Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Health Professions
 
Board
Board of Counseling
 
chapter
Regulations Governing the Practice of Professional Counseling [18 VAC 115 ‑ 20]
Action Requirement for CACREP accreditation for educational programs
Stage Proposed
Comment Period Ended on 7/14/2017
spacer
Previous Comment     Next Comment     Back to List of Comments
7/14/17  9:51 am
Commenter: Rebecca Bivens, Appalachian Area Agency on Aging

Oppose CACREP-only Regulations
 
My name is Rebecca Bivens. I am a 2009 alumnus of Radford University's Clinical Psychology master's degree program and I urge you to OPPOSE the proposed CACREP-only regulations. After graduating from Radford’s psychology program, I attempted to become a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Virginia so that I could continue in my chosen career. However, when I submitted my application, I was very surprised to learn that I had been rejected. In the rejection letter I received, the exact wording was as follows: "1. Specifically, the graduate level program you enrolled in does not have an expressed intent to prepare counselors; 2. There is not an identifiable counselor training faculty; and 3. The coursework on your transcript does not meet the core content criteria of the educational requirements set forth by Regulations as there is not a sequence of academic study with the expressed intent to prepare counselors." I did not understand why graduates from the same program at Radford had been considered qualified to earn the LPC in all years prior to 2009, and why I was no longer deemed eligible in 2009. The program had not changed but the Board’s criteria for determining eligibility apparently had. Due to this rejection, I was forced to rethink my career path and so decided to return to school. I was accepted into Virginia Tech's Human Development department and earned my Ph.D. Although this career change has been positive, it was a financial and time-consuming hardship for me and many others who anticipated launching careers as counselors. I urge you to OPPOSE the proposed CACREP-only regulations that would prevent many qualified mental health professionals from LPC eligibility in Virginia, as it prevented me in 2009. There is no reason to exclude well qualified graduates from Clinical and Counseling Psychology programs geared toward training mental health professionals from being LPC eligible. Please do not allow Virginia to become a CACREP-only state.
CommentID: 60805