In this issue readers will find:
- Irvin Yalom To Keynote ACA in 2012
- Study Reveals Gender Differences in Mental Illness
- More on Gender: Using Girls' Solution to Fix Boys' Problem
- ACA Leadership Institute: Record Attendance and Lobbying on Capitol Hill
- US Army Wants LPCs for SAP: Immediate Job Openings
- No Time To Be Creative? Register for Sam Gladding's Webinar on Creative Counseling
- Children of Immigrants More Likely To Live in Households Headed by Two Parents
- Call for ACA Awards Nominations: Deadline November 18
- Resources Address Sexting and the Use of Social Media
- What are ACA Members Reading this Summer?
- New Academic Year: Renewed Interest in ACA Student Member Insurance
- New Federal Framework To Serve Tribal Alcohol and Substance Abuse Problems
- JCD Special Issue on Men Proposals Due September 1, 2011
- Mark Your Calendar: Division and Branch Conferences in September, October
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ACA blogs, written by counselors, for counselors:
Irvin Yalom To Keynote ACA in 2012
ACA has just announced that the keynote presentation at the 2012 Conference & Exposition in San Francisco, March 21-25, will be given by Irvin D. Yalom, the highly regarded psychotherapist known for his teachings on group therapy and his personal model of existential psychotherapy. Dr. Yalom is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University. His presentation is scheduled for March 23, 2012. Watch ACAeNews for updates on his topic.
Study Reveals Gender Differences in Mental Illness
A new study published online in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Abnormal Psychology has found that when it comes to mental illness, the sexes are different: Women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression, while men tend toward substance abuse or antisocial disorders. Those conclusions emanated from a study that looked at the prevalence by gender of different types of common mental illnesses.
The researchers also found that women with anxiety disorders are more likely to internalize emotions, which typically results in withdrawal, loneliness and depression. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to externalize emotions, which leads to aggressive, impulsive, coercive and noncompliant behavior, according to the study. The researchers demonstrated that it was differences in these abilities to internalize and to externalize that accounted for gender differences in prevalence rates of many mental disorders.
More on Gender: Using Girls' Solution to Fix Boys' Problem
A blog posted on the Huffington Post by Jack Jennings, President of the Center for Education Policy (CEP), indicates boys and young men have fallen behind in state reading tests and graduation rates from both high school and college. How serious is the problem? CEP found the reading scores of boys trail girls in every state and at every educational level. This slippage comes at the same time that girls and young women have experienced gains in math achievement and in diploma and degree attainment. Jennings uses his blog posting to raise the question of why American education can't use the same things that worked with girls to address the current problem of boys.
ACA Leadership Institute: Record Attendance and Lobbying on Capitol Hill
The largest gathering in the 3-year history of the ACA Institute for Leadership Training brought 140 current and emerging leaders from ACA branches, divisions, and regions to Alexandria, VA in late July. On the agenda were a series of featured presentations and seminars dealing with professional advocacy and promoting an improved public and professional understanding of counseling and the role of the counselor. Participants were also able to network with their peer leaders and to share organizational experiences and successes.
Institute participants also traveled to Capitol Hill to promote such programs as the Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act and the Elementary and Secondary Counseling Program, as well as other legislative initiatives that could have an impact on the profession and the clients served by professional counselors. The ACA contingent got to experience a hot and humid city during a time of heated debate over deficit reduction and the raising of US debt ceiling.
In assessing the impact of the event, President Don W. Locke stated: "The Institute had excellent grassroots participation with 45 states, all regions, and 16 divisions represented. The planned goals of encouraging, sharing, mentoring, and networking were evident throughout. While the long range effects of the advocacy activities undertaken during the "Day on the Hill'" remain to be determined, the initial feedback appears extremely positive. I am encouraged by the enthusiasm of leaders at all levels of the ACA structure."
Executive Director Rich Yep added: "Each year, I am more and more impressed with the quality of the programming and the leaders who attend. I was pleased that President Locke was able to find the funds to support the states that needed additional help, and I am grateful for the work of the ACA Region Leadership teams who help organize such a successful event."
Next year's Leadership Institute is tentatively scheduled for July 25-28, 2012.
US Army Wants LPCs for SAP: Immediate Job Openings
On July 26, 2011, Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh signed Army Directive 2011-09, Employment of Licensed Professional Counselors as Fully Functioning Army Substance Abuse Program Practitioners. This directive authorizes "the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) to employ licensed professional counselors and licensed mental health counselors as independent practitioners with a well-defined scope of practice."
