The erroneous misconception that CACREP is the only accreditation body capable of designing or judging a rigorous counseling program is discriminatory, shortsighted and without merit. There are many universities in the nation that are recognized by regional and national accreditation bodies that have programs that are far better or at least as good as the standards put out by CACREP.

By discriminating against the students who attended those schools, you deprive the community of some of the best and most experienced therapists in the country.  You also heavily lean into age discrimination.  When I attended my Masters in Counseling Psychology program, my program far exceeded the number of classes and hours that were then required by CACREP,  which was a fledgling organization trying to corner the market in counseling education accreditation. They've largely succeeded in doing that by putting forth the notion that their programs produce "more ethical" and better educated counselors. That is simply untrue.  The behavior of the ACA during a recent election where they shut down pre-election comments is indicative of a group who wants to silence the majority of all counselors who graduated before CACREP even existed. CACREP, ACA and NBCC seem to have worked together in a highly questionable way, by structuring tests and counselor demographic/opinion/practice questionnaires in such a way as to diminish well educated and highly skilled, respected and qualified therapists. It's my understanding that one of the NBCC licensing tests was recently pulled because it lacked the normative, rigorous research required for standardized tests.  It's also my understanding that a recent head of NBCC was asked to step down because of highly unprofessional conduct and that the NBCC actually lost its ability to accredit continuing education programs for a time.  The 3 aforementioned entities seem to have set up a "you scratch my back..." arrangement that enriches them all, reduces educational choice, deliberately controls outcomes on testing and that attempts to shut out the majority of counselors in the field today.  

The ACA recently had an opportunity to break the glass ceiling of getting Masters level counselors approved by the VA, which we all know is serving combat veterans who are killing themselves at never before seen rates because they don't have adequate access to mental health care in a timely manner.  For most of modern history the VA only used Social Workers, who practice counseling but are not trained as counselors. There is some overlap in skillset but the training, almost complete lack of psychological theory classes, and basic theoretical foundations are entirely different.  Given this marvelous opportunity to improve the conditions for veterans everywhere, the ACA struck a deal with the VA that excluded all of the older,  most experienced counselors in favor of CACREP trained counselors, who again, do not represent the majority or the best.  I believe this was yet another self-serving move to corner the market in counseling education. 

I believe the attempt to punish and exclude non-CAPREP counselors, constitutes violation of anti-trust laws.  Discriminating against non-CACREP therapists violates anti-age discrimination laws and possibly violates the rights of faith-based colleges and their graduates since CACREP promotes positions that are not necessarily shared by faith-based counselors. Such colleges should feel free to pursue regional accreditation and opt out of CACREP without diminishing their students' ability to make a living.