Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Health Professions
 
Board
Board of Counseling
 
chapter
Regulations Governing the Practice of Professional Counseling [18 VAC 115 ‑ 20]
Action Changes resulting from periodic review
Stage NOIRA
Comment Period Ended on 9/18/2019
spacer
Previous Comment     Next Comment     Back to List of Comments
9/16/19  1:08 pm
Commenter: Kelly Tyler

Strongly Oppose!
 

Your proposal implies that licensed counselors who graduated from programs accredited by CACREP are better prepared for practice than licensed counselors who graduated from programs that are not accredited by CACREP. I strongly urge you to re-evaluate this. There is no empirical evidence to prove that this is true. As a student in a fairly new program at Becker College in Massachusetts (that is in line with CACREP standards), you would be contributing to an (already) concerning shortage of mental health professionals. This could create a ripple effect leading to further clinician burnout and increasingly problematic decreases in clinician availability to address the increasing need for mental health services in the United States. It's simply ludicrous to assume that lack of accreditation by CACREP means lack of experience. Please focus your efforts on license portability instead to ensure that licensure can be transferred from state to state.

CommentID: 76181