The practicum is designed to provide supervised experience in the development of well trained counselors. A study at the University of Illinois using 10 post-master's degree students enrolled in a one semester supervised practicum investigated the relationship between the practicum and: (1) the development of counselor skills of empathy, warmth and genuineness and; (2) change in the counselor candidates' perception of affective word meanings on a semantic differential. Data were provided by tape-recorded counseling sessions. Results indicated: (1) that the sixteen week training period led to successive increases in the counselor skills of empathy, warmth and skill, resulting in improved counselor-client relations, and (2) that the sixteen week course did not lead to any significant changes in counselors' perceptions of word meanings, except as they viewed the word "Professional." (LS)