Critical Incidents in Student Counselor Development

Susan R. Furr and Jane J. Carroll

Students in a master’s degree program in counseling were asked to report critical incidents that had influenced their development as
counselors. Participants most frequently cited courses based on experiential learning and field experiences as being influential in their
development. Events external to the graduate program also were frequently reported as influencing their professional development.

T
hroughout the history of counselor education, it
has been observed that students studying to be
counselors change as they progress through the
educational process (Brown & Srebalus, 1996;
Stoltenberg, 1998). As we have focused on stu-
dents’ cognitive understanding and skill development, we
have also often noticed that students grow on the interper-
sonal and intrapersonal levels. To design appropriate edu-
cational experiences that address all aspects of counselor
development, we believe that counselor educators need to iden-
tify and examine experiences that influence counselor develop-
ment. Thus far, research on these experiences, which may be
termed critical incidents, among counselor education students
has been meager (Morrissette, 1996). In this article, a critical
incident is defined as a positive or negative experience recog-
nized by the student as significant because of its influence on the
student’s development as a counselor. Because many of these
experiences occur outside the classroom setting, it is important
to examine student perceptions of the nature of events that
have influenced their development as counselors.
Counselor development during graduate education has been
examined from the perspective of cognitive development (e.g.,
Etringer, Hillerbrand, & Claiborn, 1995), development dur-
ing supervision (e.g., Stoltenberg, 1998), and the relationship
among faculty and students (e.g., Chung, Case, & Loundy,
1997). Each of these perspectives made significant contribu-
tions to understanding how students change as they progress
through counseling programs. Particular emphasis has been
on the changes that occur during supervision and fieldwork.
By identifying the external events that trigger counseling stu-
dent development, the research on critical incidents focuses
on an additional and different perspective of development.
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Etringer et al. (1995) stated that the developmental process
involved in learning to counsel is a process that allows indi-
viduals to move from declarative (factual) knowledge to pro-
cedural knowledge. If students are to develop generalized
schemas that they can apply across various situations, they
must be exposed to repeated presentations of examples that
have varying degrees of similarity. Morran, Kurpius, Brack, and
Brack (1995) also emphasized the importance of counselors
learning to direct their thoughts to form schemas related to
client concerns. To help students develop cognitive skills, Morran
et al. proposed a model focused on counselor self-talk. The
model included “(a) attending to and seeking information about
self, client, and the therapeutic relationship; (b) organizing and
integrating information into viable hypotheses and client
conceptualizations; and (c) planning, guiding, and evaluating
therapeutic interventions” (p. 383).
Student counselor attitude is another form of cognitive
development. Claiborn, Etringer, and Hillerbrand (1995)
noted that “the trainee’s attitudes change as a result of all
sorts of experiences” (p. 44) and that the interpersonal con-
text of supervision can be a source of influence in attitude
change. Self-efficacy is one attitude that has been studied.
Leach and Stoltenberg (1997) found that Level-II trainees
(mean of 3.5 supervised practice courses completed) re-
ported greater self-efficacy regarding counseling microskills
than did Level-I trainees (mean of 2.6 supervised practice
courses completed). Level II trainees also showed a greater
understanding of process issues as well as a better under-
standing of expressing “self” in a natural way. Level-II trainees
indicated greater efficacy for counseling culturally diverse
clients and clients with difficult behaviors. M. Heppner,
Multon, Gysbers, Ellis, and Zook (1998) discovered a
positive relationship between counselor self-efficacy and
client motivation. As counselor confidence about building
a firm alliance with clients increased, client motivation to
work on career goals increased. These authors cautioned,
however, that counselors with strong efficacy beliefs, but
without the requisite counseling skills, could cause harm
in their work with clients.

Susan R. Furr and Jane J. Carroll, Department of Counseling, Special Education, and Child Development, College of Education, University of North
Carolina at Charlotte. This study was partly funded by a junior faculty research grant from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Correspondence
concerning this article should be addressed to Susan R. Furr, Colvard 5054, CSPC, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 (e-mail: srfurr@email.uncc.edu).

