Doctoral Level Counselor Education: A Case Study

Doctoral level counselor education is central to the development of future educators, researchers, and supervisors, being that this is the terminal degree for professional counseling. Doctoral level counselor education strengthens the profession by solidifying the professional identity of future counselor educators. A need to clearly identify professional counseling as a helping profession has existed since the beginning of professional counseling. Counseling psychology is the oldest of the two, and often overshadows professional counseling. Entrance into the Health Care and Human Statistics Report compiled by the National Institute of Mental Health and Center for Mental Health Services in the 1990s (Gladding,2013), solidified counseling

Due to this level of practice, other helping professionals may discount the rigor of standard professional counseling. The doctorate degree in counselor education is the terminal degree for professional counseling that focuses on leadership in advocacy, teaching, research and supervision. In the infancy of professional counseling, educational requirements were governed by the Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors (ACES) a division of the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA). ACES developed the first counselor education requirements at the doctoral level in 1973. Implementing flexible standards that were more practicum focused than classroom based. Doctoral students also focused on one specialty, and observed the research of faculty (Adkinson-Bradley, 2011). In the late 1970s ACES implemented the need for diversity in counselor education programs; however, the standards lacked emphasis on professional

The third revision in 2001 also made changes to internship and supervision requirements, focused on developing students to be leaders and advocates in professional counseling. In 2009, CACREP emphasized counselor education programs assisting with the development of a strong counselor identity amongst students; furthermore, Adkinson-Bradley (2011) the organization suggested “socialization of doctoral students as leaders in the counseling profession” (p.46). Garden and Gapol (2012), define socialization as the course of learning the norms, and values of an organization and