The directive also establishes credentialing and privileging standards for licensed counselors who seek employment through ASAP.
You may recall that the Department of Defense had been charged by Congress with issuing regulations by June 20, 2011 to let LPCs practice independently within the TRICARE program. We have been told that the Army SAP directive is a temporary policy that allows counselors to practice independently until the TRICARE regulations are completed. The final TRICARE regulations may—or may not—include the same requirements as the Army SAP directive. ACA, NBCC, and AMHCA continue to urge the Department of Defense to adopt broad TRICARE regulations that recognize all qualified professional counselors.
Qualifying counselors who are interested in Army SAP positions should act quickly. The Army is in dire need of more counselors and recently launched a national hiring initiative described
Vacancies are posted
No Time To Be Creative? Register for Sam Gladding's Webinar on Creative Counseling
Counselor educator, author and former ACA President Sam Gladding of Wake Forest University will be conducting a webinar, "Creative Counseling: When You Don't Have Time To Be Creative," on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 1pm EDT.
Participants in Dr. Gladding's webinar will learn:
- Daily habits that can make you more creative
- Ways of thinking that can increase your creativity
- Exercises that can help you assist clients in getting out of ruts and dead end thinking
- A formula for creativity
- The steps in creative processes
- Barriers to creative thinking
- The importance of others and environments in expanding your creative capabilities
The 1-hour webinar will offer 1 CE. Go to
Children of Immigrants More Likely To Live in Households Headed by Two Parents
Research performed by a team of Pennsylvania State University sociologists has found that the intact family structure experienced by immigrant children is likely to lead to economic and social advantages that will help them in adapting to their new American home. The researchers, whose findings were published in The Future of Children, examined the data on family living arrangements for Mexican, southeast Asian, and black immigrant families using the Current Population Survey, a survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2005 to 2009. In each group, children of immigrants were more likely to live in households with two parents than the children of natives.
Call for ACA Awards Nominations
The ACA Awards Committee announces the start of the nominations process for the 2012 ACA National Awards, which will be presented at the ACA Conference & Exposition in San Francisco, March 21-25, 2012. ACA members can nominate one or more members who have made noteworthy contribution to the counseling profession at the local or state levels. ACA divisions/organizational affiliates, branches, chapters, regions, or committees can also submit nominations. All nominations must be postmarked by November 18, 2011.
Complete information is available at www.counseling.org under 'Resources' or you may request a 2012 National Awards Packet by calling ACA Leadership Services at 800-347-6647 x212. Nominations are submitted electronically to Holly Clubb at hclubb@counseling.org.
Resources Address Sexting and the Use of Social Media
A number of resources have emerged recently for parents, educators, and counselors that speak to the growing practice among youth referred to as sexting. In an "all you wanted to know about sexting, but were afraid to ask" feature, the GreatSchools.org website discusses the teen trend and offers some parental guidance in dealing with the problem. In the GreatSchools.org treatise, ASCA past president Russ Sabella offers an expert perspective on the issue. Additional resources on sexting and the use of social media are available at the American Academy of Pediatrics and National Crime Prevention Center websites.
What are ACA Members Reading this Summer?
An informal survey of what ACAeNews readers are reading this summer has revealed an array of titles and subjects. More than 150 readers responded and the following list represents titles relating to the practice of counseling and to an improved understanding of people, their development, the culture, and the issues of the times.
The list reflects the diversity of the ACA membership, as well as the member's interest in diversity issues.
A substantial number of the books were listed by multiple respondents. The editor apologizes to respondents who offered popular (often best selling) titles by popular authors and to those who submitted the textbook lists for their summer classes. Space did permit the listing of all of those titles.
It was interesting to note that the first book listed in the alphabetical list, the ACA Encyclopedia of Counseling, was identified by three different counselors—two of whom stated they were preparing for their licensure and certification exams.
New Academic Year: Renewed Interest in ACA Student Member Insurance
ACA, through an agreement with Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO) and its underwriter, American Casualty Company, is providing eligible ACA student members with professional liability insurance coverage as an additional value-added benefit of membership. Coverage is available to ACA student members solely while performing counseling services related to their master's degree counseling curriculum. Coverage terminates when the student graduates from their master's degree program, or their ACA membership expires. Questions related to this benefit may be addressed to ACA Member Services at 800-347-6647 extension 222.
