Professional Identity 1
Professional Identity and Credentials: A Comprehensive and Reflective View
Taylor Davis
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
Abstract
Developing a professional identity is critical to the establishment and career of a counselor.
When a counselor has a firm professional identity, they can advocate for their profession and
explain to others what their field entails. A counselor with a professional identity will also be
able to explain how their career differs from other seemingly similar lines of work, such as
therapy. Professional identity conflicts involve educational, licensure, and certification
requirements across the United States and lack of recognition of counseling as its own separate
line of work. This essay seeks to clarify the necessary components of professional identity,
ethical dilemmas, and challenges involved with establishing a professional identity. A
professional identity will also be assessed on a personal basis, evaluating for motivations, steps
Professional Identity 2
to establishment, and any challenges that the author may encounter. Many professionals in the
counseling field are optimistic that a unified professional identity will soon emerge.
Keywords: professional identity, counselor, identity, professional development
Professional Identity and Credentials: A Comprehensive and Reflective View
A professional identity is crucial to the establishment of any professional, but especially a
counselor. Without a well-established professional identity, an individual would not be a good
representation of their career. When a counselor has a good professional identity, it allows them
to serve their clients with the best practice. Ultimately, counselors and clients both succeed
when the counselor has a strong professional identity.
The Importance of Professional Identity
The Necessary Components for Professional Identity
One of the earliest steps in becoming a licensed professional counselor is establishing a
professional counseling identity. This allows counselors to better understand their line of work,
as well as advocate for their profession (Simmons et al., 2024). Possibly the most noteworthy of
these necessary components for professional identity is career development. Understandably,
the longer a counselor is in the profession and the more regularly they practice, the more
established their professional identity will be. A study found that full time counselors
experienced a higher sense of professional identity than part time counselors (Simmons et al.,
2024). Beginning counselors tend to struggle with professional identity while long standing
counselors are confident in their professional identity. The longer an individual practices in a
profession the more they begin to identify themselves with the profession. Seeing oneself as a
counselor is crucial in establishing professional identity.
Professional Identity 3
Another necessary component is getting involved with professional counseling
organizations. Two examples of such organizations would be the American Counseling
Association (ACA) and the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). These associations
allow for individual counselors to be unified within the professional body, they create
opportunities to fulfill continued education requirements, and offer easy access for advocation
(Simmons et al., 2024). The ACA has tried to enhance and unify professional identity by
promoting the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
(CACREP) for counseling as the main accrediting source (Burns & Cruikshank, 2018).
A final professional identity necessity is to practice wellness (Gibson, 2019). As workload
and clients add up, the possibility of burnout becomes increasingly evident. Burnout is when a
worker is emotionally, physically, or mentally exhausted due to stress from work. Often this
leads to lack of empathy and frustration in the workplace. In order to prevent this, counselors
should develop a relationship with a mentor (Gibson, 2019). This allows the counselor to
express feelings and discuss potential ethical dilemmas with a peer. The counselor should also
practice professional development (Gibson, 2019). In terms of overall wellness, the counselor
should maintain healthy practices in their personal life. These include activities such as exercise,
eating well, and proper nutrition (Gibson, 2019). They should also maintain healthy personal
relationships and seek counseling as needed (Gibson, 2019).
Ethical Spiritual/Religious Integration as a Component of Professional Counseling Identity
The integration model of counseling seeks to combine numerous theories and methods
to provide a complete and comprehensive approach to counseling (Simmons et al., 2024) This
approach allows for an individual to be assessed and treated as a whole instead of treating one
isolated event. Spirituality is often incorporated in the integration model, as is psychology and
Professional Identity 4
theology (Simmons et al., 2024). By integrating the approach, it allows for a more wholistic
healing.
Professional counseling can be integrated with a Biblical worldview in numerous ways.
First, the counselor can assess the level of spirituality that the client would be comfortable
including during the session. This can be accomplished via an intake form. While the counselor
may not advertise as a Christian counselor, knowing that the client would or not be willing to
integrate faith into their sessions gives the counselor an opportunity to share their Biblical
worldview. Combining counselor techniques and theories with prayer and scripture can help a
client understand and be more receptive (Simmons et al., 2024). However, the counselor should
be careful not to violate the ACA Code of Ethics.
