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The History and Development of Professional Preparation StandardsUnfortunately, the United States is cluttered with bogus “institutions of higher learning” that issue master’s and doctor’s “degrees” that are not worth the paper they are printed on and that can even get you into legal trouble if you attempt to proffer them as legitimate credentials. . . . Avoid these rip-offs as you would the plague. (Keith-Spiegel & Wiederman, 2000, p. 53)Mental health professionals often have responsibilities that heavily impact the lives of others, many of whom are exceptionally vulnerable. Shoddy or inept training could cause you, even inadvertently, to harm people. One mechanism of ensuring good training is through accreditation of programs. Some of the fi rst programs to offer training standards that would eventually lead to accreditation were in social work during the early part of the twentieth century—soon to be followed by psychology programs in the mid-1940s (Morales, Sheafor, & Scott, 2012; Sheridan, Matarazzo, & Nelson, 1995). Few then realized that today there would literally be hundreds of accredited programs offering graduate training in counseling, social work, couples and family therapy, and psychology. Although starting a little later than the fi elds of psychology and social work, within the past 30 years the counseling fi eld has made great strides in its efforts toward accreditation.The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP): A Short HistoryThe acronym CACREP is a mouthful to say. . . . In fact, without the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, counseling would be far less credible as a profession compared to other human service fi elds that have such an agency. (Sweeney, 1992, p. 667) Although the idea of having standards for counselor education programs can be traced back to the 1940s (Sweeney, 1992), it was not until the 1960s that such standards began to take form with the adoption of training standards for elementary school counselors, secondary school counselors, and student personnel workers in higher education (Altekruse & CHAPTER 3 Standards in the Profession 81Wittmer, 1991). Soon, ACES began to examine the possibility of merging these various standards into one document entitled the Standards for the Preparation of Counselors and Other Personnel Service Specialists (Altekruse & Wittmer, 1991; Sweeney, 1995). Although the Standards were being unoffi cially used as early as 1973, it was not until 1979 that APGA (now ACA) offi cially adopted them, and in 1981 APGA created the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), a freestanding incorporated legal body that would oversee the accrediting process (Brooks & Gerstein, 1990). Adoption of the CACREP standards started slowly, and they have gone through a number of revisions prior to taking on their most recent form, which went into effect in January of 2009. Today they are considered to be the standard to which all counseling programs should strive (see CACREP, 2010a). Considering the vast number of changes that most programs have to make and the amount of time that it takes to implement such changes, it is a tribute to CACREP that 242 of the approximately 500 institutions that offer counseling programs oversee 579 accredited programs in a number of specialty areas (Urofsky, personal communication, March 5, 2010). An additional 35 programs are now applying for accreditation (CACREP, 2010b), and with New York State and California fairly recently obtaining licensure for counselors, it is likely that there will be a push in those states to accredit additional counseling programs. As you might guess, all evidence seems to indicate that the there will be continued expansion of the number of CACREP accredited programs. It is probably not surprising that accreditation of counseling problems has quickly spread, as the benefi ts are many (Bahen & Miller, 1998; McGlothlin & Davis, 2004; O’Brien, 2009; Schmidt, 1999): • Students who graduate from accredited programs study from a common curriculum, are generally more knowledgeable about core counseling issues, and usually participate in more intensive and longer fi eld work experiences. • Accreditation often becomes the standard by which credentialing bodies determine who is eligible to become certifi ed or licensed. • Accreditation bodies offer the impetus for setting and maintaining high standards. • Accreditation almost always results in improved programs. • Administrators and legislators are often more willing to provide money to maintain the high standards of accredited programs. • Those who graduate from accredited programs generally have better job opportunities. • Accredited programs will often attract better faculty. • Accredited programs will often attract better students. Although some have argued that accredited programs can limit creativity, are too costly, and delimit what can be offered, it is clear that CACREP is here to stay.A Quick Overview of the CACREP Standards Today, CACREP offers standards for the doctoral degree in counselor education and for the master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling (54 credits until July 1, 2013, thereafter 60 credits), school counseling (48 credits), student affairs and college counseling (48 credits), career counseling (48 credits), addiction counseling (60 credits), and marriage, couple, and family counseling (60 credits) (CACREP, 2010c). In some counseling programs you will find accredited master’s degrees in counseling listed under related names (e.g., community counseling) as those programs were accredited under previous standards. As their accreditation periods runout, they will either become re-accredited under one of the new names or disband the program. For all master’s programs seeking CACREP accreditation, the standards delineate a variety of requirements within three primary areas: The Learning Environment, which sets minimal standards for structure and evaluation of the institution, the academic unit, faculty and staff; Professional Identity, which specifi es foundations of the program (e.g., mission statement and objectives) and delineates content areas that should be learned by students (i.e. professional orientation and ethical practice, social and cultural diversity, human growth and development, career development, helping relationships, group work, assessment, and research and program evaluation); and Professional Practice, which specifi es supervisor qualifi cations and requirements for fi eld work experience that include 100 hours of practicum and 600 hours of internship. Similar types of guidelines are also given for doctoral level programs in counselor education. In addition to these common standards, each specialty area has additional standards that must be met. For instance, clinical mental health counseling requires student learning in the following areas: foundations; counseling, prevention, and intervention; diversity and advocacy; assessment; research and evaluation; and diagnosis. School counseling requires all the same areas with the exception of diagnosis and with the addition of academic development, collaboration and consultation, and leadership. To meet the accreditation standards, most programs fi nd that they need to undertake at least moderate changes. Following the changes, and often while they are being made, a self-study report is written that spells out how the program meets each of the sections of the program standards. This report is then sent along with an application to the CACREP offi ce, which has independent readers review the report. If the report is accepted, then a CACREP team is appointed to visit and review the program and make a fi nal recommendation for or against accreditation. The CACREP accreditation process tends to be long and arduous. Despite this fact, or perhaps because of it, CACREP has become a major force in the preparation of highly trained counselors and will no doubt continue to have an impact on the counseling fi eld.
Other Accrediting Bodies A number of other accreditation bodies set standards in related fi elds. For instance, the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE, 2010) accredits rehabilitation counseling programs. Although CORE and CACREP had discussed the possibility of a merger, such talks fell through and are currently on hold (The CACREP Connection, 2007). In another related fi eld, we fi nd training centers being approved by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC, 2005–2009). These centers do not offer degrees, but do offer training in pastoral counseling. Usually, a pastoral counselor already has obtained his or her degree in counseling, or a related fi eld, prior to going to one of these training centers. In the fi eld of psychology, the American Psychological Association (APA) currently sets standards for doctoral-level programs in counseling and clinical psychology (APA, 2010). The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, 2010) is responsible for the accreditation of both undergraduate and graduate social work programs, while AAMFT’s Commission on Accreditation for Marital and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE, 2002) is the accrediting body for marriage and family therapy programs. Although somewhat in confl ict with CACREP’s accreditation of marriage and family therapy counseling programs, this commission has accredited 107 marriage and family therapy programs in the United States and Canada (COAMFTE, 2010).
CHAPTER 3 Standards in the Profession 83
Credentialing
One method of ensuring that professionals are competent is through accreditation. Another means is through credentialing. Although credentialing in the mental health professions is a relatively new phenomenon, regulating occupations began as far back as the thirteenth century when the Holy Roman Empire set requirements for the practice of me
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