Career Development and Current Work Experiences of New Licensed Counselors Working in Private Practice Settings

Approximately 25% of United States mental health practitioners are employed in private practice settings (BLS Data Viewer, 2021). However, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, which sets standards for graduate level counseling programs, neither specifies private practice settings as a specialization nor an area for graduate programs to emphasize. In addition, research specific to private practice counselors is limited to the challenges of working in the setting (Harrington, 2013; Legge, 2017). The purpose of this study was to explore the career development and current work experiences of new licensed counselors who earned the required direct client and supervision hours in the private practice setting. Basic qualitative research design, as described by Merriam and Tisdell (2016), was paired with Braun and Clarke’s (2021) Reflexive Thematic Analysis for this exploration. Due to the limited empirical research, Krumboltz’s (1979) Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making was used as a theoretical framework. Supporting evidence from eight participants was analyzed and five patterns emerged: (1) Non-Counseling Experience is an Asset, (2) Graduate School Does a Great Job Giving you a Foundation to Build On, (3) Practical Experience Makes Up for Academic Gaps, (4) I’m Going to Start Private Practice and See What I Can Do, and (5) Private Practice Yields for My Career Development. These patterns and the accompanying ten subpatterns are discussed in alignment with extant literature and the theoretical framework. A private practice counselor development model was proposed amongst the other implications of the findings.