© 2003 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved. pp. 483–489

JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT • FALL 2003 • VOLUME 81 483

Furr and Carroll
DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE
Other research has dealt with counselor development dur-
ing the supervision process. For example, Stoltenberg (1998)
reported that students with more counseling experience
scored significantly higher on self-estimates of counseling
skills than did students with less counseling experience. Fong
and Borders (1997) found in a longitudinal study that stu-
dents made significant changes in the quality of their assess-
ment of clients after completing an initial counseling skills
course. Moreover, students became more focused on the psy-
chological characteristics of clients than on clients’ physical
characteristics than they had been before the course. Signifi-
cant changes in students’ self-confidence related to counseling
skills came only after clinical fieldwork (Fong & Borders, 1997).
Tryon (1996) indicated that there was significant develop-
ment in student self-rated autonomy in the course of a
year of supervision but that student motivation to learn
did not increase significantly during this time.
STUDENT–FACULTY RELATIONSHIPS
Another factor in counselor development may be the rela-
tionships among students and faculty members. Chung et al.
(1997) found that supervisees preferred supervisors who were
supportive, instructional, and interpretive. Supervisees also
viewed direct teaching and coaching as positive. In another
study, graduate students said that interactions with faculty
were the most meaningful aspect of their counseling pro-
gram (Oliver, Moore, Schoen, & Scarmon, 1990). Social sup-
port by students, faculty, and others has been noted as an
essential component of student satisfaction with their gradu-
ate education (Hazler & Carney, 1993). However, Kottler
(1992) cautioned that in interactions with students, faculty
members may not be demonstrating the values and atti-
tudes that they teach. Kottler stated it is unfortunate if fac-
ulty members teach the importance of warmth, caring, re-
spect, authenticity, and unconditional positive regard but
do not model these traits in supervision and instructional
relationships. He stressed the importance of instructors dem-
onstrating the attributes that counseling experts claim are
crucial in relationships.
CRITICAL INCIDENTS RESEARCH
Critical issues that emerge during the time students are
preparing to be counselors should be examined because these
issues affect the personal and professional lives of student coun-
selors. In turn, the emotional disposition of student counse-
lors has direct implications for work with clients
(Morrissette, 1996). Critical incidents research focuses on
events that are catalysts for change, rather than on the na-
ture of developmental change. Previous research on critical
incidents has addressed the specific topic of what happens
during supervision. For example, P. Heppner and Roehlke
(1984) examined critical incidents in supervision and found
that beginning and advanced counseling psychology practicum
484 JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT • FALL 2003 • VOLUME 81
students more frequently cited critical incidents related to
competence, emotional awareness/confrontation, and support,
whereas doctoral interns more frequently cited therapy/
supervision overlap and transference/countertransference.
In Rabinowitz, Heppner, and Roehlke’s (1986) study, coun-
seling psychology students were presented with a list of 12
previously identified critical incidents and asked to select
the 2 most important critical issues that were dealt with in
supervision during the current week. Regardless of experi-
ence level, students most frequently identified “developing
a treatment plan” and “getting support from supervisor”
(p. 297) as important throughout the course of supervision.
Fukuyama (1994) extended this line of inquiry to the area
of multicultural counseling supervision. In her study, racial–
ethnic minority counseling students were asked to recount
positive and negative critical incidents related to
multicultural issues that occurred during individual supervi-
sion. Positive incidents fell into three general categories: (a)
openness and support, (b) culturally relevant supervision, and
(c) opportunity to work in multicultural activities. Nega-
tive incidents clustered into two categories: (a) lack of
supervisor cultural awareness and (b) questioning counsel-
ing students’ abilities.
Skovholt and McCarthy (1988) supported the usefulness
of identifying critical incidents that serve as catalysts in
counselor development. Because critical incidents occur
throughout counselor preparation, the present study inves-
tigates student-perceived critical incidents in cohorts of stu-
dents who were at different points in their education. This
approach addresses the question of how the sequencing of
courses affects student development.
The purpose of this research was to identify any com-
monalities counseling students experienced that could be
related to their classroom and field experiences. By identi-
fying which experiences students deemed critical to their
development, counselor educators could then design aca-
demic courses and field experiences to maximize student
counselor growth. Because experiences unrelated to class-
room and field experiences might also affect student devel-
opment, we included a consideration of personal issues and
their influence on development in this study.
Because we used a qualitative investigation, no assumptions
were made prior to data analysis concerning the theoretical
model that would be applied to the interpretation of the data.
Once commonalities of the data were identified, we selected
the model we believed best fit the data. Other investigators
may choose to use a different method of interpretation.
METHOD
Participants
Participants in this study were 84 master’s-level counseling
students from a 60-semester-hour counselor education pro-
gram approved by the Council for Accreditation of Coun-
seling and Related Educational Programs (1994) in the
southeastern United States. On the basis of the critical inci-

