Humanistic Professional Identity: The Transtheoretical Tie That Binds

This article explores the intersectionality of professional identity and theoretical orientation relative to humanism. Evidence of the humanistic foundations of counseling practice is offered to highlight how humanistic professional identity evolves and manifests in counseling practice, and examples of humanistic and parahumanistic theories are provided. ********** First say to yourself what you would he; and then do what you have to do. --Epictetus In a holistic sense, identity is the search for the answer to "Who am I?," the quintessential existential question (Frankl, 1984). According to Frankl (1984), the answer to that question is found in the meaning one makes of one's existence, and although meaning can be found in love or suffering, for many, meaning is found in "creating a work or doing a deed," for "everyone has his [or her] own specific vocation or mission which demands fulfillment" (p. 131). When the profound weight of meaning and identity is found through work, it is easy to see why many people define "profession" as a "calling." This eudaimonic view positions work as a means to achieve "growth, purpose, meaning ... and self-actualization" (Lent & Brown, 2013, p. 5). The search for meaning brings one into one's profession, and, reflexively, the work itself creates new meaning for the worker. Furthermore, identity evolves from and is coconstructed in that work, suggesting why professional identity plays a vital role in many professions. How vital is professional identity? A search of a large research university's online library listings for "professional identity" for the years 1986 to 1999 resulted in 1,498 listings of peer-reviewed articles; an identical search for the years 2000 to 2013 resulted in 11,881 articles. This 800% increase in professional identity articles highlights concern over "who we are" and "what we do" for a wide variety of professions. A brief examination of the more than 35 professions in which professional identity merited peer reviewed articles includes the fields of education, medicine, engineering, the helping professions, business, the fine arts, and technology. As more professions are challenged to maintain their numbers or influence, the human need to seek meaning causes professionals to reflect on what they stand for individually and collectively. Within the helping professions, professional identity has been explored for counselors (Healey & Hays, 2012; Luke & Goodrich, 2010; Mellin, Hunt, & Nichols, 2011; Moss, Gibson, & Dollarhide, 2014), counselor educators (Calley & Hawley, 2008; Carlson, Portman, & Bartlett, 2006; Reiner, Dobmeier, & Hernandez, 2013; Reisetter et al., 2004), counselors-in-training (Gibson, Dollarhide, & Moss, 2010; Hansen, 2003; Nelson & Jackson, 2003), doctoral students (Dollarhide, Gibson, & Moss, 2013), rehabilitation counselors (Barnes, Rak, Austin, & Louw, 2012), and school counselors (Brott & Myers, 1999; Henderson, Cook, & Libby, 2006; Lambie & Williamson, 2004; Lewis & Hatch, 2008; Paisley, Ziomek-Daigle, Getch, & Bailey, 2006). In these discussions of professional identity, it is possible to examine the profession's values and definition. Within counseling, professional identity has been defined as an understanding of the counseling profession in conjunction with the counselor's self-concept, "enabling the articulation of occupational role, philosophy, and professional approach to people within and outside of the individual's chosen field" (Healy & Hays, 2012, p. 55). In a view of the dynamic process of professional identity development, Gibson et al. (2010) defined professional identity as "the integration of professional training with personal attributes in the context of a professional community" (p. 21). Factors pertaining to professional identity include values unique to the profession, scope of professional activities, focus of scholarship, theoretical orientation, understanding of the history of the profession, and credentials and training (Calley & Hawley, 2008). …