Counselor Education: A Personal Growth and Personal Development Experience

A basic qualitative design was implemented to better understand the personal growth and personal development of seven master?s level counseling graduates in the mid-western United States. Three foundational questions were used to guide the study: (1) How do master?s level counseling students experience personal growth and personal development during the master?s level counselor-training program? (2) What parts of the master?s level counselor-training program contributed most to students? personal growth and personal development? (3) How do master?s level counseling graduates conceptualize how their personal growth and personal development have impacted their professional identity and their present work with clients? To address these questions, seven interviews were conducted with professional counselors who had graduated from a CACREP-accredited master?s level counseling program between the years of 2005 and 2013. Sixteen themes emerged from the interviews that addressed four main areas: 1) how master?s level counseling students experience personal growth and personal development, 2) what parts of the training program most impacts personal growth and personal develop, 3) how personal growth and development experiences impact professional?s identity development and present work with clients, and 4) how the terms personal growth, personal development, and professional development are both unique and overlapping concepts. The sixteen themes were supported by direct quotations from the participants. A synthesis of the findings and current literature was conducted and further discussion regarding the limitations of the study, suggestions for future research and implications for counselor education and supervision programs were addressed