Through a qualitative, critical incident research design, this study identified and defined critical factors that cultivated a social justice orientation among counseling psychology doctoral students and professionals. Research questions included: (1) What factors are critical in the development of a social justice orientation? (2) Of these factors, which are most influential? (3) How do these factors affect social justice orientation development? Thirty-six counseling psychology doctoral students and professionals, who demonstrated a commitment to social justice through scholarship and clinical practice, completed the survey, which consisted of rank-order and open-ended items. Qualitative data were analyzed utilizing the constant comparative method. Analyses revealed five categories of critical factors to which participants attributed their social justice orientation development: Influence of Significant Persons, Exposure to injustice, Education/learning experiences, Work experiences, and Religion/spirituality. Five themes were identified that categorized the ways in which incidents changed individuals: Increased Awareness, Increased Understanding of Social Justice, Facilitated Commitment to Social Justice, Identity Changes, and Behavioral Changes. Analyses of rank-ordered items indicated that the categories, exposure to injustice and influence of significant persons, were most frequently ranked as the most influential critical factors in the development of a social justice orientation. Implications of these results, future directions for research, as well as limitations of this study are discussed.