dents research in supervision by P. Heppner and Roehlke
(1984), we asked all students at practicum and internship
levels of clinical experience to participate. All students who
were invited participated. To expand the developmental range
of the participants, students completing their first semester
were also asked to participate. Students were either complet-
ing their 1st semester in the counseling program (n = 29), a
10-hour–per-week practicum (n = 14), or a 20-hour-per-week
internship experience (n = 41). Women made up 83% of
the participants and men made up 17%, with an age range
of 23 to 51 years. Eighty-one percent of the respondents
were Euro-American, 14% were African American, and 5%
were from other racial/ethnic groups. Forty-six percent of
respondents were full-time students. Twenty-seven percent
of the students were in school counseling, and 73% were in
community counseling.
Instrument
A critical incident was defined as a positive or negative
experience recognized by the counseling student as signifi-
cant. Students were provided with this definition of a criti-
cal incident. Participants then were asked to describe any
critical incidents that happened in their graduate training
or outside of it that had occurred since the student began
taking counseling courses and that the student thought had
influenced his or her development as a counselor. They were
asked to describe both the nature of the critical incident
and the significance the critical incident had for them. This
format was consistent with the method used by P. Heppner
and Roehlke (1984).
Procedure
Data were collected at the end of the semester by distribut-
ing to practicum students, internship students, and students
in the Theories of Counseling course a two-page packet. On the
first page, participants provided information on the number of
hours completed in the counseling program, the number
of hours in which they were currently enrolled, and enroll-
ment status in Practicum, Internship I, or Internship II. On
the second page, participants were provided a definition of a
critical incident and asked to reflect on their experiences while
they had been in the counseling program. They were asked to
respond to an open-ended question regarding the nature of
critical incidents in their graduate education or outside of gradu-
ate education that had influenced their development as coun-
selors. Students were given time during class to respond to the
questions asked. The individual distributing the instrument
left the classroom during this time and returned 30 minutes
later to collect the completed instruments that had been placed
in an envelope. To ensure confidentiality, no names or identify-
ing information was collected.
Analysis
The purpose of this research was to gain access to students’
perceptions of their experiences during counselor education.
JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT • FALL 2003 • VOLUME 81
The Role of Critical Incidents
We were interested in learning about the impact of these
experiences on the participants’ development as counselors.
Because of the narrative character of the students’ responses,
we used the psychological phenomenological approach de-
veloped by Giorgi (1985). The analysis of data was a five-
step process and is described in Figure 1.
We first read all of the participants’ responses to provide us
with a general sense of their content (N = 236). We each read
independently of the other. Several readings were necessary to
become familiar with the phenomena participants described.
We then read each transcript again to categorize it as a
specific “meaning unit.” Meaning units were the events par-
ticipants described as critical incidents that had influenced
them during the time they were enrolled in the Master’s in
Counseling Program. The following are examples of meaning
units: “The stress of learning to be a counselor has affected
my relationship with my husband,” “I recognized several of
my own issues as I was counseling a client,” “My internship
experiences have given me the opportunity to grow and learn
more about myself than I would have ever thought,” and “I
was diagnosed with lupus last semester, and this put a lot of
things in perspective and gave me a new sense of empathy for
people dealing with things outside of their control.”
Using the descriptions of the meanings of the events par-
ticipants had provided, and working independently, we then
assigned a phrase that categorized the meaning of each unit.
These phrases became the codes for classifying the responses
into similar groups. Examples of codes were “Contributed
to Personal Growth,” “Enlightened by Instruction,” and “Ethics
Challenged.” To determine the consistency of the two re-
searchers’ interpretations of the meaning units, and thus the
formation of codes, 40 meaning units were randomly se-
lected and compared for similarity of the codes provided by
each of us. Agreement between investigators was 85%. We
compared interpretations of the remaining items and
achieved agreement on the codes for those meaning units.
Sixteen codes were ultimately agreed upon.
The next step was to synthesize the codes into state-
ments about the participants’ experiences. Contextually
similar codes were grouped into nine categories related to
participants’ thoughts about themselves: (a) existential
issues/value conflicts, (b) cognitive development, (c) per-
ceptions of competency, (d) professional development, (e)
perceived support from others, (f) perceived obstacles,
(g) personal growth (within the counseling program), (h)
personal growth (outside the counseling program), and
(i) skill development.
Next, the investigators examined each category and the
codes and meaning units within them to identify psycho-
logical meanings. In qualitative research, no a priori assump-
tions are made regarding the conceptualization of the data,
which allows for different interpretations of the data. Upon
examining the nine categories, we identified four broader
themes from our perspective that fit Beck’s (1993) model
that describes the relationship among beliefs, cognitions, af-
fect, and behavior. A description of the resultant clustering
is described in the following Results section.
485
Furr and Carroll

