| Thirteen professional counselors licensed in the Mid-Atlantic region were interviewed in this qualitative grounded theory study exploring what influenced participants to remain in career-long professional supervision, what they gained from remaining engaged, and what about professional supervision participants considered essential to their professional development. The data revealed that professional supervision may facilitate the lifelong integrative process of personal identity, professional identity, and values held. The emergent model, Dissonance-Integration Model of Professional Supervision (D-IMPS), is the first field-based model of professional supervision. The model (a) describes the process engaging professional counselors in professional supervision across the professional lifespan, (b) illustrates benefits of professional supervision, and (c) outlines the role of professional supervision in professional counselor development. This study is also the first in the United States to use the term, professional supervision to refer to supervision of licensed professional counselors. Clarifying definitions for supervision levels is offered: training supervision, clinical supervision, and professional supervision.;Keywords: supervision, supervision models, counselor identity, professional supervision. |
