What Is Counseling?

According to 20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling, the delegates comprised of 31 counseling organizations agreed upon a unified definition of counseling: Professional counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.

Divisions, Branches, and Regions

There are 20 chartered divisions within the American Counseling Association. These divisions provide leadership, resources and information unique to specialized areas and/or principles of counseling.  ACA has four regions, which serves members in those regions.  Lastly, ACA has 56 chartered branches in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America.  Please click the following links to get more information about ACA's Divisions, Branches, and Regions.

More About ACA

Counseling Today

Multicultural competence: A continual pursuit

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  In the September cover story, prominent figures in the field emphasize that multicultural competence in counseling involves consistent and career-long striving, not a one-time acquisition of knowledge. More

Featured Podcast

Integrated Care: Applying Theory to Practice

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  Dr. Russ Curtis is an LPC and associate professor of counseling at Western Carolina University; where he serves as coordinator of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. Eric Christian is an LPC, a national certified counselor, and has been working as an integrated care coordinator for the past five years.

ACA Achieves Climate Registered Status
After measuring its carbon footprint according to The Climate Registry's best-in-class program, having the information verified by a third-party, and reporting the data on The Registry's website, in 2012 ACA achieved Climate Registered status (view the full list of Client Registered organizations here). Measuring an entity's carbon footprint is the first step toward reducing it. Climate change is contributing to rising sea levels, floods and droughts, and the severity of adverse weather events like Hurricane Sandy.  ACA is continuing its work as a member of The Climate Registry this year, including setting goals for reducing emissions and expanding its emissions inventory.  We are proud to join a wide range of businesses, utilities, governments, and other nonprofits in leading work to address this crucial issue.