National News

In the national elections held earlier this month voters largely kept in place the lawmakers—including President Obama and members of Congress—they currently have. As a result, the nation will continue to operate with the House of Representatives being controlled by Republicans, with the presidency and the Senate in the hands of Democrats. This combination led to gridlock on many policy issues over the past two years, including on legislation to improve Medicare’s outdated benefit package, such as by establishing coverage of mental health services provided by licensed professional counselors. Whether or not there is increased interest in cooperation will become apparent quickly; Congress and the president have only a few short weeks left to try to agree on changes to broad tax increases and deep spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January. This work will set the framework for more detailed spending and policy decisions next year.

One result of the election is that the Affordable Care Act will continue to be implemented. This is good news for counselors as both health care providers and health care consumers. To cite one example, in a little more than a year health plans will be prohibited from discriminating, with respect to plan participation or coverage, against any health care provider who is acting within the scope of that provider’s license or certification. This provision of the Affordable Care Act will help ensure that counselors are treated fairly by health plans.

Continued divided government gives each party effective veto authority over legislation, making bipartisanship a necessity for progress on any issue. ACA has worked consistently and diligently over the years to gain support from members of both political parties for initiatives to expand access to counseling services, and we’ll continue this work. It is clear, however, that the ongoing focus of policymakers onreducing, not expanding, federal spending means that grassroots contacts from counselors will be absolutely essential to our success on the issues we’re working on. Individual contacts—in the constituent’s own words—have much more impact on legislators than visits from paid lobbyists. Members of Congress aren’t going to publicly support increased spending on Medicare (to pay for counselors’ services) or on Department of Education programs (like the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program) unless they know their constituents want them to.

ACA asks counselors to get involved in legislative advocacy. It’s surprisingly easy, and we promise that you’ll sleep better at night, too! For more information on what you can do, contact ACA Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator Art Terrazas at aterrazas@counseling.org, or at 800-347-6647 x242.

Scott Barstow | Director, Public Policy and Legislation

ph 703-823-9800 x234 | 800-347-6647 x234
fx 703-823-0252 | web counseling.org

Counseling Our Troops, Veterans, and Military Families: Cutting Edge Strategies

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Enter the combat zone and see what a deployment is really like…
…and how you can help our troops when they return home

New! ACA’s first webinar series
Counseling Our Troops, Veterans, and Military Families: Cutting Edge Strategies

6 Wednesdays from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
October 24 - November 28
Plus a bonus 7th webinar on December 5

$119 ACA members, $159 nonmembers

Earn 7 CEs
Register Now

This powerful and intensive series will prepare you—or enhance the skills you already possess—for the highly specialized field of military counseling.

The series is not a textbook treatment of trauma or a PowerPoint overview of PTSD. Instead, you will hear from recognized experts in military counseling, including counseling professionals who served tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. These seven presenters are helping professionals who are on the front lines here in the U.S., working every day with returning vets who are trying to get their lives back, find jobs, reconnect with their families, and learn how to cope with debilitating physical injuries and mental trauma.

These presenters see what is working and what is not. Now they want to share their most effective techniques and strategies with you. Because, in many cases, there is no time for a trial and error approach.

Our military clients deserve the very best chance to recover and move forward. And you deserve the very best training that our profession can offer.

Register Today

October 24
Webinar #1: Adapting to Stress: Lessons from Resilient Prisoners of War, Special Forces, and Others

Dr. Southwick will share advice from a number of highly resilient people: former prisoners of war, Special Forces instructors and traumatized civilian men, women, and children. He will talk about resilience, the ability to bend but not break and to bounce back from adversity. As described in his recent book “Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges," Dr. Southwick will discuss resilience as a complex product of genetic, psychological, biological, social, and spiritual factors.

Steven M. Southwick, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Yale Medical School is a recognized expert on extreme psychological trauma. He has worked with combat veterans with PTSD, civilian children and adults with PTSD, prisoners of war, and active duty Special Forces soldiers.

He has published extensively on PTSD treatment and on the neurobiological and psychological factors associated with resilience to stress.

October 31
Webinar #2: What’s Crazy in a Combat Zone? One Soldier/Counselor’s First-Hand Experience

Have you ever wondered what the living conditions are like for today’s troops in a combat zone? What counseling services are available to them while they are deployed? How traumatic brain injuries are being treated in the war zones? What do troops need upon their return? This webinar will allow you to look through the eyes of an enlisted soldier to see what their deployment is really like. You will learn about the duties of an Army Behavioral Health Specialist in a combat zone through photos and retelling of the presenter’s first-hand experiences.

Natosha K. Monroe, MS, has been a Behavioral Health Specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve for almost 12 years. She has deployed to Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan, participated in international humanitarian missions, and served 2 years at the Pentagon.

