The Development of Professional Identity among Counsellors in Tertiary Educational Institutions in Singapore

Abstract

Though counselling as a field has been in existence in Singapore for the last 30 years, many individuals (both members of the public and those of other professions) still do not have a clear idea of the roles played by counsellors. This indicates that counsellors’ professional identity is still fairly weak. The purpose of this study was to identify elements of practice which in-fluence the development of professional identity amongst counsellors working in tertiary educational institutions in Singapore. Using grounded theory as the main methodology, the findings from this study seek to extend the growing literature base (Chong & Ow, 2004; Low, 2015; Yeo & Lee, 2014) on the professional development of counsellors in Singapore as well as to potentially be used as the foundation for further research into future efforts to improve professional identities of counsellors in Singapore.