Exploring the perceptions of Greek counsellors' and counselling psychologists' professional identity and training experience, through the lens of the first alumni graduates of a Greek state University.

The field of Counselling as a profession and that of Counselling Psychology is a relatively new and developing discipline in Greece. As in other European countries, it is only in recent years that this postgraduate training started to be delivered by a state/national University Institution in Greece. The present study focused on attempting to capture the qualitative experience of the first two cohorts of graduates from the first postgraduate programme in Counselling and Counselling Psychology delivered by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with the Democritus University of Thrace. This data was collected via two focused group interviews using a thematic analysis approach which facilitated the immersion of the following main themes: motivating factors (for choosing such discipline), reflections on placements, the role of personal development, the evolving professional identity, issues of professional recognition, opportunities for employment, vision for the future. In conclusion, the participants expressed the opinion that the provision of such a postgraduate programme by a Greek University was delivered in a rigorous way with high standards and has equipped them with the reflexivity and critical thinking required to build their professional identity and influence the developments still to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]