors are avoiding using the term because they do not know how to distinguish those words from other, unrelated professional roles. This is certainly an issue for independently licensed counselors which does not occur for psychologists or social workers. The reality is that independently licensed counselors are licensed at the state level as counselors and have specialized training to provide counseling. The words counselor and counseling cannot effectively be abandoned by independently licensed counselors. More resources need to be made widely available to make an impact on how independently licensed counselors articulate their occupational role with others. They need tools to help them effectively discuss their occupational role as a counselor doing counseling. In the past, there has been no systematic way for independently licensed counselors to evaluate their counselor professional identity when communicating their role to others. Further, if the counselor is off track, there has been no resource to help them understand what adjustments could be made to improve their communication. Independently licensed counselors could use guidance to evaluate their ability to articulate a strong counselor professional identity to others. The coding strategies identified through this research may help independently licensed counselors to evaluate their current narratives and make improvements when communicating their occupational role with others. Counselor educators may use the six formulations with their corresponding four sub-formulas in classes to help students develop their counselor professional identity statements. Lastly, professional counseling associations may use the six formulations and corresponding four sub-formulas to help professional members develop their counselor professional identity statements. Further, Burns (2017) created a 7-step format to craft a One-Minute Counselor Professional Identity Statement. The tool helps counselors articulate a succinct and powerful counselor professional identity statement that showcases the unique contributions of the counselor as well as the field of counseling. Here is an example of a One-Minute Counselor Professional Identity Statement for an independently licensed counselor introducing themselves to a psychiatrist for referrals: I’m Susan Jones, a Licensed Professional Counselor. I’d appreciate your consideration of my counseling services for your patients experiencing eating disorders in Detroit. My counseling practice helps clients achieve their optimal level of development and wellness through a focus