Her civilian career in psychology has included inpatient mental health care, community counseling, and most recently, research for the FBI.

November 7
Webinar #3: Transforming Trauma Through Energetic Healing

Learn about an energetic healing approach that can be integrated into behavioral health practices to treat survivors of war, PTSD, and other trauma achieve a state of well-being. Clients learn to recognize and allow the body to tell its story, thus releasing the blockages held in the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical body. This unique approach, developed by the presenter, is being used to train behavioral health providers (working with the military) both stateside and in Iraq and Afghanistan via Skype.

Paige Valdiserri, MEd, LPC, NCC, BCETS, RMT, is a professional counselor and an intuitive healing consultant. She is president and CEO of her own counseling, healing, and consulting business where she developed the “Energetic Body Dialogue” approach based on the principles of counseling, Reiki energy work, Yoga, and various other modalities. She also serves as Director of Behavioral Health for the international occupational health firm, Comprehensive Health Service, where she develops and implements integrated behavioral health programs that support the military, government contractors, and families of the deployed.

November 14
Webinar #4: Providing Counseling Support to Returning Veterans

Learn about a successful treatment model designed for professional counselors that will enable you to provide effective therapy to returning combat veterans and their families. The model focuses on wellness, normal human development, and creating a support network for the veteran composed of family, friends, and military colleagues in the workplace.

Colonel (Retired) David Fenell, PhD, completed combat tours in Afghanistan (2002-2003) and Iraq (2006). He served as a Behavioral Sciences Officer, retiring as a Colonel, U.S Army Reserve in 2008. He has extensive experience working with combat veterans and their families and has published and presented nationally on providing counseling support to returning veterans.

Dr. Fenell is a professor of counselor education at the University of Colorado with more than 30 years of experience in preparing professional counselors.

November 21
Webinar #5: Hope for the Future: Career Counseling for Military Personnel and Veterans with Disabilities

When troops return home, many struggle to determine what lies ahead as they transition to a new reality that may be fraught with psychological and physical injuries coupled with the transition from military to civilian life.

Career counselors are uniquely positioned to assist in guiding career decisions in hopes of developing a fulfilling and meaningful future for those who have served. Get an update on the current landscape of military service specifically addressing the wounds of war and the potential impact on the career development of military personnel and veterans. The foundational elements and application of Cognitive Information Processing (CIP), a theory-based approach to career counseling, will be the primary focus of the presentation. After this webinar, you will know how to empower military personnel and veterans to be effective career decision makers.

Dr. Seth Hayden,PhD, NCC, is currently the Program Director of Career Advising, Counseling, and Programming in the Florida State University Career Center. He has in-depth experience providing career and personnel counseling in community agencies, secondary school, and university settings tomilitary personnel and veterans dealing with transitioning from the military to the civilian work force.

He has also worked with those who have experienced various physical and psychological injuries related to their service, assisting them with creating fulfilling and practical career goals for their future.

November 28
Webinar #6: Understanding Military Culture as a First Step in Working with Military Families

By first having an overview of the culture of the military and then understanding the challenges and benefits of living within the military, we can better respond to and assist military families. The program will review some of the major points that are important to understand and then present the impact on family functioning that these dynamics create.

Lynn K. Hall, EdD, LPC, NCC, ACS, is the Dean of the College of Social Sciences at the University of Phoenix. She has spent more than a decade as a counselor at the University of Arizona (Tucson) while having a private practice in marriage and family therapy. She also has experience as a school counselor in Tucson, AZ and in Germany working for the Department of Defense Dependent School Systems.

She is the author of Counseling Military Families and numerous chapters in other books about counseling the military.

December 5
BONUS Webinar #7: Life After the War: Battling with Post Traumatic Stress and Suicide

CSM (Retired) Samuel M. Rhodes will share his unique insights from the front lines and describe PTSD, suicide attempts, and recovery from a client’s perspective.

CSM Rhodes has served in Operation Iraqi Freedom 1, 2, and 3 with a total of 30 months of combat experience. His unit received the Presidential Unit Citation while deployed to Iraq.

He founded Warrior Outreach and is the author of Changing the Military Culture of Silence.

For many of the nation’s veterans, troops, and their families, the wars may end, but the trauma may live on. Register today and learn more about how you can best help them.

In case you were wondering...

What if I miss one or more of the webinars?
No problem, you can watch any/all of the webinars you have missed on-demand after the live event. Sorry but you cannot sign up for single sessions within this series.

How late can I register for the series?
You can register at any time, but registration will close for each live event one hour prior to the event. If you register after one or more webinars have already occurred, you will be able to access the previous webinars on-demand.

When will I receive my password for each event?
An individual password for each live event will be sent to you via email the day before the event. Emails for on-demand webinars will be sent out with viewing instructions at the time of purchase.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Daniel-Burke
Director, Professional Projects and Career Services

P.S. For general questions, email Debbie Johnson at djohnson@counseling.org or Danielle Irving at dirving@counseling.org.