RESULTS
We classified the critical incidents into the following cat-
egories: (a) existential issues/value conflicts; (b) cognitive
development; (c) beliefs about competency; (d) professional
development; (e) perceived support; (f) perceived obstacles;
(g) personal growth (in the counseling program); (h) personal
growth (outside the counseling program); and (i) skill devel-
opment. These categories were grouped into four larger clus-
ters based on Beck’s (1993) model. The Beliefs Cluster in-
cluded incidents that stimulated participants’ reevaluation
of life and personal values and included existential issues/
value conflicts. The Cognitive Cluster included incidents
that facilitated participants’ change in cognitive structures,
cognitive development, beliefs about their competency, and
professional development. The largest grouping was the Af-
fective Cluster (incidents in which the primary effect on
participants was affective). This cluster included perceived
support, perceived obstacles, personal growth (within the
counseling program), and personal growth (outside of the
counseling program). The last group, the Behavioral Clus-
ter, was made up of incidents that changed participants’
levels of counseling skills and included any event that
affected their skill development. The organization of this
schema is outlined in Figure 2.
New students recorded an average of 2.8 critical incidents,
practicum students an average of 3.3 critical incidents, and
internship students an average of 2.7 critical incidents. There
were a variety of responses to the request to describe critical
incidents in or out of graduate education that participants

BELIEF CLUSTER

c
Existential Issues/Value Conflicts

BEHAVIORAL CLUSTER COGNITIVE CLUSTER

Skill Development Cognitive Development
c Beliefs About Competency
Professional Development

c
AFFECTIVE CLUSTER
Perceived Support
Perceived Obstacles
Personal Growth
• In the Counseling Program
• Outside the Counseling
Program

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2
Procedure Investigators Used to Analyze Data Application of Beck (1993) Model to Data

