Gratitude, Reflection and Progress

By Christine Suniti Bhat, PhD, LPC, LSC

May 2025

In my final column, I’d like to begin with gratitude for the opportunity to serve as the elected president of ACA. Thank you so much for your faith in me! Thank you for being counselors, counselors-in-training and counselor educators. Thank you to ACA staff for the many ways you make our association stronger and thank you for supporting me. Thank you to the clients and consumers of our services for your courage and fortitude as you address the life issues that bring you into counseling.

I experienced a personal loss this year, and it reminds me how important it is for us to care for ourselves as we care for others. My mother, Anne Janet Elizabeth Moses, passed away at age 98 on Jan. 31 in India. I am grateful that I was able to be with her during her last days. I miss my daily phone calls with her and the wisdom and encouragement she provided to me and my family. I hope all of us can age as gracefully as she did and be a blessing to others.

I wanted to spend a little time reflecting on the year and celebrating successes. The Counseling Compact continues to make outstanding progress with 37 states and the District of Columbia having joined. This amazing progress could not have happened without ACA’s financial support as the sole funder at the outset, committing $600,000. Further, ACA has agreed to spend up to $1.2 million for the creation and implementation of the database and support for the first several years of the Compact Commission. The Compact Commission expects to be able to grant privileges in compact states by the end of summer 2025, and we continue to actively engage the remaining states in discussions about the value of joining the compact.

I began the year with three presidential initiatives focusing on the mental health and wellness of children and youth; research that strengthens the evidence base of the work we do as counselors; and advocating for our profession and strengthening our professional counselor identity.

I am delighted the ACA Certificate in Counseling Interventions and Evidence-Based Treatment for Specific Issues with Children and Youth received a wonderful response from members. As I wrote this column in early March, nearly 10,000 members had signed up to access eight one-hour virtual sessions delivered by leading experts in counseling. Members will earn one continuing education credit for each of the one-hour sessions, and those who complete all eight sessions will earn the ACA certificate. The ACA certificate sessions are complimentary for members until my term as president ends on June 30. After that, they will be available for a nominal cost. It’s not too late to sign up for this program — if you haven’t started, you have almost two months to complete the sessions at no charge. Access more information and sign up.

The ACA certificate program would not have been possible without the support of our leading experts who shared their time and expertise with us. A very big thank you to Drs. Michael Chaney, Stephanie Dailey, Amanda Evans, Amanda Giordano, Emily Goodman-Scott, Maria Haiyasoso, Lisa Hinkelman, Victoria Kress, Victoria Stone and Cirecie West-Olatunji. I am also very grateful to ACA staff who supported this initiative.

My second presidential initiative is a work in progress. In March, I launched a call for research projects that focus on evidence-based and evidence-informed research. I hope the counseling profession can continue to build a research base that supports our practice. Research conducted by counselors and published in counseling journals is essential for the vitality of our profession.

My third presidential initiative is related to advocacy, both for our clients and our profession. I urge each of us to become involved in advocacy. ACA’s Government Affairs and Public Policy team leads the way and can educate us and help us understand the issues. Your membership supports ACA’s ability to consult with advocacy experts and lobbyists in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the profession, but it is our responsibility to make our voices heard, to contact our legislators, to mobilize and to inspire each other to stand up for what we believe in. Our state branches also have legislative committees, so there are many ways to become involved.

This year as president, I had amazing opportunities to connect with counselors around the country and in various parts of the world. The professionalization of counseling continues to evolve, and the need for a strong professional counselor identity is being expressed also within international organizations. Internationally, I started my year as president by delivering a keynote at the International Association for Counselling’s conference in Italy; I also delivered keynotes in Taiwan and Australia and at the World Counselling Conference in Malaysia, and I plan to end with a keynote presentation in Türkiye.

In the U.S., I had the honor of delivering a keynote at the Louisiana Counseling Association conference and the ACA Midwest Region Leadership Development Academy, and I attended the Florida Counseling Association conference, to name a few. It was heartening to meet with dedicated, passionate counselors and with bright, inspiring counselors-in-training.

My experiences this year leave me with a sense of hope that counseling will continue to thrive as a profession. Thank you to all the wonderful, altruistic and skilled people who are part of our profession and thank you for the work you do. Be proud of who you are and stand tall as counselors! It has been the honor of my life to serve as your ACA president.