Dear VA legislators:

Being a professional counselor, counselor supervisor and educator for several decades, I STRONGLY OPPOSE the proposed CACREP "only" legislation for the licensure for LPCs.  This CACREP “only” is a bad law for many reasons:

1. CACREP is not the “only” body accrediting the quality of a counseling program.  Another current counseling accreditation body is Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC) and its accredited counseling programs include institutions such as New York University, Fordham University, and University of Massachusetts-Boston.
2. CACREP has been deceiving the legislators and the public that only its accredited counseling programs provide quality training for professional counselors.  However, CACREP represents only a small percentage of institutions offering graduate level professional counseling training to the US citizens. CACREP does not represent American Counseling Association. Many high quality counseling programs offered by prestigious institutions such as University of Pennsylvania, New York University and Harvard University are NON-CACREP accredited.
3. The proposed CACREP only legislation is a BAD law because it LIMITS THE CHOICES of the VA residents and HIJACKS THEIR FREEDOM AND CONSUMER RIGHT to access high quality professional counselors who are graduated from non-CACREP programs.  
4. The proposed CACERP only legislation is a MONOPOLY GAME played by an interest group to exclude high quality counseling training programs and professional counselors who believe in consumer rights and choices. This MONOPOLY LAW will makes counseling services controlled by ONE interest group, resulting in high health care cost and lack of access to professional counselors, especially for those who live in the rural areas.

Therefore I urge the legislators to vote NO to the proposed CACREP only legislation.

Sincerely,

Walter Chung, Ph.D., CRC, LPC, LBS, BCBA-D