Professional Identity Development of Novice Family Counselors in the Field of Social and Interpersonal Relations: A Qualitative Study

The present study was conducted with the aim of qualitatively investigating the growth of career identity of novice family counselors in the context of social and interpersonal relationships.

In terms of methodology, this research was carried out with a qualitative approach and grounded theory method (data base). The study population included 12 family counselors in Tehran with inclusion criteria in the first 6 months of 1401 (Persian calendar), who were selected and participated in the research using the purposeful sampling method. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using the method of constant comparative analysis of Strauss and Corbin (2014) in three stages of open, central and selective coding.

The results showed that the career identity growth of new family counselors has the main themes of importance of job, commitment and job centrality, job attachment, pure and practical aspects of consulting identity, and professional orientation in the job. This course shows that for a family counselor at the beginning of his development, counseling becomes twice important and later becomes the central core of his identity. Finally, a consultant tries to advance to the stage of becoming a professional.

The identity of counselors is mainly interpersonal in nature. Striving for social well-being and responsibility towards the community is the center of gravity of the occupational identity of family counselors