The consideration of personal qualities in admissions for Canadian master's counselling and counselling psychology programs

Abstract

Research demonstrates the need for counsellors and psychologists to possess certain personal qualities to be effective practitioners (e.g., Jennings & Skovholt, 1999). However, the degree to which some of these characteristics can be taught during graduate school is questionable (Pope & Kline, 1999), and, thus, some researchers argue that personal qualities are an important factor to assess during the admissions process (Halinski, 2009; McCaughan & Hill, 2015). However, little is known about how personal quality considerations are incorporated into the admissions process for Canadian master’s programs in counselling and counselling psychology. This study serves as a preliminary exploration of how a subset of Canadian faculty consider and assess personal qualities during admissions reviews for said programs. Participants were interviewed to explore the counsellor personal qualities deemed important by each individual as well as how such considerations currently, and might ideally, play into admissions decisions. Themes arising from these semi-structured interviews and their implications for future research and practice are explored.