About Us
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the APC formed?
The history of the counseling profession is a multidisciplinary one, with influences of psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family therapy, and others contributing to its development. Graduates of programs that carry a variety of academic titles have historically been eligible for all of the opportunities of professional counselors. However, for almost a decade, a small contingent of counselors and counselor educators have argued that only graduates of Counselor Education or “Counseling” programs should qualify as professional counselors (excluding, for example, Counseling Psychology graduates). This group has worked to restrict counselor licensure, school counselor certification, employment, and insurance reimbursement to ONLY graduates of counseling programs accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). (This program-level accreditation must be distinguished from regional accreditation, which is granted to qualifying colleges and universities).
In the case of counselor licensure, all states have historically accepted counseling degrees from regionally-accredited institutions, when curricular requirements are met. Only recently has the push begun to require CACREP program-level accreditation. However, this recent push has resulted in restrictions in employment in the Veterans Administration, participation in TRICARE, and will, if not changed, result in restrictions in initial licensure in a few states for counselors who graduated from programs that were not accredited by CACREP.
In July 2015, in a significant policy shift, the American Counseling Association (ACA) Governing Council (GC) voted to promote graduation from a CACREP/CORE-accredited program as the sole pathway to initial counselor licensure. With this vote, ACA joined two of its divisions, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) and the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA), the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), and CACREP, which all aspire to restrict initial licensure to graduates of clinical mental health counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP.
Proponents argue that these restrictions will unify the profession and improve services to the public. There is no evidence to support these claims! In fact, the new ACA position drives a wedge into the profession between CACREP program graduates and the vast majority of currently-practicing counselors who did not graduate from CACREP programs.
What does it mean, ”APC is for ALL Counselors”?
APC is opposed to policies that would restrict counselor education, initial licensure, certification in a specialty area, employment, and/or reimbursement to graduates of programs accredited by any singular program-level accrediting body.
APC joins with Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ), a division of ACA, and many other organizations and individuals who support the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of all qualified counselors.
It is important to note that APC is not opposed to CACREP accreditation. Indeed, we acknowledge the important work that CACREP has done to promote quality education. We support the right of program faculty to voluntarily seek program-level accreditation. APC is opposed to policies that restrict access to services for the public and access to professional opportunities for counselors who have trained in other programs. There is no evidence that CACREP-trained counselors are more effective in the services they provide!
APC agrees that counselors should be well trained, and that program accreditation is one measure of quality training. We also believe that the multiple paths to competency that have always characterized the counseling profession should continue to be respected. Furthermore, we hold that restricting counselor education policies and standards to those promoted by one program-level accrediting body is not in the best interest of the profession and, more importantly, not in the best interest of the public. APC supports the work of the Master’s in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC) as an additional option for program-level accreditation and advocates for policies that recognize the excellent training offered by programs not served by CACREP.
What is the false divide between Counseling and Psychology?
One example of a false distinction being promoted by some CACREP proponents and now reflected in ACA policy is between counselors trained in Counseling Psychology programs, who are being labeled as members of a different profession, from those trained in Counseling programs. This claim is made even when the programs share coursework approved by the NBCC that emphasizes counselor identity, teach the ACA Ethics Code, and contain standard training in the eight areas tested on the NCE so that all of them qualify to become Nationally Certified Counselors! People with master’s degrees in Counseling Psychology are now pointedly told that they are not Counselors (even though they are licensed as LPCs and hold Certification as NCCs)!
Licensing standards in each state specify the courses that must be taken to become a licensed counselor. Therefore, both counseling and counseling psychology programs of necessity contain all of the same components necessary for licensure!
However, CACREP does not accredit master’s programs in Counseling that do not agree with CACREP policies or master’s programs that they perceive to be more closely aligned with Counseling Psychology. (In response to CACREP exclusionary policies, these counseling programs can now be accredited through the Counseling Committee of MPCAC). Therefore, ACA’s new single criterion for a licensed professional counselor — CACREP accreditation of the graduate program – excludes huge numbers of counseling students and current professionals! This position holds – in error – that no amount of continuing education or professional achievement can allow the graduate of a program not accredited by CACREP to become a Professional Counselor!
APC sees this sort of restriction as extreme, nonsensical, and destructive to the profession. Graduates of master’s programs in Counseling and Counseling Psychology study and practice from the same theories, use the same techniques, draw from the same research base, and share the same philosophical underpinnings and emphases on health versus pathology, human development, prevention, wellness, career development, and multicultural competency. The “distinction” between counseling psychology and counseling master’s programs is a false one. The disqualification of counseling psychology students and graduates from the profession of counseling ignores the history and foundation of the profession, and is both unjust and unjustifiable!
APC’s mission is to promote open access to counseling services for the public and full professional opportunities for all qualified counselors. The counseling tent is a larger and stronger one when it embraces the diversity of academic disciplines that have shaped its development, that have trained the legions of professional counselors practicing today, and that continue to inform our theory and practice.
Central to our mission is APC’s commitment to advocacy for the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of all professional counselors, educators, and counseling students – in schools, community clinics, hospitals, colleges and universities, private practice, the Veterans Administration and other government agencies – wherever we are, or could be, working!
Please join us!