Degree Date

2-2026

Document Type

Dissertation - Public Access

Degree Name

Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy

Academic Discipline

Counselor Education and Supervision

First Advisor

Laura M. Schmuldt, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Martin Cortez Wesley, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Rebecca S. Edelman, Ph.D.

Abstract

Professional identity development is a central outcome of counselor preparation programs, yet how Counselors-in-Training (CITs) experience this process, particularly during internship, remains underexplored. This qualitative study examines the lived experience of professional identity development among Generation Z CITs enrolled in master’s programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in the Northeastern United States, with specific attention to the implications for counselor education and supervision in a shifting professional landscape.

Using an existential-phenomenological framework and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants born between 1995 and 2010 who were completing internship placements in clinical mental health counseling or school counseling settings. Analysis yielded five interrelated themes: (a) becoming through relationships, (b) living in the liminal space, (c) authenticity as professional grounding, (d) confronting reality without losing meaning, and (e) collective meaning-making and peer reliance.

Findings suggest that professional identity development for Generation Z CITs is not a linear acquisition of professional competencies but a relationally mediated, meaning-centered process shaped by existential uncertainty, systemic constraints, and sociocultural instability. Participants emphasized the importance of faculty, supervisors, and peers in legitimizing their emerging professional identities. They described liminality as a defining feature of their training experience rather than a temporary developmental hurdle.

Implications for counselor education include intentionally normalizing liminal experiences, foregrounding relational pedagogy, and integrating reflective and existential inquiry into coursework and supervision. Programs that attend to meaning-making, authenticity, and collective support better prepare counselors to enter the profession with resilient, integrated identities. This study contributes to the counselor education and supervision literature by offering empirically grounded recommendations for supporting the professional identity development of Generation Z Counselors-in-Training.

View Full Text

Share

COinS