486 JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT • FALL 2003 • VOLUME 81


thought had influenced their development as counselors. Both
positive and negative events were cited as influencing devel-
opment, and both were seen as leading to growth as a counse-
lor. The most commonly reported type of critical incident
was related to events that occurred in field-based experi-
ences. Critical incidents that were related to field-based
experiences affected students’ development as professionals
(cognitive), created obstacles (affective), and fostered per-
sonal growth (affective). When the critical incident was posi-
tive, students reported learning to process information in ways
that led to self-understanding and increased confidence in
their counseling skills. Negative critical incidents forced stu-
dents to recognize personal deficits and to develop new insights
about self. For new students who were not in field-based
experiences, the courses in counseling techniques were viewed
as a critical incident that promoted growth, but not because
of the skills gained. Students indicated that these courses
were critical because of the affective impact of being both
the counselor and the client during the practice sessions. Per-
ceived support (affective) from peers and professors in all
courses was also viewed as a critical incident related to
counselor development.
A frequently cited source of events deemed critical for
personal growth came from events that occurred outside of
the counseling program. Participants viewed interpersonal re-
lationships involving partners, families, and friends as influenc-
ing their growth as counselors. As participants became aware
of personal positive growth resulting from their participa-
tion in the counseling program, they also realized that this
growth led to issues within interpersonal relationships that
needed to be addressed. In some cases, participants reported
that they left relationships and friendships that were no longer
viewed as healthy.
Participants also recognized the private personal counseling
that they received as critical in their development as counse-
lors. They emphasized the importance of gaining personal in-
sight through such counseling. New students were particularly
affected by entering the counseling program where they found
peers with similar interests. New students also discovered the
need to learn self-management skills. Once in the counseling
program, students began to view events that occurred in
noncounseling work settings from different perspectives. Such
changes in outlook led them to new interpretations of work
settings that were different from the views of other employees
in these settings.
Events external to the program were also related to both
the Belief and the Affective Clusters. A number of students
indicated that life-threatening events or the death of a sig-
nificant person led them to reexamine their beliefs and val-
ues. At times, these same events were the catalysts that
prompted participants to seek individual counseling. Par-
ticipants reported that receiving professional counseling for
personal problems initiated affective changes in them.
The Behavioral Cluster primarily reflected incidents related
to classroom activities. Learning to apply theories, develop
counseling skills, and apply skills in the field were recognized
by the students as influences on counselor behavior.
JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT • FALL 2003 • VOLUME 81
The Role of Critical Incidents
DISCUSSION
The critical incidents that students identified provide a frame-
work to begin defining the wide range of influences on stu-
dent counselor development. The overall influence of experi-
ential learning was a major theme that emerged from these
responses. On the basis of the comments made by students
concerning the critical incidents in their lives, it seemed that
experiential learning activities had a greater emotional
impact than did courses based on cognitive learning strate-
gies. Although students did not view cognitive learning as
unimportant, learning experiences that involved immediate
application of knowledge had a greater impact on partici-
pants. To strengthen the link between application and theory,
instructors in counselor education courses may want to exam-
ine applying the principles of Kolb’s (1984) experiential learn-
ing model in which abstract conceptualization may need to be
preceded by concrete experience and reflective observation.
Kolb discovered that the preferred learning strategy for coun-
selors includes a strong component of concrete experience.
For students just beginning to learn to be counselors, the
importance of the skill-based introductory counseling class
is a dominant force in their education. Although the stu-
dents’ primary focus was on the development of basic coun-
seling skills, students in this study repeatedly mentioned the
importance of the experience of being both the counselor and
the client in terms of dealing with the dynamics of the rela-
tionship. Instructors in this course need to be alert to helping
students process these interactions in addition to focusing on
skill attainment. Because counseling interactions in our tech-
niques courses move beyond role-play to actual issues, self-
disclosure among peers or classmates has been a matter of
concern among our program faculty members. However, par-
ticipants reported that learning to trust each other and to take
risks in sharing personal information was beneficial to under-
standing the dynamics of the counseling relationship. Even
when students reported a critical incident as negative (e.g.,
“My counselor in techniques did not really listen to me”), the
result for the student was positive (“I learned the importance
of hearing what the client says”). This finding has helped to
alleviate our anxiety over the risks of self-disclosure that
might occur in the techniques courses.
Although personal growth is not measured in our coun-
seling program, several courses require that students choose
some type of self-development activity as part of the course
requirements. The most frequently mentioned sources of per-
sonal growth were related to self-development activities
undertaken in the beginning and advanced counseling tech-
niques courses. Many participants listed activities such as
personal counseling, high-ropes courses, personal growth
groups, spelunking, and spending the night in a shelter for
the homeless in the community as significant in their devel-
opment as counselors. Counseling students frequently re-
ported that this “push” to expand their development led to
increased understanding of self. As counselor educators re-
sponsible for a program, we have struggled with how much
