AASCB12 KEYNOTE modif

Serving counselor licensing boards for over 25 years

CAN COUNSELOR

LICENSING

LICENSING

PORTABILITY

ADDRESSING THE

NEED FOR

COMMON

WHO OWNS THE

RESPONSIBILTY FOR

SOLVING THE

PORTABIITY

PROBLEM?

THE ENTIRE

Licensing & AASCB

History

 _{In 1986, 21 delegates from the 9 existing}

state counselor licensing boards formed AASCB

 Requirements ranged from 30 credits (Alabama) to 60 credits (Virginia) (AASCB, 1986a).

 During that first meeting delegates discussed

licensing reciprocity and cited differences in state requirements as a major roadblock to be addressed (AASCB, 1986b).

 _{By 1987, twenty-four states adopted counselor} licensing laws, making common standards in

A call for a

summit…



_{“We (the Counseling profession)}

have much to offer our fellow

human beings. The sooner we can

get our own house in order the

sooner we will free up even more

energy to address cultural and

social issues that confront our

world”.

Regulator or

counselor: Equally

responsible



_{“The need to remember that}

protection of the public is more

than an expectation of legislators.

It is the

ethical responsibility

of every professional

counselor

as well as the

Problems identified

- 2004



_{Licensing board}

_{complaints &}

discipline data were unavailable

from AASCB & most states



_{ACA Ethics Committee & licensing}

boards

rarely shared violation

information



_{The wide}

_{variation of state}

Interviews: Most important

issues facing the profession

(re: licensing)?



_{Counselor identity}



_Portability



_{Variance in licensing}

requirements



_{Psychologists}

_’

_restricting

scope of practice



_{Use of certified clinical}

Recommendatio

ns



_{Convene a major summit}

of ACA, divisions, AASCB,

CACREP, NBCC to provide a

unified future direction



_{Consider merging efforts of}

CACREP & CORE



_Portability

_requires

More

recommendation

s



_{AASCB spearhead a movement of all}

“entities” to

develop a new

licensing model

(including the title)



_{CACREP reconsider the}

_{role of}

counseling psychologists

in

counselor preparation



_{ACA and all “entities” treat the issue}

A tragic flaw in

licensing



_{The inclusion of the words “…and}

related degrees” has created a

problem for counselor licensing.



_{Master’s level Psychology programs}

are renaming their degree

Counseling Psychology and

qualifying for licensing.



_{The question we need to answer:}

“Is the counseling profession

being hijacked by psychology?”

Multiple

Professional

Identity Disorder



_{Faculty in counselor education}

programs with “mixed

professional identity”



_{Degrees in “related professions”}



_{holding licenses and}

Unresolved portability

issues

 _{How many credits should a Master’s degree in}

counseling contain? (CACREP has the answer)

 _{How many supervised clinical hours after the}

Master’s degree should a licensure candidate complete?

 _{What exam(s) should be used for licensing?}

(NCE,CMHCE, CRCE or something else)

 _{What title(s) should be used for licensing? (LPC, LMHC,}

or…)

 _{What degree(s) should qualify for counselor licensing?}

(Counseling)

 _{What professional degree/field should supervisors hold}

Jim Wilson as

Margaret Meade…



_{“a small group with a}

limited revenue stream,

constantly changing

leadership and

membership can

What AASCB has

already

accomplished

 _{Co-sponsored 20/20}

 _{Adopted a two-tier exam policy}  _{Adopted supervision standards}

 _{Adopted the consumer’s guide to internet}

counseling

 _{Adopted a portability policy & created the}

Credentials Registry

 _{Proposed a model for collecting discipline data}  _{Had influence in the development of the 2009}

AASCB Portability

Requirements



_A

_{current active License}

_to

practice counseling at the

independent level from an AASCB

member state



_{No disciplinary action}

_taken



_{5 years post}

_{license counseling}

Qualifications for

Group II

 _{60 graduate semester hours including a master’s}

degree in counseling or related field

 Coursework the same as group I, with additional coursework in specific treatment modalities

