National Board for Certified Counselors

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The National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates (NBCC) is an independent US American certification organization for professional counselors based in Charlotte, North Carolina and with approximately 50,000 members internationally. NBCC's certificates are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).

history

The organization was founded in 1982 on the initiative of the American Counseling Association (ACA) as a non-profit organization. While the ACA then concentrated its further work on training, conferences, publications and relationships with government organizations, NBCC was founded to become active in the field of certification and quality assurance .

Organization and programs

Interim President and CEO of NBCC is (2019) Kylie P. Dotson-Blake. In 2003 NBCC International (NBCC-I) was founded, which maintains close relationships with UNESCO and WHO and aims to promote the quality of counseling in Europe, Asia and Africa. A program developed by NBCC-I is the further training to become a Mental Health Facilitator , which is also offered in Germany.

Offices are located in Argentina , Mexico , Malaysia , Bhutan , Malawi , Bulgaria , Romania , Greece , Cyprus and Germany . The European Board for Certified Counselors has been based in Lisbon since 2008 .

An associate partner of NBCC is the Center for Credentialing and Education , which offers further education and quality assurance programs as well as certificates for other professions and persons without a master's degree, including a. for the Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF), which has also been introduced in Germany.

Certificates

NBCC certified a. a. the National Certified Counselor (NCC). So far, over 40,000 people have acquired this certificate. Prerequisites are u. a. a master’s degree with proof of 3,000 hours of practical experience and 100 hours of clinical supervision as well as an examination. This certificate is a requirement for recognition as a state-licensed counselor in some states. Further certificates exist for the occupational fields of mental health, addiction and school counseling (for paraprofessionals and disaster relief workers, among others, the Mental Health Facilitator certificate).

criticism

Critics complain that a successful certification by the NBCC, in view of the relatively low minimum standards required for this, does not constitute evidence of a special qualification of the counselors and of an increased benefit for their clients. Certification is not necessary in most US states, which have now issued their own admission regulations for counselors. At the beginning of the 1990s, only 8% of the members of the American Counseling Association were also certificate holders of the NBCC, while the majority of its members did not participate in the work of professional associations such as the ACA. The specialization of the certificates offered by NBCC also suggests that they indicate a special training comparable to specialist training, which is not the case. The financial outlay and the composition of the board responsible for certification are also criticized. There are no defined selection mechanisms for board members. The board co-opts its own members and is not responsible to anyone. Suggestions that the NBCC should concentrate its work and financial resources on scientific activities, further training and test development were not accepted, and information on the finances was refused. The price for certification is too high given the limited services of the NBCC.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.nbcc.org/About/Staff
  2. ↑ http://www.nbccde.org Website of NBCC Germany
  3. ↑ http://www.nbccinternational.org/home/about-nbcc-i/about-leadership/field-offices ( Memento from March 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Stephen G. Weinrach, Kenneth R. Thomas: The National Board for Certified Counselors: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. in: Journal of Counseling & Development, Vol. 72, Sept./Oct. 1993, pp. 105-109.
  5. ↑ Stephen G. Weinrach: Some serious and some not so serious concerns about AACD and its journals. In: Journal of Counseling & Development, Vol. 65, 1987, pp. 395-399.

literature

  • TW Clawson, DA Henderson, WK Schweiger: Counselor Preparation 11th edition. Brunner-Routledge, New York 2004.
  • D. Paredes, WK Schweiger, S. Hinkle, S. Kutcher, S. Chehil: The Mental Health Facilitator program: An approach to meet global mental health care needs. Temas Selectos en Orientación Psicológica Vol.III Discapacidad [Selected Topics in Psychological Counseling III Disabilities], 2008, pp. 73-80.
  • TJ Sweeney: Accreditation, credentialing, professionalization: The role of specialties. In: Journal of Counseling and Development. 74 1995, pp. 117-126.

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