to require such activities versus just encouraging them. From
487
Furr and Carroll
these results, we have learned that having a requirement in
the counseling program that includes many options seems
to achieve our goals of increasing student self-awareness.
As expected, field experiences were viewed as crucial to
the participants’ counselor development. The application of
the knowledge and skills gained in classes and the difficulty
of learning to implement interventions affected respondents
in various ways. Their sense of competency, development as
professionals, personal growth, and skill development were
challenged. In some cases, participants reacted negatively to
field experiences. These reactions generally were connected
with supervision conflicts or difficulty in acquiring satis-
factory counseling experiences. Yet in many of these situa-
tions, students reported positive growth from having to be
assertive and taking responsibility for solving the problems.
One outcome of this study was particularly revealing.
Participants described numerous critical incidents related
to events that occurred outside academic life. In fact, criti-
cal incidents occurring outside of the counseling program
that affected personal growth were the most frequent type
of incident cited. Many of these incidents were associated
with personal relationships that were undergoing changes as
a result of participants being in the counseling program. As
participants increased their awareness of effective commu-
nication and attempted to express feelings more directly,
they discovered that individuals in their lives were not al-
ways accommodating to these changes. Increased tension and
conflict in relationships resulted when participants believed
they were not welcomed to exercise their newly found in-
terpersonal skills. For some participants, these changes car-
ried over into work settings and difficulties with employers
and colleagues. Even though these events were external to
the counseling program, the effects had an impact on the
participants’ experiences in the counseling program. Often,
counselor educators are faced with the dilemma of how to
respond to student problems without becoming involved in
dual relationships. Providing supportive environments for
growth without becoming intrusive in students’ personal
lives can be a difficult balance. The results of this study
further emphasize the ways in which academic development
is influenced by personal development.
Another influential critical incident cited by students
was receiving personal counseling. Many of the more aca-
demically advanced students discovered the importance of
experiencing being the client and addressing issues in per-
sonal counseling. Newer students found that both learning
self-management skills and gaining personal awareness were
important to their development. Our counseling program
does not require that students receive counseling, yet we
want students to view this as an important opportunity
for growth. Because of the importance students place on
this type of experience, we want them to feel at ease in
seeking personal counseling. However some students may
perceive that counseling faculty view personal counseling
as an indication of personal deficits, and therefore students
might be less likely to seek appropriate services. Faculty
members need to be mindful to make recommendations
488 JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT • FALL 2003 • VOLUME 81
for counseling in ways that demonstrate respect for the stu-
dent and the counseling process.
The relative lack of significance that participants placed
on building counseling skills and learning important coun-
seling concepts was also a surprising finding. The program
in which we conducted this study strongly emphasizes ef-
fective teaching. Faculty members have a history of receiv-
ing high ratings from students for the quality of instruction.
Once we completed this research, we had the opportunity
to present the results to participants and raise this issue.
Students stated that when they entered the program, they
expected to gain cognitive knowledge about theories and hu-
man behavior and to develop counseling skills. What they did
not expect was the amount of personal exploration and
intense self-examination that would occur. They believed
that they had not been prepared for the emotional impact
that learning how to counsel others would have on them.
Because students experience stress as they develop emo-
tional awareness, counselor educators need to pay careful
attention to the importance of peer and faculty support.
Students need supportive environments to translate the stress
of self-examination into personal growth.
The findings of this study have implications for counselor
preparation programs. Although caution should be exercised
in generalizing these findings to other programs, it is impor-
tant to note that many of the incidents that affect counselor
development that are cited in this study occurred outside
the realm of the counseling program. Although research has
not demonstrated that students studying counseling have
more personal or family trauma than do other graduate stu-
dents (McClure, 1999), this research does indicate that coun-
seling students’ development is affected by personal events
occurring outside of the counseling program. Sensitivity to
the impact of these events on academic development is im-
portant for the holistic development of the student.
Because participants reported that field experiences trig-
gered many of the critical incidents related to growth, ex-
amining the timing and sequencing of experiential activities
may be important for maximizing the impact of these courses.
Although participants reported that they gained more from
the experiential courses, educators need to ensure that stu-
dents develop the cognitive structures necessary to inte-
grate theory with practice. Much of the current emphasis in
the field of counselor education focuses on alternative ap-
proaches to teaching (Granello, 2000; McAuliffe & Eriksen,
2000; Nelson & Neufeldt, 1998) that help to integrate per-
sonal constructs with academic knowledge. Connecting
teaching to real-world experiences outside the classroom
may strengthen the association between theory and prac-
tice and encourage students to create meaning out of their
own personal challenges.
When students enter graduate education in counseling,
they need to be aware of the learning that takes place on the
affective level. Students may not be prepared for the expec-
tation of self-disclosure in courses such as group counseling
or counseling techniques. Other courses such as grief coun-
seling or substance abuse counseling may trigger unexpected

