The Development of Professional Responsibility in Counselor Training

Abstract

Responsibility in the field of counseling is a complex, multi-faceted concept which includes responsibility to the client, responsibility to the profession, and responsibility to the self. These responsibilities encompass the profession’s global role, the call to establish consistent professional requirements, the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics, the developmental process of student skill acquisition and professional identity development, and the curriculum and training requirements of counselor education programs. Following a general exploration of responsibility in counselor education, this article focuses on when and how counselors-in-training (CITs), as they grow in counseling skills and professional identity through coursework and mentoring and supervision, develop a sense of professional responsibility. The survey research method was employed in this study. Results indicated that students felt the construct of responsibility most when preparing for and enrolled in field experience courses. Recommendations are then given to promote the continued development of professional responsibility in CITs over the educational continuum.

Recommended Citation

Bowers, Ryan and Hamlet, Helen (2019) "The Development of Professional Responsibility in Counselor Training," International Journal on Responsibility: Vol. 3: Iss. 2, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62365/2576-0955.1037
Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/ijr/vol3/iss2/7