News Archive for 2009

The American Counseling Association was invited as representatives of the counseling profession to meet and welcome Pamela Hyde, the new Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), on the evening of December 10 in Washington D.C.

The Senate’s health care reform bill, unveiled November 18th by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, fails to establish Medicare coverage of licensed professional counselors.  This despite the fact that the Senate has twice approved Medicare coverage of counselors, and that Medicare beneficiaries need better access to outpatient mental health service providers.

The House of Representatives took an historic step forward on Saturday, November 7th with the passage of major health insurance reform legislation, H.R.3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. 

With two Grand Prize Awards for $2,500 Scholarship Grants, plus eight $500 runner-up scholarship grants, current graduate students don't want to miss the coming deadline for either the ACA Foundation Graduate Student Essay competition, or the Ross Trust Graduate Student Essay Competition for Future School Counselors. Entry forms and essays are due by midnight, Dec. 14th.

The ACA Foundation is now accepting accepting applications for Scholarship Awards for the ACA 2010 Annual Conference. The Awards cover Conference registration fees for counseling grad students, with one Grand Prize Scholarship also providing 3 nights hotel for the Conference.

Two essay competitions for counseling graduate students, each offering a Grand Prize of a $2,500 Scholarship Grant, are now underway. These ACA Foundation-run competitions also award scholarship grants of $500 to runners-up.

The American Counseling Association is pleased to announce the opening of the 6th Annual Graduate Student Ethics Competition. This program is designed to offer Graduate Students an opportunity to work in teams to compete in how to handle the hypothetical ethical cases at both the Masters and Doctoral degree levels.

On October 11, 2009, the counseling profession achieved a historic goal with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing into law of California Senate Bill 788, establishing licensure of professional clinical counselors in the state.

ACA President-Elect Marcheta Evans is seeking nominations for American Counseling Association committee appointments. She will be appointing professional members for each committee who will serve a three-year term, and a student representative to each committee for a one-year term.

The counseling profession’s long-standing goal of achieving recognition in all 50 states is a major step closer to completion. In the final hours of its legislative session, the California legislature approved a bill establishing licensure of professional clinical counselors in the state.

The Awards Committee of the American Counseling Association announces the start of the nomination process for the 2010 ACA National Awards. The Awards will be presented at the ACA 2010 Annual Conference in Pittsburgh.

ACA just launched its newest communications vehicle: an ACA blog. Join the conversation. Recent topics: standards, TV shows that focus on mental health treatment and therapy, and much more!

4 Ways to Order

Bullying appears very often in the health and safety concerns expressed by students, parents, and educators. From the school to the playground to the community mall, aggressive, violence-prone youth are causing anguish for many of their peers.

The U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services are jointly requesting information to assist in developing regulations to implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).

On a monthly basis, Counseling Today attempts to publish articles that cover a wide variety of issues in the profession and that speak to ACA's diverse membership. But there's no better method for choosing useful content than asking our members -- practitioners, new professionals, students, counselor educators and others -- what topics they would like (or need) to know more about.

Remember when parents worried about the drug and alcohol use and abuse of their children? A new SAMHSA report, "Findings for Children Living with Substance-Dependent and Substance-Abusing Parents 2002-2007," suggests that concern is a two-way street.

The Swine influenza A virus infection (swine flu) has captured headlines, generating a need for citizens to be informed and practice caution. In addition to identifying state and local sources of information and communicating with medical professionals when necessary, counselors should be aware that the Centers for Disease Control posts regular information and guidance at its national website. Also, the Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services unit has prepared a Swine Flu Fact Sheet.

Click here for a guide to how you can help raise awareness in your community. Do you have your ACA Membership certificate displayed? Need one? Buy one during April for 50% off!

According to a preliminary estimate of birth records, conducted by the National Center of Health Statistics and released on March 18, 2009, more babies were born in America in 2007 than at any other time in history.

Keynote Addresses by Judy Shepard and C. Adolpho Bermeo from the 2009 ACA Conference & Exposition in Charlotte, NC

How counselors are helping their clients cope with the economic downturn was of interest to media outlets in Charlotte. The general topic of finding jobs and the work of career counselors was the focus of all but one of the interviews. A segment focused on Keynote speaker Judy Shepard also aired.

ACA wishes to congratulate the winners of the most recent ACA, Division, and Western Region Elections.

ACA is pleased to announce that Dr. Marcheta Evans has been elected to serve as the Association's 59th President. Dr. Evans has served as a volunteer leader at the state, regional, division, and national levels and has been dedicated to the profession and our organization for a number of years.

Topics have just been announced for the ACA Foundation's annual Graduate Student Essay Contest, open to all graduate students in counseling or related programs. The first place winner will receive $500, and five winning essays will appear in Counseling Today. Writers select one of two topics and submit up to 750 words. This year's contest deadline is May 1, 2009.

People to People and The American Counseling Association are pleased to announce a unique overseas cultural and professional exchange opportunity. Dr. Jane Goodman, a past ACA president, will lead a delegation of professional counselors to China and Tibet from May 25 – June 6, 2009.

Once again, we have come to the conclusion of the annual ACA Graduate Student Ethics Competition! The winners are...

20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling is a major professional initiative co-sponsored by ACA and the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB).

ACA is now providing *eligible ACA student members with professional liability ("malpractice") insurance. ACA Student membership now includes liability insurance for those 'enrolled and engaged in a master's degree counseling curriculum at a post secondary institution'.

Please take a few moments to review the 2008 Year-In-Review special report which highlights accomplishments of your association over the past twelve months. The report also outlines several new benefits you will receive in 2009 in the section entitled: "Preview of 2009: More New Benefits for ACA Members."