affective reactions. In addition, learning about healthy com-
munication and relationships may have an impact on per-
sonal relationships. Counselor educators responsible for
counseling programs may want to consider providing an ori-
entation for those individuals who play a significant role in
the lives of the counseling students. Most of all, students
need to know that their experiences related to being stu-
dents in a counseling program may prompt them to realize
the necessity for unforeseen changes in their personal lives.
In interpreting the results of this study, the limitations
of the study should be kept in mind. First, the study was
limited to one counseling program. Gathering similar in-
formation from other programs would help to determine if
critical incidents and perspectives on these incidents are
common across programs. Second, the results were based
on cohorts of students rather than following one group of
students longitudinally. Longitudinal research would per-
mit an examination of the impact of critical incidents over
time. What might be critical for beginning students may
not be recognized as important over time. A more in-depth
study of the impact of critical incidents experienced by
students may help prepare counselor educators to deal with
the consequences of such incidents. Finally, perhaps having
more information on the demographics of the participants
would be helpful in interpreting the results. For example,
the age of the participants may influence the type of inci-
dent reported.
Further exploration of the impact of personal issues on
counselor development is defensible based on the impor-
tance participants in this study placed on these events.
Researchers need to examine both the perspective of fac-
ulty members on ways to respond to students’ personal
issues and students’ views of which faculty behaviors are
helpful. As counselor educators, we need to be aware that
it is both necessary and prudent to develop approaches
that allow students to find viable solutions to their prob-
lems and that also provide an atmosphere that encourages
student growth.
REFERENCES
Beck, A. (1993). Cognitive therapy: Nature and relation to behavior
therapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 2, 345–356.
Brown, D., & Srebalus, D. J. (1996). Introduction to the counseling profes-
sion. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Chung, Y., Case, A., & Loundy, M. (1997, March). Supervision experience
of practicum counselors. Paper presented at the annual convention of
the American Counseling Association, Orlando, FL.
Claiborn, C., Etringer, B., & Hillerbrand, E. (1995). Influence process in
supervision. Counselor Education and Supervision, 33, 43–52.
JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT • FALL 2003 • VOLUME 81
The Role of Critical Incidents
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Pro-
grams. (1994). The CACREP standards. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Etringer, B., Hillerbrand, E., & Claiborn, C. (1995). The transition from
novice to expert counselor. Counselor Education and Supervision, 35,
4–17.
Fong, M., & Borders, L. (1997). Becoming a counselor: A longitudinal
study of student cognitive development. Counselor Education and
Supervision, 37, 100–115.
Fukuyama, M. (1994). Critical incidents in multicultural supervision: A
phenomenological approach to supervision research. Counselor Edu-
cation and Supervision, 34, 142–151.
Giorgi, A. (1985). Sketch of a psychological phenomenological method.
In A. Giorgi (Ed.), Phenomenology and psychological research (pp. 8–
22). Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Granello, D. (2000). Contextual teaching and learning in counselor edu-
cation. Counselor Education and Supervision, 39, 270–283.
Hazler, R., & Carney, J. (1993). Student-faculty interactions: An
underemphasized dimension of counselor education. Counselor Edu-
cation and Supervision, 33, 80–88.
Heppner, M., Multon, K., Gysbers, N., Ellis, C., & Zook, C. (1998). The
relationship of trainee self-efficacy to the process and outcome of
career counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45, 393–402.
Heppner, P., & Roehlke, H. (1984). Differences among supervisees at
different levels of training: Implications for a developmental model
of supervision. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 76–90.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the course of learn-
ing and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kottler, J. (1992). Confronting our own hypocrisy: Being a model for
our students and clients. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70,
475–476.
Leach, M., & Stoltenberg, C. (1997). Self-efficacy and counselor devel-
opment: Testing the integrated developmental model. Counselor Edu-
cation and Supervision, 37, 115–124.
McAuliffe, G., & Eriksen, K. (Eds.). (2000). Preparing counselors and
therapists: Creating constructivist and developmental programs. Virginia
Beach, VA: Donning.
McClure, R. (1999). Do students studying therapy have more prob-
lems? Psychological Reports, 84, 591–592.
Morran, D., Kurpius, D., Brack, C., & Brack, G. (1995). A cognitive-skills
model for counselor training and supervision. Journal of Counseling &
Development, 73, 384–389.
Morrissette, P. (1996). Recurring critical issues of student counselors.
Canadian Journal of Counselling, 30, 31–41.
Nelson, M., & Neufeldt, S. (1998). The pedagogy of counseling: A critical
examination. Counselor Education and Supervision, 38, 70–88.
Oliver, R., Moore, J., Schoen, J., & Scarmon, M. (1990). Trends in mean-
ingful trends: A survey of counseling graduates. Vermillion, SD: Univer-
sity of South Dakota. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.
ED 320 079)
Rabinowitz, F., Heppner, P., & Roehlke, H. (1986). Descriptive study of
process and outcome variables of supervision over time. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 33, 292–300.
Skovholt, T., & McCarthy, P. (1988). Critical incidents: Catalysts for
counselor development. The Counseling Psychologist, 67, 69–72.
Stoltenberg, C. (1998). A social cognitive—and developmental—
model of counselor training. The Counseling Psychologist, 26,
317–323.
Tryon, G. (1996). Supervisee development during the practicum year.
Counselor Education and Supervision, 35, 287–294.
489