 4,000 hours of post master’s supervision. With 2,500 hours direct client contact

 100 hours of clinical supervision

 _{The 5 years of counseling experience must be in}

clinical counseling

Qualifications for

Group I



48 graduate semester hours including a

Masters degree in counseling or related

field



Coursework to include specific content

that is consistent with CACREP

guidelines



3,000 clock hours of post master’s

supervision. 1,900 hours direct client

contact



100 hours of clinical supervision



_{Successful passage of a licensure}

ASCB & 20/20

 _{AASCB remains the single most important}

organization representing the views and interests of counselor licensing boards

 _{It played a critical role in the development of}

20/20

 _{Ongoing discussions among AASCB members}

about licensure issues led to an informal meeting of

 the AASCB presidential team (Jim Wilson, Charles Gagnon, and Barry Mascari)

 ACA President Sam Gladding, and Chief Professional Officer David Kaplan at the January 2005 AASCB

annual meeting in Savannah

 _{Mutual concerns about fragmenting counselor identity}

The “summit”

challenge



_{A formal memorandum from}

President Wilson for AASCB to

ACA to meet



_{the presidential teams}

_{met at}

the 2006 ACA conference in

Atlanta and agreed to

co-host a summit

to address:



_{counselor identity}



_{licensing-related issues}



_{almost 20 years after the}

20/20 Unifying

Principles



_{Principle 1 “Sharing a common}

professional identity is critical for

counselors”, underscoring the need for

professional and program identity



_{Principle 4 identified the creation of a}

portability system as a priority for

strengthening the profession.

 _{A consensus issue supporting Principle 4}

pointed to the essential role of common standards:

 _{“The counselor education program}

Finally…

 _{On October 28, 2010 the ACA Governing}

Council approved the new definition :



_{“Counseling is a professional}

relationship that empowers

diverse individuals, families,

and groups to accomplish

mental health, wellness,

20/20 Delphi initial

portability round (1-12)

- Coursework

 _{Group theory & techniques}

 _{Counseling theory &}

practice

 _{Cultural diversity}

 _{Ethical issues related to}

clinical practice

 _{Professional orientation &}

ethics

 _{Assessment & appraisal}

 _{Human growth &}

development

 _{Research & program}

evaluation

 _{Career development}  _{Individual, group &}

family counseling interventions

 _{Psychopathology &}

diagnosis & treatment

 _{Cultural context of}

relationships, issues & trends in a

Ranked items 1-12

look like

items 14, 15, 27



_The

_{CACREP standards}



_{The eight areas of professional}

identity identified by CACREP



_{CACREP requirements for}

So is the

picture

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN COUNSELING &

PSYCHOLOGY OR SOCIAL

WORK?

 _{We should hope so, or why is there a separate}

licensing law in 50 states, Puerto Rico, DC, & Canada?

 _{Courses in master’s level psychology}

programs do not reflect common counseling standards (i.e., CACREP) found in the counseling licensing regulations of many states.

 _{If we have to ask this question, or if you are}

Professional

identity is

important



_{Tom Sweeney (2001) described the}

complexities of developing

professional identity:

“…students in counselor education learn to distinguish themselves from other

practitioners with similar competencies and knowledge, for it is not the

What is a related

profession?

 _{This has been the bane of our existence since}

it was included in many licensing laws.

 _{Tom Sweeney identified the purpose as hope}

that MFTs would join our professional ranks

 _{It was NEVER meant to include psychology,} social work, etc. IN THE MODEL LICENSING

EFFORTS

 _{It is time for this language to GO away!!!}

the Masters in

Psychology

Accreditation Council



_{…established a new accreditation}

process for counseling programs:



_{“This newly formulated professional}

accreditation council represents an

expansion in the original Masters in

Psychology Accreditation Council

(MPAC), which has been in existence for

more than 15 years” (MPAC, 2011). With

flexibility in faculty qualifications, the

MPAC accreditation reintroduces

Fish or cut bait

 _{1980s, there were 67 institutions with CACREP-accredited}

programs

 _{today there are 596 programs accredited in 264}

institutions

 _{Those efforts [MPAC], in my opinion, will only dilute much}

of the progress that has been made to unify professional counselors over the past 30 years and create

unnecessary divisions within our profession.

