CACREP programs were just getting started when I was in graduate school, I started graduate school in 2009. The school I went to was CACREP aligned and I had to meet the same educational requirements that were required by CACREP, at that time.

In order to get licensed you have to show proof that you took specific courses. That means if a counselor has all the required courses (60 credits) to get a license then they are qualified whether they went to a CACREP accredited school or not. Clinicians that have 60 credits and 3 years of experience have the same qualifications regardless of whether the program was accredited by CACREP.

Clinicians with more experience shouldn't be excluded because they did graduate school before CACREP was a thing. It doesn't make us less qualified clinicians. We have also done more training since licensure.