New Federal Framework To Serve Tribal Alcohol and Substance Abuse Problems
Following a period of collaboration by the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Interior and Justice, the federal government recently announced a new federal framework is being put in place to assist American Indian and Alaska Native communities in achieving their goals in the prevention, intervention, and treatment of alcohol and substance abuse. Called the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, the framework was
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) hopes to eventually provide Tribal Grants to implement the framework, including new work and investments in suicide prevention.
JCD Special Issue on Men Proposals Due September 1, 2011
The Journal of Counseling & Development is inviting submissions for a special issue focusing on Men in Counseling. This special issue welcomes article submissions that address male specific concerns or perspectives on the impact of early childhood conditioning, bullying, role models, career counseling, fathering, intersection of masculinity and other cultural identities, couples counseling, social justice work with men, men and depression/anxiety, addictions, and strength-based work with men. Articles should be practice-based, theoretical, and empirical works, including single case studies, qualitative studies, and quantitative research. Interested scholars and practitioners are invited to send proposals of original manuscripts.
The following information should be included in the proposals:
- Title
- Abstract (one-to-two page summary of the proposed manuscript).
- Conceptual manuscripts: Detailed outline of the manuscript.
- In one page, indicate specifically how the author(s) will (a) contribute to the professional counseling knowledge base, (b) address how this article relates to one or more of the identified goals for the special issue, and (c) address implications for practice for professional counselors.
- Indicate for which section you would like your manuscript to be considered: Theory, Practice, Assessment and Diagnosis, Best Practices.
If the proposal is accepted, authors must follow the JCD Guidelines for Authors. Completed manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by the JCD editorial board, and the editor of JCD will determine final acceptance of manuscripts. Please submit your proposal electronically to Marcheta Evans (Marcheta.Evans@utsa.edu) by September 1, 2011 and direct email questions to her.
Mark Your Calendar: Division and Branch Conferences in September, October
September and October are just around the corner and a number of professional conferences are beginning to populate the professional development calendar, including:
Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education
Theme: Assess. Advocate. Create. Empower.
September 8 – 10, 2011
Radisson Fort Worth Fossil Creek, Fort Worth, TX
Louisiana Counseling Association
September 18-20, 2011 (Pre-conference workshops on September 17th)
Baton Rouge Hilton Capitol, Baton Rouge, LA
Kentucky Counseling Association
Theme: Kentucky Counselors: Inspiring Resiliency Every Day
October 11-13, 2011
Galt House & Suites, Louisville, KY
Florida Counseling Association
Theme: Our Foundation, Our Future
October 13-16, 2011
Embassy Suites, Orlando Lake Buena Vista (Kissimmee), Orlando, FL
Montana Counseling Association
Theme: Improving Professional Resiliency
October 14-16, 2011
Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, Fairmont, MT
Pennsylvania Counseling Association
Theme: Creativity in Counseling
October 21-23, 2011
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College, PA
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
Theme: Leading the Leaders, Helping the Helpers, Shaping the Future
October 26 – 30, 2011
Gaylord Resort and Convention Center, Nashville, TN
ACA divisions, branches, and regions are valuable sources of learning and professional development. Information on events will be posted approximately 8-10 weeks prior. This information is made available to ACAeNews via the ACA master calendar and the various organization web sites. Send calendar items to dbrown@counseling.org. Please provide the sponsor, dates, theme, site, and contact person information. Information posted here is restricted to that sponsored by ACA divisions, branches, regions and related organizations.
About ACAeNews
ACAeNews is published 24 times annually by the American Counseling Association for the benefit of members across the counseling profession. Any reference to a product, service, activity or listing of a website in ACAeNews does not imply endorsement by ACA. Any views and opinions are those of the sponsoring organization and may or may not be shared by ACA.
Past editions can be found
Direct comments, questions, and submissions to fburtnett@counseling.org. All submissions will be subject to review by ACA for accuracy, timeliness, and relevance to the readership and may be edited to meet space parameters.
Don W. Locke, President
locke@mc.edu
Richard Yep, CAE, Executive Director
ryep@counseling.org
Debra Bass, Director of Marketing and Communications
dbass@counseling.org
Frank Burtnett, NCC, NCCC, ACAeNews Editor
fburtnett@counseling.org
Don Kenneally, Internet Development / Production
dkenneally@counseling.org
ACA Web site: www.counseling.org
Copyright 2011, American Counseling Association, 5999 Stevenson Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22304. Telephone: 703/823-9800. Email: fburtnett@counseling.org. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce anything contained in this newsletter as long as the American Counseling Association is identified as the original source of the information.
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