To the Virginia licensing board:

As a counselor educator, I join with hundreds of counselors, counselor educators, and members of the public to urge you to vote NO on this misguided proposal.  This proposal represents a Bad Law. It is based on misguided philosophical assumptions. Guild wars have no place in public policy. Professional squabbles hurt the public as it restricts care. The first ethics code was created to stop the effects due to this very same dilemma. A pamphlet war occurred between physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists from 1788-1792 in Manchester England. During this time 3 epidemics occurred and care was drastically restricted. It was estimated that at least 3000 deaths resulted due to this professional battle over identity and access to care. Thomas Percival and John Ferrier were commissioned to create an ethics code to address the events which occurred during those professional battles. All of our current mental health ethics codes are founded on the principles established from that professional fight. Please do not repeat the mistakes from the past.  The state of Virginia is strategically positioned and receives Military families and governmental workers from across the nation which includes members of my family. Virginia residents deserve the right to high level care which this proposal inadvertently restricts.

Some corrections to CACREP disinformation:

• This proposal does not guarantee or improve standards of care. 
• Non CACREP affiliation does Not equate to not accredited.
• CACREP advocates have created a mostly false narrative of a public endangered by poor quality counselor preparation.
• There are no research studies or hard data that demonstrates the superiority of graduates of CACREP accredited programs in comparison to graduates from non-CACREP accredited programs.
• The vast majority of Master’s Level Counseling programs across the nation are non CACREP affiliated and housed at prestigious accredited institutions with high standards.
• MPCAC is an accrediting organization with equally high standards while standing for appropriate Master’s level mental health training. Thus CACREP is not the only accrediting body.

I urge you to vote no on this misguided proposal. Thank you for your consideration.

Michael R. McFee, Psy.D.

Associate Professor

Counseling Psychology Department

Eastern University