The author had two major goals in this paper. Firstly, he wanted to talk about what it means to be professional, and in particular, about how the claim to professionalism is established and how it is defended when under attack. Secondly he was concerned about the more elusive condition of paraprofessionalism. It is stated that although the ordinary counselor is able to counsel and present himself as a counselor, the counselor is not qualified merely by virtue of his excellence in counseling. The author follows this discussion by mentioning that there is evidence that the relationship between a degree in counseling and skill in counseling is somewhat shaky. In conclusion a few observations are presented concerning a realistic way out of the paraprofessional dilemma. The first suggestion is that there are more routes than one to realize the goal of skilled and able counselors. The other suggestions are that ability ranking be used within the profession, and that we curb a too zealous and exclusive professionalism. (Author/BW)