Code A.4.b of the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) states that counselors respect the diversity
of clients without imposing their own beliefs and values. If the counselor were to try to
integrate their own personal beliefs and values into a counseling relationship, it could lead to
discontent with the client and legal action. The ACA suggests seeking training when the
counselor is at risk of imposing personal values (2014). Specifically with religion, the counselor
should seek to understand a plethora of religions in an effort to better suit their clients.
The Challenges to Professional Identity
There are notable challenges in establishing and maintaining a professional identity. One
such challenge is the lack of unified standardized educational training across the field, as well as
an inconsistency in professional licensure and certification requirements (Simmons et al., 2024).
These differences across the profession of counseling can cause confusion. If one state classifies
the required licensure and education under therapist or psychotherapist but a neighboring state
classifies it under counseling, there is a missed connection of profession. Additionally,
Professional Identity 5
counselors need to understand what sets them apart from professions that others would deem
similar (Simmons et al., 2024). Often times it is easy to establish the similarities between
counseling and similar fields. However, there are notable differences. A counselor may
empower their client by directing the focus to the client and their autonomy, a psychologist
would empower a client by respecting and safeguarding client welfare, and a social worker may
empower a client by helping them understand the balance between self and society (Simmons
et al., 2024). The profession would benefit from unification of education and licensure.
Another challenge that the field of counseling faces in the sense of professional identity
is the issue of licensure portability. This allows licensed professional counselors to transfer their
license to a different state should they be relocated (Simmons et al., 2024). However, currently
this is nearly impossible to do unless the counselor is independently licensed. A new policy has
been proposed to help merge state licensing differences in the case of licensure portability
called a jurisprudence examination (Simmons et al., 2024). It highlights the requirements of the
new state and prepares the counselor for the changes. However, if there was unification of
requirements, education, and counselor titles, licensure portability would not be a crisis.
Professional Identity Plan
Motivations for Becoming a Professional Counselor
I am highly motivated to become a professional counselor for a few reasons. My
upbringing was very unstable. For as long as I can remember, my mom exposed us to severe
trauma at the hands of multiple stepfathers. While most of it was intellectual and emotional
trauma, it left my two sisters and I with many difficulties that we are having to work through
later in life. Counseling has been a wonderful resource to help me process, heal, and even
grieve my childhood.
Professional Identity 6
I started my undergraduate collegiate career with the intention of being a trauma
surgeon. After much discouragement from collegiate professors due to my diagnosed mild
tremors, I gave up on my dream. I fell in love with psychology and, after transferring schools,
realized that I can still help people in a traumatic situation through counseling. The Lord
immediately birthed a passion inside of me for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). My
passion shifted from trauma surgery to PTSD with a focus on veterans.
When I was 27 years old, I met my biological father. He is a Desert Shield/ Desert Storm
veteran with one hundred percent service-connected disability. He suffers from anxiety, PTSD,
manic depression, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hearing loss, and other minor daily
ailments. Not only did God restore our relationship, but He also used my biological father to
confirm the calling He has placed on my life. My father and I met at a time when he was
struggling. He was refusing counseling and had accepted his disorders as his new way of life.
With the help of my undergraduate studies, I was able to stress the importance of counseling in
his life. He now sees a mental health professional regularly. His outlook on life has drastically
changed, he finds everyday tasks more manageable, and his marriage has improved.
The summation of all those events has led me to the path I am on today. The main
reason, though, that I am motivated to become a professional counselor is because I know that
the Lord has called me to this. He keeps confirming this calling. He has provided me and my
family with all the resources and means necessary to accomplish His plan for my life. I have a
responsibility as a Christian, to listen to and obey the Lord.
Steps to Establish Identity as a Professional Counselor
The first thing I will do to establish my identity as a professional counselor is to complete
the licensing requirements. This will give me an understanding of the history of counseling,
Professional Identity 7
which will allow me to better advocate for the profession. In order to know how to move
forward, it is important to know the past. Completing the requirements will also give me a
better understanding of how counselors differ from other similar professions. Additionally, I will
be able to clearly articulate what my job and specialization are post-licensure.
I will also join a professional organization as a student. While I am still researching which
organization to join, I know that I am interested in the International Association for
Resilience and Trauma Counseling (IARTC) as well as the Military and Government Counseling
Association (MGCA). Becoming a member of these associations will allow me to better
understand what it is like to counsel in my desired specialty. They will also offer an opportunity
for me to network with other counselors at their continued education events, should I attend
them.
