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The professional identity of a counselor educator develops primarily during an individual's doctoral preparation program. This study employed consensual qualitative research methodology to examine the phenomenon of professional identity development in counselor education doctoral students (CEDS) in a cohort model. Cross-sectional focus groups were conducted with three cohorts of doctoral students in counselor education (N = 18) to identify the experiences that contributed to their professional identity development. The findings identified that (a) programmatic goals to develop professional identity align with the experiences most influential to CEDS, (b) experiential learning opportunities enhanced CEDS professional identity development, (c) the relationships with mentors and faculty contribute to their identity as a counselor educator, and (d) being perceived as a counselor educator by faculty is influential in professional identity development. Implications for counselor education and the counseling profession are discussed.Keywords: consensual qualitative research, counseling, counselor education and supervision, doctoral student development, professional identity developmentProfessional identity development is central to counseling professionals' ethical practice (Corey, Corey, Granello Carlson, Portman, Zimpfer, Cox, West, Bubenzer, Magnuson et al., 2003).Professional identity development within counselor education can be described as both an intrapersonal and interpersonal process (Gibson et al., 2010). The intrapersonal process is an internalization of knowledge shared by faculty members and supervisors (e.g., recognizing personal strengths; areas of growth in academic roles). The interpersonal process develops during immersion into the norms of the professional community (e.g., submitting manuscripts for publication, presenting papers at conferences, teaching courses). These two developmental processes co-occur while counselor education trainees are conceptualizing their specific roles and tasks within academia.Within counselor educators' professional identity development, three primary roles emerge: (a) teaching and supervision, (b) research and scholarship, and (c) service (Calley Gibson et al, 2010). Carlson and colleagues (2006) developed a conceptual model of professional identity development in counselor education consisting of seven roles or tasks: (a) program expectations, (b) teaching and supervision, (c) research, (d) publications, (e) grants and funding, (f) service and conferences, (g) networking, and (h) professional development. …
Limberg et al. (Wed,) studied this question.