 _{When it comes to accreditation for professional}

Do we need ANOTHER

accrediting body?

 _{Counseling, unlike social work and psychology,}

has not established a single entity containing its accreditation, credentialing, and professional organizations.

 _{The American Psychological Association (APA,}

2007) and the National Association of Social

Workers (NASW) Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, 2001) do not have separate accrediting bodies or multiple codes of ethics.

 _{Herlihy and Remley (1995) identified at least}

nine separate ethical codes among ACA, the divisions, and the accrediting bodies

 _{a single ethical standard would help the public}

Licensing boards benefit

from requiring CACREP

accreditation

 _{It provides an expedited application review}

and a consistent measure for evaluating minimum training criteria for licensure and practice.

 _{With an external program accreditation}

standard, the potential subjectivity in individual credentials evaluation and

board evaluation of programs is reduced

Criticism by US DOD

(2006)

“ …there is no well-established nationally recognized accrediting body for LPCs.

States have a wide range of standards, licensure and certification requirements for LPCs.

While CACREP accredits mental health counselor training programs…

The absence of a national homogeneous

standard curriculum to guide the training of LPCs fails to meet beneficiaries’ expectations for the national, uniform quality care that is the

TRICARE report

recognizes CACREP/

criticizes Boards

 _{There appears to be little attempt to evaluate} learning outcomes, and there is no specific documented evidence to indicate how

equivalence is determined.

 _{In addition, because of wide variation among} courses, course titles, and qualifications of

instructors, there is no empirical evidence that other accepted courses of study by licensure bodies have the same learning outcomes as accredited CACREP Clinical Mental Health

Recurring

symptoms



_{…there is not agreement among the}

organizations [ACA, NBCC, AMHCA] that

CACREP should have been written into the

regulations…



_{This approach will unfortunately dilute the}

value of the choice your program and

students have made to seek and maintain

CACREP accreditation and could

potentially undermine this important

The portability train

may have left the

TRICARE’s

Requirements

 Possession of a state license for independent practice in mental health counseling

 Master's degree or higher from a mental health counseling education and training program accredited by CACREP

 Passing score on the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) or its successor as determined by TRICARE.

 Minimum of two (2) years of post-master's degree supervised mental health counseling practice

 minimum of 3,000 hours of supervised clinical practice

 100 hours of face-to-face supervision by a mental health

WHERE ARE

WE or WHERE

SHOULD WE

Unresolved

questions



_{How can we start comparing ourselves to}

Social Work, not psychology, as our

standards have more in common?



_{Who will partner to fund the Portability Bank}

(NCR)?



_{Who will partner to fund the C-DIN}

(discipline databank)?

Unresolved…

 _{How will we finally include Rehab Counselors in unified}

licensing?

 _{How can we get ACES to endorse AASCB initiatives?}

 Should AASCB hold its annual conference alternating years at ACA to have a presence? (or staff the booth!)

 _{Should AASCB become IACLB?}

What is getting in our

way?

 _{Lack of funding}

 _{Constantly changing leadership and membership}

at AASCB

 _{Distancing ourselves at times, instead of being an}

integral part of the profession

 _{Conflicting state interests}

 _{Biting off more than we can chew}

 _{Counseling profession’s unresolved issues get}

played out here at AASCB

 _{Self interest, short-sightedness, turf wars, & power}

Mascari’s oracle:

Achieving

portability



_{Achieving portability in the near future}

depends upon all state licensing boards’

advocating for legislation that

includes

the 20/20 standards:

 _{(a) common title for the licensed professional}

counselor

 _{(b) 60-credit counseling degree}

 _{(c) common number of supervised hours or}

years of experience, and

 _{(d) Resolving the examination dilemma (i.e.,}

NCE and NCMHCE or CRCE or something new)

A final oracle



_{There are two roads, most distant from}

each other: the one leading to the

honorable house of freedom, the other

the house of slavery, which mortals

must shun. It is possible to travel the

one through manliness and lovely

accord; so lead your people to this path.

The other they reach through hateful

strife and cowardly destruction; so shun

it most of all.