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The American Counseling Association (ACA) is a membership organization representing licensed professional counselors (LPCs), counseling students, and other counseling professionals in the United States. It is the world's largest association exclusively representing
The group was founded in 1952 as the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA), formed by the merger of the National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA), the National Association of Guidance and Counselor Trainers (NAGCT), the Student Personnel Association for Teacher Education (SPATE), and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). The American Personnel and Guidance Association changed its name to the American Association of Counseling and Development (AACD) in 1983.
On July 1, 1992, the association adopted its current name.
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...
counselors.
Its stated mission is to "enhance the quality of life in society by promoting the development of professional counselors, advancing the counseling profession, and using the profession and practice of counseling to promote respect for human dignity
Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inaliena ...
and diversity".
The association headquarters is located in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
.
History
The group was founded in 1952 as the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA), formed by the merger of the National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA), the National Association of Guidance and Counselor Trainers (NAGCT), the Student Personnel Association for Teacher Education (SPATE), and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). The American Personnel and Guidance Association changed its name to the American Association of Counseling and Development (AACD) in 1983.
On July 1, 1992, the association adopted its current name.
Branches and divisions
There are 20 chartered divisions within the American Counseling Association.Publications
ACA publishes books, journals and other educational materials on counseling topics. The organization's flagship magazine, ''Counseling Today'', is published once a month and sent to all ACA members via U.S. mail.2017 conference
In 2016, ACA moved its 2017 San Francisco Conference & Expo from Nashville, Tennessee to San Francisco, California after Tennessee's legislature passed a bill, HB 1840/SB 1556, targeting members of the LGBTQ community and others. The bill allowed counselors in Tennessee to turn clients away based on "strongly held principles". The ACA stated that the legislation "denies services to those most in need, targets the counseling profession, and violates the ACA's code of ethics".References
External links
* {{authority control Academic organizations based in the United States Mental health organizations in Virginia 1952 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1952 Organizations based in Alexandria, Virginia