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ACA UPDATE -- TRICARE Contractors Start Certifying Counselors; DoD Rule Amendments Possible‏

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TRICARE contractors are beginning to certify licensed professional counselors as “mental health counselors” eligible for independent practice. Certification is happening pursuant to the requirements established by the Department of Defense (DoD) in a rulemaking that was issued in December of last year. DoD staff indicate that a “final final” version of the rule is being considered, but they have declined to say when this will be released, or what it will look like. In the meantime, the current requirements are being used.

Licensed counselors applying for TRICARE certification in 2015 or later will only be recognized if they have graduated from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), have passed the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Exam (NCMHCE), and have completed 2 years/3,000 hours of post-master’s supervision.

Between now and 2015 counselors can apply for certification under transition period rules, during which degrees from regionally-accredited institutions will be recognized. Counselors applying for certification during the transition period with a regionally-accredited degree must pass the NCMHCE exam. During the transition period, counselors with a degree from a CACREP-accredited program can meet the exam requirement by passing either the NCMHCE or the National Counselor Exam. ACA applauded the inclusion of a transition period, and we strongly encourage all members to seek recognition as soon as possible, especially those who did not graduate from a CACREP-accredited program.

One of the most potentially problematic of the requirements pertains to supervision hours. Many counselors have accumulated supervision hours required for licensure under the supervision of a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker. However, the DoD requirements stipulate that all 3,000 hours of supervision must be provided by a licensed professional mental health counselor. Additionally, the DoD requirements state that supervision hours “must be conducted in a manner that is consistent with the guidelines for supervision of the American Mental Health Counselors Association”; unfortunately, the closest thing to a “guideline” like this is AMHCA’s recommendation that supervision include a ratio of 1 hour of supervision for every 20 hours of on-site work hours, with a combination of individual, triadic, and group supervision. To our knowledge, no licensure board in the country has kept track of such detailed information regarding supervision hours. ACA asked the DoD to simply recognize all supervision hours recognized by counselors’ state licensure board.

We’re working to minimize counselors’ difficulties in becoming certified as mental health counselors within TRICARE, but we can’t respond to problems we don’t know about. Please contact me—at the email address and phone number below—if you have questions regarding the TRICARE certification requirements, or are having problems becoming certified.

We’ve heard from several counselors about how TRICARE contractors are implementing the requirements, but the more information we have, the better we can advocate on this issue. At least one TRICARE contractor is telling counselors that even if they become certified under the transition period rules, they won’t be able to see TRICARE clients beginning in 2015 unless they have a CACREP degree. This is NOT our interpretation of the DoD rule, and we’re working to get this resolved.

Thank you for your work, and for your membership in ACA.

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Scott Barstow | Director, Public Policy and Legislation

ph 703-823-9800 x234 | 800-347-6647 x234
fx 703-823-0252 | web counseling.org

Supreme Court rules on the Affordable Care Act

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This morning the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act, our nation's first attempt to establish a health care system to provide insurance coverage to substantially all citizens, is constitutional. The U.S. is the only developed country in the world with large numbers of uninsured people.

The ruling, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, upheld the individual insurance mandate contained in the Act, but struck down an enforcement mechanism in the law to push States to implement an expansion of Medicaid coverage. Although the Roberts opinion rejected the argument that the individual mandate was defensible under Congress's authority to regulate commerce, it held that the individual mandate to buy insurance could be viewed as a tax, and thus was within Congress's authority to levy taxes.

On Medicaid, the opinion invalidated one of the law's provisions. As enacted, the Affordable Care Act allowed the federal government to withhold both new and existing Medicaid funding from States that do not participate in the Act's Medicaid expansions. The Supreme Court held that this was too severe a penalty, however, and under the court's ruling only new Medicaid funding can be withheld from States that do not comply with the new expansion requirements. The Affordable Care Act expands Medicaid eligibility to all individuals under the age of 65 with incomes below 133% of the federal poverty line, and requires Medicaid programs to cover an essential health benefits package including mental health services. Since the federal government will pay 100% of the cost of the Medicaid expansion through 2016, and at least 90% thereafter, States are still likely to choose to meet the new Medicaid requirements.

Today's Supreme Court ruling allows implementation of the Affordable Care Act to move forward, ending months of uncertainty over the law's fate. ACA has long supported the universal expansion of health insurance coverage in the U.S., and applauds the Court's ruling. The ruling is also being hailed by a wide array of health and mental health consumer and provider organizations as a key victory in the fight to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance, and increase Americans' access to mental health services.

Scott Barstow
Director of Public Policy & Legislation
American Counseling Association
ph 703-823-9800 x234 | 800-347-6647 x234
www.counseling.org

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