Professional identity development and self-awareness in counseling practice

Development of Professional Identity

Abstract
Counseling remains one of the most rewarding areas of applied research and practice within the field of psychology as a whole. Counselors are increasingly being called upon to cultivate what is known as a professional identity, which includes features like theoretical orientation, areas of specialization, values, ethics, and a mission statement guiding personal practice and professional partnerships. The stronger the professional identity, the better equipped the counselor is to serve the client population and to contribute to the counseling profession as a whole. A professional identity also enables one to gain and maintain role clarity and to communicate more effectively with clients and colleagues alike. Research is increasingly showcasing the importance for developing a professional identity and becoming part of a growing body of human service providers.

The Meaning of Professional Identity
Known to be a “hot topic” in the counseling profession, the concept of professional identity has dominated discourse and discursive practices in the field (Coppock, 2012, p. 1). For graduate students about to embark on a rewarding career in the counseling fields, a professional identity helps to hone areas of research and practice. The ongoing exercise in self-awareness and self-disclosure allows the counselor to overcome biases or at least to become more cognizant of how personal background and beliefs impact the therapeutic relationship. Professional identity means more than simply choosing an area of specialization in the field: it allows the counselor to become more self-aware, to generate the sense of purpose necessary for aligning our principles, ethics, and values as we aim to serve clients and improve clinical outcomes, or to strengthen the profession as a whole through more effective leadership.
Because counseling is a diverse area of practice, with applications in realms as different as education, coaching, and organizational behavior, the concept of professional identity helps unify the profession under a common professional rubric (Lile, 2017). While all counselors may be united under a subset of values and evidence-based practice guidelines, each individual professional will be uniquely situated to serve a specific population or address particular needs in the community. Professional organizations like the American Counseling Association (ACA, 2018) encourage their members to contribute via the cultivation of a personal professional identity, which may evolve throughout one’s career while still remaining truthful to the norms and values established by peers in the social services community. Developing a professional identity requires honesty and self-awareness, which in turn vastly improve the counselor’s ability to serve clients and communities.
Professional identity can be conceptualized by breaking it down into constituent parts including philosophy, approach, professional role, and finally, personal or demographic features (Healey & Hays, n.d.). Philosophy is one of the broadest frameworks governing the professional identity formation. Approach refers to therapeutic practice interventions and the techniques used when working with clients, from assessments and diagnostic procedures to modalities used with client engagement. The professional role refers to the actual issues in the workplace environment: the environment the counselor becomes embedded in, such as school, clinic, or private organization. Finally, the demographic and personal features like gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity are more than just private issues for the counselor. These are critical points from where the counselor engages with the client population and also with peers in the social service or healthcare community.
When a counselor develops a professional identity, it becomes possible to unite personal identity issues with professional values, attitudes, beliefs, and core competencies (Lile, 2017). According to Lile (2017), the most important steps in the process of developing a professional identity include having a personally meaningful definition of counseling, defining what it means to be responsible for ongoing professional growth, and finally, recognizing the systemic nature of counseling itself. Counseling is invariably integrated with other systems, from family systems to formal social institutions like education or healthcare.
Factors Influencing Professional Identity
One of the most important reasons to focus on professional identity formation in counseling is that factors like gender, race, ethnicity, spirituality, worldview, and age can all contribute to one’s theoretical orientation, to one’s communication style, and to any number of other attributes impacting competencies and service delivery. Counselors cannot develop a professional identity in isolation of gender, ethnicity, spiritual worldview, and other factors. At this stage in my graduate career, I have become increasingly aligned with the humanistic and existential theoretical orientations. The humanistic and existential theoretical orientations can also be integrated with other orientations and practices, and applied to broad populations due to their inherent flexibility. Cornerstones of the humanistic and existential theoretical orientations include the fundamental belief that self-actualization and fulfillment are what drives clients, motivating them to achieve their goals (Grohol, n.d.). Humanistic and existential theoretical orientations also align themselves well with spirituality: both that of the counselor and of the client (Corey, n.d.). Applied to the counseling setting, a humanistic and existential approach treats clients as whole persons, addressing spiritual, emotional, and also material needs to promote client-centered goals.
As Lile (2017) points out, professional counselors may exhibit one or more identity-related challenges as they progress in their careers. One of those challenges is the temptation to develop an avoidant or diffuse style of identity development, in which the person puts off the introspection or self-awareness required. Unfortunately, research shows that the diffuse or avoidant style of identity development is linked with adverse outcomes and tendencies such as low emotional intelligence, and power-driven decisions (Lile, 2017). I will strive to resist the temptation to use the avoidant style of identity development. A normative style of identity development is characterized by conformity to societal or peer expectations (Lile, 2017). As helpful as it is to incorporate social conformity into the process of professional identity, a preferable style of identity development is the informational style. The informational style of identity development involves the level of critical thinking I have already applied thus far in my education and career development. Using the informational style of identity development, I gather information related to my chosen career path, explore options, network with others, and welcome new attitudes and beliefs that might challenge the ways I think about social problems or research questions. Developing a strong professional identity grounded in information and social support may also promote a sense of authenticity: crucial for success in the counseling field (Healey & Hays, n.d.).
Roles and Functions of Counselors
Counselors serve in many different roles and fulfill different functions, and can occupy various roles at once during their career. Career, guidance, and school counselors comprise a subset of the field, helping clients to identify their interests, strengths, and competencies. In these roles, counselors may find themselves employed by educational institutions, by private sector organizations, or in private practice. Counselors generally serve in the role of coach, guide, and therapist during their interactions and interventions with clients. One of the functions of the counselor is to provide psychological assessments, and professional counselors are licensed to administer many established assessments that help identify client needs or risk factors. For example, personality assessments or interests assessments may be used in school counseling or in mental health counseling. Counselors might also work with other human services providers to mitigate crises, to help clients address problems like abuse, trauma, or addiction. Similarly, counselors serve in the role of empowering clients to focus on their strengths, and to educate clients about the services and resources available in their communities. Some counselors may operate in institutional settings, such as working for a government agency to provide essential services.
Professional identity development aids with role clarity and with the cultivation of authenticity. Whether the individual progresses through a career in research and academia or as a practitioner, a professional identity empowers one to articulate opinions and synthesize emerging research in meaningful ways. The development of a professional identity will determine how one participates in counseling discourse and to professional organizations like the American Counseling Association. For those interested in public policy, professional identity becomes crucial for contributing to public health awareness and related issues. When a counselor has a strong professional identity, he or she is better equipped to participate in public policy analysis and to advocate on behalf of patients. The professional identity provides a framework for conveying ideas, a stance that encourages others to recognize points of convergence and shared interests. Counselors usually need to work in a collaborative environment, taking into account other members of the professional team such as social workers, educators, or psychiatrists. Having a professional identity as a counselor facilitates cross-disciplinary communication, and improves the flow of professional communication during the administration of treatment interventions.
A central issue in professional identity development is stability. Some counselors may find that their professional identity fluctuates over time, reflecting professional development opportunities (Lile, 2017).