I agree that professional counselors need to be on par with social workers and psychologists. having graduated from a Virginia accredited school (jmu) in 1985, I can attest to the fact that that meant nothing at the time (I was in the first group that received a 60 hour Ed.s degree).  "cultural" views from that time prevail today. then as now I cannot work in the jobs that continue to be the sole domain of social work- child welfare, hospital settings that "require" social work degrees. local, state and federal personnel regs are the culprits. what is needed is true equity in professional standards. changing professional accreditation to meet flawed regulations is not the way to make change. it just prepetuates the horribleness. counseling is about change. let us make real change ....for us!