Counselors Belong at the Table

By Victoria Kress, PhD, LPCC-S, NCC

November 2026

Counselors are passionate about change. We see how injustice, inadequate resources and harmful policies affect people in real time. We know what happens when a family cannot access care, when a child is excluded from decisions about their own life, when insurance practices interrupt treatment or when coun­selors cannot sustain their practices because reimbursement does not reflect the value of their work.

We care deeply, and we have a great deal to say. Increasingly, however, many of those conver­sations happen on social media. Posting can educate others, build community and bring attention to an issue. It can help people feel less alone. But if our advocacy begins and ends with people who already follow us and largely agree with us, it rarely reaches the individuals who write laws, establish regulations and make funding decisions.

Our passion has to travel farther. We need to take it off social media and bring it to legislators and other decision-makers.

Counselors already practice what I think of as “small-A” advocacy every day. We help clients locate resources, collaborate with schools, challenge harmful assumptions and help people understand their rights. These actions matter and can change the direction of a person’s life.

But the patterns we witness in individual lives also call us toward “Big-A” Advocacy: changing the policies, systems and practices that repeatedly create barriers. This may mean speaking with a legislator, participating in a state counseling association, responding to a proposed rule, meeting with an insurer, testifying before a board or helping the public understand who counselors are and what we contribute.

Client advocacy and professional advocacy are intertwined. If we want to advance social justice and expand access to care, the counseling profes­sion must be strong. Counselors must be able to practice our craft, support our families and remain in the communities that need us. Advocating for fair reimbursement, a clear professional identity and sound public policy is also advocacy for clients.

Legislative advocacy can feel intimidating. We may picture advocates as polished speakers or political experts who always know exactly what to say. Many counselors worry that they do not understand the legislative process well enough. Others fear that advocacy is inherently partisan. Some wait until they feel completely prepared before speaking. Unfortunately, perfect confidence rarely arrives before action.

The good news is counselors already have many of the skills effective advocacy requires. We listen carefully. We build relationships. We understand context and resist reducing complex people or problems to simple labels. We ask thoughtful ques­tions and translate complicated information into language others can understand. We know how to combine head and heart — to bring evidence while never losing sight of the human beings represented by the data.

Advocacy is not synonymous with partisanship. It is helping decision-makers understand how their choices affect clients, counselors and communities. Policymakers cannot fully understand the conse­quences of mental health legislation, insurance rules, school policies or funding decisions if the counselors who experience those consequences remain absent from the conversation.

A social media post may express our position, but lasting advocacy is relational. It involves learning who represents us, understanding what they care about and communicating before an urgent vote is underway. It means following up, offering ourselves as resources and returning to the conversation. One respectful relationship with a policymaker may ultimately accomplish more than a post shared hundreds of times among people who already agree.

You do not need to begin with a national campaign. Start with the injustice or unmet need you cannot stop thinking about. Learn who has the authority to influence it. Sign up for ACA legislative alerts. Connect with your ACA branch or another professional community already engaged in the work. Pair the stories you have witnessed — while carefully protecting confidentiality — with credible evidence. Make one call, write one message, attend one meeting or invite one colleague to join you.

Counselor educators and supervisors also have a responsibility to help emerging counselors develop these skills. Advocacy is not an optional addition to counselor identity. Students can analyze legislation, participate in a Hill Day event and practice explaining the counseling perspec­tive to decision-makers. They should leave our programs prepared not only to sit with a client in pain but also to navigate complex systems and advocate for a more just society.

Leadership is not limited to people with titles, and advocacy is not reserved for experts. Both begin when someone cares enough to act. We cannot allow fear of failure, rejection or imperfection to silence contributions our communities need.

As part of my presidential initiative on legis­lative advocacy, and building off the important work of Past Presidents Christine Suniti Bhat and M. Elsa Soto Leggett, ACA will soon launch a Legislative Advocacy certificate program designed to give counselors the knowledge, practical skills and confidence to take their passion directly to policymakers.

Counselors belong at the table. Our clients, our communities and our profession need more than our passion. They need us to carry that passion into the rooms where decisions are made.