Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the research performance experiences of counseling majors as the importance of research performance capabilities expands in the professional development of counselors. In particular, we sought to in-depth explore what meaning it could have for counseling majors by focusing on the experience of conducting qualitative research. Methods For this purpose, the autoethnography research method of looking at and interpreting individual experiences in socio-cultural situations was applied, and the researcher's diary data, reflection data, thought data, and conversation data were mainly used accordingly. This data was analyzed through theory and prior research based on the scientist-practitioner model, research performance, and counselor professional development. Results As a result, ‘Introduction as a Qualitative Researcher: An Autoethnography Journal’, ‘Change and Growth Process through Qualitative Research’, and ‘Road to a Differentiated Counseling Expert’ were derived. The researcher experienced changes in herself as she encountered qualitative research for the first time, conducting research on her own experiences, and conducted research to prove herself as a doctoral student. Afterwards, I continued to conduct qualitative research and went through the process of finding internal motivation. And in the process of finding the essence in the uncertainty that only qualitative research has, I felt my own growth, and this extended to my life and professional field. Conclusions The results of this study provided a discussion on the meaning of the process of conducting qualitative research on the development process of counselors. This can be provided as evidence for the research performance of the scientist-practitioner model, which is the axis of counselor professional development, and is expected to be a material that can promote counselors' motivation to conduct research.
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