A Proposed Definition and Structure of Counselor Dispositions

Abstract Dispositions have been identified as critical elements of counselor development and competency. Although there is currently no professional agreement regarding the definition or structure of counselor dispositions, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP 2016) accreditation standards require counselor educators to assess students’ professional dispositions. We endorse the need for a disposition measure that yields reliable and valid scores for use in admissions and gatekeeping processes. We present results of a confirmatory factor analysis of the Professional Dispositions Scale–Counseling Student Version (PDS–CSV), which revealed that counselor dispositions are best understood as a single higher order factor made up of 9 subfactors addressing personal and professional considerations. Based on these findings, we propose a definition of counselor dispositions for consideration by professional colleagues.