Building a consensus of the professional dispositions of counseling students

摘要

Professional dispositions expected of counseling students has been a contested area within the counseling profession, and students challenging dismissal decisions have put counseling programs at risk of litigation. To better guide counseling programs’ evaluation and remediation efforts, the authors used a content analysis to investigate the most recurring professional dispositions of master’s level counseling students listed within student retention policies, evaluations and rubrics of CACREP accredited counseling programs (n=224). The most common dispositional themes included; Openness to Growth, Awareness of Self and Others, Emotional Stability, Integrity, Flexibility, Compassion, and Personal Style. Implications for how the disposition themes can assist in student evaluation and remediation with specific regards to multicultural competence are discussed.