TPC Journal V7, Issue 2 - FULL ISSUE

198 The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 2 Formula 2 participants generically used the term “counselor” or “counseling” in their formulations. This was the third largest category. There were four main ways participants expressed themselves in Formula 2 when talking about their role in the counseling profession with others. Formula 2a offered an ambiguous title and was ambiguous about clients and techniques. Formula 2b offered an ambiguous title but discussed specific clients and techniques. Formula 2c offered the generic title “counselor” but ambiguously discussed clients and techniques. Formula 2d offered the generic title “counselor” and discussed specific clients and techniques. Formula 3 participants generically used the term “counselor” or “counseling” in their formulations along with discussing at least one distinct hallmark of the profession of counseling (normal development, prevention, wellness, advocacy or empowerment). This was the smallest category. Among the nine participants, there were at least five mentions of the concepts of wellness and empowerment along with four mentions of the concept of advocacy. There were four main ways participants expressed themselves in Formula 3 when talking about their role in the counseling profession with others. Formula 3a offered an ambiguous title and was ambiguous about clients and techniques but did mention at least one or more hallmarks of the profession of counseling. Formula 3b offered an ambiguous title, discussed specific clients and techniques and stated at least one or more hallmarks of the profession of counseling. Formula 3c offered the generic title “counselor,” ambiguously discussed clients and techniques and stated at least one or more hallmarks of the profession of counseling. Formula 3d offered the generic title “counselor,” discussed specific clients and techniques and stated at least one hallmark of the counseling profession. Formula 4 participants identified specifically as counselors. This was the second largest category. There were four main ways participants expressed themselves in Formula 4 when talking about their role in the counseling profession with others. Formula 4a offered “professional counselor” or “mental health counselor” as a title but was ambiguous about clients and techniques. Formula 4b offered “professional counselor” or “mental health counselor” as a title and discussed specific clients and techniques. This formula offered a state counseling license title but used ambiguous descriptions of clients and techniques. Formula 4d offered a state counseling license title and used specific descriptions of clients and techniques. Formula 5 participants identified specifically as counselors along with discussing at least one distinct hallmark of the profession of counseling (normal development, prevention, wellness, advocacy or empowerment). This was the fourth largest category. Among the 42 participants, there were at least 18 mentions of empowerment, 13 mentions of advocacy, 10 mentions of wellness, nine mentions of prevention and seven mentions of normal development. There were four main ways participants expressed themselves in Formula 5 when talking about their role in the counseling profession with others. Formula 5a offered “professional counselor” or “mental health counselor” as a title, was ambiguous about clients and techniques and discussed at least one distinct hallmark of the profession of counseling. Formula 5b offered “professional counselor” or “mental health counselor” as a title, discussed specific clients and techniques and stated at least one distinct hallmark of the profession of counseling. Formula 5c offered a state counseling license as a title, used ambiguous descriptions of clients and techniques and discussed at least one distinct hallmark of the profession of counseling. Formula 5d offered a state counseling license as a title, used specific descriptions of clients and techniques and discussed at least one distinct hallmark of the profession of counseling. We further wanted to investigate differences between participant self-ratings about identifying consistently as a counselor to others and our ratings of their professional identity statements to determine the level of counselor professional identity actually expressed by the participant.