In order to be the best counselor I can be, I believe it is important to seek personal
counseling. This will allow me to discuss any prior trauma that I have had in my life. By
discussing this with an already licensed professional, it is less likely to become a problem during
my own professional counseling session with a client, thus reducing the risk of an ethical
dilemma. Unknown triggers will diminish meaning I will be at a lower risk of discrimination due
to values colliding. Also, it will increase my overall mental wellness and health.
Potential Challenges
Challenges to my success are abundant. My biggest challenge currently revolves around
my academics. I am highly motivated to follow through with all of my licensing, but I have many
hurdles to overcome. I am a mom to three children ages three, two, and nine months, I have a
farm with chickens and a horse breeding business, I am the president of the Parent Teacher
Organization at my kids homeschool co-op, I am the children’s pastor at our church, my husband
Professional Identity 8
and I own a public business with two locations, and I will start the task of homeschooling my
children before I complete my schooling. With all of these roles, it can be hard to find time to
complete my master’s program. I must be very intentional with my schedule and ask for help as
often as I can. Failure is not an option for me. I have hired a babysitter two days a week to watch
the older two children. That give me time to get a fair amount of work done. Our store
employees are also rising to the challenge by working more days so that I can have time to do
schoolwork. I went from working three days a week to one day a week. Even with these
adjustments, I still find myself scrounging for time to focus on my studies.
Another potential challenge to my success is my emotions. I have always been a very
emotional person. As I have gotten older, I have built resilience and learned how to stand strong
when I am being yelled at or accused. However, there are certain things that could arise that I
know would pose an issue in a professional setting. I believe that counseling would help address
a lot of the buried trauma and surrounding issues. By processing and talking about it, I would be
more likely to control my emotions surrounding the subject matter. I will also continue to work
on breathing techniques during emotional instances.
State Credential Plan
State: Virginia
Website for State’s Counseling Board: https://www.dhp.virginia.gov/Boards/Counseling/
Academic Requirements: Number of total
hours in master’s program.
60
Professional Identity 9
Academic Requirements: Specific course
content requirements (e.g., human
growth and development, ethics,
multicultural, etc.).
1. Professional counseling identity, function,
and ethics
2. Theories of counseling and psychotherapy
3. Counseling and psychotherapy techniques
4. Human growth and development
5. Group counseling and psychotherapy
theories and techniques
6. Career counseling and development
theories and techniques
7. Appraisal, evaluation, and diagnostic
procedures
8. Abnormal behavior and
psychopathology9. Multicultural counseling
theories and techniques 10. Research
11. Diagnosis and treatment of addictive
disorders
12. Marriage and family systems theory
Academic Requirements: Supervised
clinical experience (i.e.,
fieldwork/practicum/internship):
What are the total hours needed?
600 supervised internship hours are required, 240
of which should be face-to-face client contact.
Does your state require additional
coursework/hours than what is required
to complete the LUO CMHC program? If
so, what is needed?
There are no additional requirements
POST MASTER’S Requirements: What
are the total hours needed before
applying for independent licensure?
3.400 hours total of supervised counseling hours
are required
POST MASTER’S Requirements: What
licensure exam(s) are required?
National Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Examination (NCMHCE)
Conclusion
Professional identity is necessary to establishing a good counseling career. While the
ACA, as well as local and state boards, have enforced guidelines that all counselors legally must
abide by, a counselor with a firm professional identity seeks to go beyond that. They advocate
for their profession, are constantly learning and staying relevant with research, and promote
Professional Identity 10
counseling with one unified voice. With all the challenges surrounding the establishment of a
professional identity, ethically incorporating spirituality into personal practice is addressed in a
legal matter. Counselors should always make sure they are not imposing their own values and
beliefs on the client. Establishing a healthy professional identity is the first step in becoming a
great counselor.
References
2014 ACA Code of ethics. American Counseling Association. (2014).
https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ethics/
2014aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=55ab73d0_1/
Burns, S., & Cruikshanks, D. (2018, May 30). Counselor Professional Identity. The Professional
Counselor. https://tpcjournal.nbcc.org/tag/counselor-professional-identity/
Gibson, D. (2019, Summer). Counselor Identity. ACA Practice Briefs.
https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/
acapb_counseloridentity_fa.pdf?sfvrsn=347917_1
Simmons, R., Lilley, S., & Kuhnley, A. K. (2024). Introduction to counseling: Integration of faith,
professional identity, and clinical practice (2nd ed.). Kendall Hunt.
