1. Keeping Up With The Counseling Profession: Current Issues on the National Level

2. David Kaplan ACA Chief Professional Officer dkaplan@counseling
David Kaplan ACA Chief Professional Officer Art Terrazas ACA Director of Government Affairs ACA ILT

3. Celebrating Supreme Court rulings
The Affordable Care Act
Same-sex marriage

4. How do we move forward together?
Overarching Issue:
How do we move forward together?

6. Professionalization
The social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true profession
-Ashley Crossman, PhD
Sociologist
About.com

7. Counseling Professionalization Benchmarks
Circa Named
First professional organization
Specialties coalesce under one association
Code of ethics

8. 1971/1981 - Counselor preparation accreditation
First state licensed
Establishment of a certification body
Establishment of a national honor society

9. 2009 - All 50 states and DC licensed
Consensus definition of counseling
Consensus licensure title & scope of practice
CACREP & CORE become corporate affiliates
CACREP & CORE merge

10. Professionalization: A recent focus on counselor preparation
VA requires CACREP accreditation
TRICARE requires CACREP accreditation for independent practice

11. 2012 - NJ briefly requires CACREP for licensure
CACREP requires a counselor education degree for new core faculty
2022 – NCC requires a CACREP degree

12. Changes in State Laws
Beginning in you will need a degree from a CACREP accredited school to obtain a license in Ohio.
A petition was filed in 2014 with the Virginia Board asking for a CACREP requirement to obtain licensure
Kentucky and Georgia have also introduced CACREP requirements.

13. Which has lead to some consternation and panic over jobs
Teaching
Practicing

14. Teaching
Counseling Psychologists

15. THE Counseling Psychologist Vol. 41, No. 5, July 2013
Psychology
& counselor education accreditation
THE Counseling Psychologist Vol. 41, No. 5, July 2013

16. Articles
Quality of Master’s Education: A Concern for Counseling Psychology?
Looking to the Future – The role of Master’s Programs in Counseling Psychology
Integrating Master’s Education in Counseling Psychology for Quality, Viability, and Value Added
Legitimizing and Reclaiming Master’s Training and Education in Counseling Psychology: An Urgent Concern

17. Contributing to the ambivalent relationship of counseling psychology to masters training… Jackson & Scheel, p.676

18. In some situations, the master’s training programs were developed …to help fund the doctoral training program Palmer, p.703

19. In some cases, master’s programs help pay the bills for doctoral education…in difficult economic times, counseling psychology doctoral programs without master’s programs may be easier to cut -Jackson & Scheel, p. 687 &

20. To maintain CACREP accreditation when budget cuts are required, deans and other administrators…may prioritize master’s over doctoral programs since master’s training is less expensive than doctoral training. -Jackson & Scheel, p.682

21. …such developments do threaten counseling psychology programs… -Jackson & Scheel, p.682

22. The new MCAC accreditation standards may serve to promote a new direction for counseling master’s education…consistent with core values and contributions of counseling psychology Jackson & Scheel, p. 681

23. It is questionable…whether we will be able to avert eventual professional annihilation…as a profession we are experiencing THE RECKONING Palmer, p. 701 & 704

24. Clinician concerns Non-CACREP degree 48 credit CACREP degree
Master’s degree in counseling psychology

25. Pushback

26. Alternative Counselor Education Credentialing

27. Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC)

28. MPCAC counseling programs
U of Albany - mental health counseling
Eastern University - clinical counseling & school counseling
Felician College - counseling psychology

29. MPCAC counseling programs
Fordham University - mental health counseling & school counseling
Lehigh University - counseling and human services
U of Massachusetts Boston- mental health counseling & school counseling

30. MPCAC counseling programs
U of Missouri-Kansas City - counseling and guidance
New York University – counseling for mental health and wellness & counseling and guidance
U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - counseling

31. Advocacy Counseling psychology program coalitions
Coalition of Concerned Counselors
Individuals

32. How do we move forward together?

33. Federal Issues in 2015 Medicare- The fight continues TRICARE-Amendment
VA- Promising changes and new opportunities

34. State issues
Certain state laws and/or policies prevent LPCs from being utilized as healthcare providers:
New York & diagnoses
Texas lawsuit
Bans on “reparative therapy” for minors

35. The 20/20 Building Blocks to Portability Project
Consensus licensure title
Consensus licensure scope of practice

36. Rubric of professional identity
State licensed or certified in counseling
Uses the title “Professional Counselor”
Commits to counseling ethics
Commits to the 20/20 definition of counseling
Views professional counseling as a distinct profession

37. ACA’s answer to moving forward together

38. Moving Forward…..
To unify the profession, ACA endorses graduation from a CACREP/CORE accredited program as the pathway to licensure.

39. Together…..
ACA advocates that all counselors licensed by July, 2020 are qualified to have the same options and privileges as graduates from CACREP and CORE programs.

40. How ACA can help you keep up with current national issues
ACA Connect
Read Counseling Today
Read CT online
Read ACA e-News
Subscribe to the ACA blogs
Subscribe to the ACA government affairs newsletter:

41. Visit the ACA Facebook page
Follow ACA on Twitter
Subscribe to counseling listservs (cesnet, counsgrads, icn, etc.)
Use Google alerts
Ask Art or David

42. Let’s schmooze!

43. Keeping Up With The Counseling Profession: Current Issues on the National Level