As an art therapist living in Virginia who is licensed in DC and Maryland, I urge you to not phase out licensure for applicants from non-CACREP programs.  Please continue to put the mental health needs of the citizens of Virginia first.  Competent and ethical counselors and art therapists who provide reasonably priced services are already hard to find here.  Meanwhile, experienced counselors who live in Virginia are practicing elsewhere, such as the District of Columbia and Maryland, because licensure in Virginia is difficult to attain by application or by reciprocity. 

Adding the CACREP requirement will make getting a license in Virginia even more difficult; in fact, it will render it impossible for seasoned counselors and art therapists.  This will mean a further loss of services for the Dominion’s citizens and a loss of the potential vitality of income from counseling practices.

Respectfully, I ask that you not confuse change with improvement.  There is no evidence of which I am aware that excluding non-CACREP programs will raise the level of competency of professional counselors, nor protect Virginia consumers more fully.  A significant number of art therapists have gained licensure in Virginia as professional counselors under the current regulations with no known disciplinary action brought against them.  Also, the CACREP change will not result in larger number of counselors to meet the needs of Virginia’s large military and veteran population.  Art therapists currently provide exemplary services through Tricare and the Veterans Administration, but the CACREP rule will prevent them from providing services.

I thank you on behalf of the many Virginians of all ages with serious emotional conditions.