In an effort to bring American Counseling Association members more complete information about the ACA presidential candidates, Counseling Today is pleased to introduce the four individuals running for the association’s top leadership position.
Each candidate was asked to provide information for four questions. This month, they answer two of those questions. In the November issue, their answers to the two remaining questions will be featured.
Complete information for all four candidates, including biographical information and goals statements, will be featured in the December issue of Counseling Today. That issue will also include biographical information and goals statements for those participating in elections for ACA divisions and regions.
Editor’s note: The following information is printed as it was submitted from the candidates. Counseling Today has edited only for spelling and minor style issues.
There are still thousands of counselors who are not members of the American Counseling Association. How would you reach this broad-based, specialty-driven population?
A. Michael Hutchins: Relationships are critical in our profession. Under my leadership, ACA will expand current relationships and use our advocacy/
multicultural competencies to provide training for mental health professionals and others on local and state levels. We will increase working with our own divisions and regions to build stronger relationships. I will invite colleagues from across disciplines to join us in open discussions of difficult issues exploring a wide range of worldviews. We will collaboratively publish the results of these discussions.
Under my leadership, ACA will become actively associated with a humanitarian cause. I will further develop public policy and legislative training for helping professionals to further ensure parity and the quality of mental health services on all levels. With the assistance of our insurance carrier, the ACA Foundation and other entities, we will publish online and hard copy publications which provide specific skill training and other articles of interest to helping professionals.
We speak of graduate students as being our greatest resource. I will build upon graduate student ideas and energy to move forward in areas such as technology, diversity and connectedness with other professions. Finally, I will support real-time and virtual conferences and meetings involving other professional associations and colleagues across disciplines.
Lynn E. Linde: In order to reach professional counselors who are still not members of ACA, the question must first be asked: Why haven’t they joined? We must first look at the needs of this group and determine what resources and services they would find invaluable and then use that information to tailor a membership outreach campaign. ACA must be viewed as being in the forefront of professional counseling and the membership benefits invaluable in one’s practice setting. This may mean changing the way we package membership and offering more of a menu approach to benefits. Members would then be able to select additional services and resources that best meet their needs. ACA needs immediate name recognition; getting there requires a marketing campaign and outreach efforts so both counselors and the public know what ACA is and does.
A second method of reaching nonmembers is through personal contact. Most of us joined the association because someone invited us to become involved — and, so, we became engaged. We need to continue our personal outreach efforts to nonmembers to invite them to participate at the grassroots, state or national levels, so they too will see the value of belonging to ACA and its entities.
Marcheta P. Evans: Over the past several years, the leadership of this association has worked actively to address the issues of declining membership. Through the development of surveys, focus groups and hiring of membership specialists to investigate the cause of this shift, a multitude of reasons has been reported for this decrease. The question posed is, can we realistically be all things to all professional counselors? I believe we must meet the needs of our broad-based, specialty membership by tackling the issue of declining membership through multiple creative approaches. These ideas range from including membership payment options over time, discounts for multiple-year commitments and recruitment of members, and new marketing strategies of the profession via commercials.
We must have a product or experience that our membership finds valuable — one that can meet the needs regardless of specialization. We can no longer expect individuals to join just because their professors told them to join. Yes, our counselor education programs are a critical component to our success. These programs instill a value of professional involvement, but we must find ways to keep the counselors once they are a part of our association by giving them a return on their investments of time and resources. ACA can be that one professional voice for all professional counseling, regardless of specialization.
Michael C. Lazarchick: The majority of members join because someone asked them. Those that stay find value. I joined when a professor passed out membership applications. After 30 years of conventions, my network includes thousands of counselors. Conferences are rejuvenating. Attending workshops or presenting or just conversing expands knowledge. Do you not find comfort in the fact that colleagues with varied interests take actions on committees and in divisions or regions? Their work benefits all counselors personally and professionally. ACA provides the forum that brings these people together. Numbers translate into lower group insurance rates and a louder voice with legislators.
That message, and the messages from all the others who find value, needs to be shared. I would further develop our marketing plan and teach members how to recruit. I would seek to expand ROAR, which rewards members for their efforts, because a primary purpose of ACA is to use its resources to serve members. Holding the belief that participation enhances growth and breaks isolation, I have taken the responsibility to recruit new members. In return, I have received countless testimonials confirming that truth. Sometimes we have to take people by the hand to get them on the dance floor.
One of ACA’s strategic priorities is public awareness. What methods would you recommend to reach external constituencies (e.g., members of Congress and identity-related groups such as AARP or the Alliance on Mental Health)?
Lynn E. Linde: ACA has made tremendous progress over the past
15 years in gaining recognition as an association for professional counselors. But there is still much that needs to be done. A multifaceted approach utilizing members as well as the association is necessary to reach ACA’s external constituencies.
ACA needs to continue its marketing campaign until we have visibility and name recognition. Additionally, we need to continue to develop collaborative relationships with the media so that ACA is perceived as an expert resource to be called upon and quoted when events happen or when information is needed. We need to continue to work with our sister organizations on topics of common interest to solidify our position as representing an important constituency. This will require outreach on our part. We also need to continue our efforts at the local and state levels. Members need support in becoming more adept at marketing themselves and their programs and gaining recognition and public awareness for those things they do. ACA must also provide support for coalition building at the local and state levels. And, lastly, members must continue to increase their public policy efforts at the local and national levels.
Marcheta P. Evans: There have been over the past several years wonderful initiatives developed which need to be further explored to examine the long-range impact on public awareness. One such initiative involved the development of a commercial highlighting the services of counselors as professionals. It was aired in certain markets, and I believe it to be a wonderful achievement for our profession. The community was impressed and saw the work of the profession. As with any attempt to operationalize a strategic plan, there is no one set way to accomplish this priority. The priority of public awareness must be addressed through all types of print, technology and personal interactions with the audiences in which the association must be engaged.
These include enhancing the training of current membership on grassroots public awareness initiatives and developing professional marketing strategies which specifically target such groups as members of Congress, AARP and the Alliance on Mental Health through print and video mediums, podcasts, webcasts and other technology-related forms of communication.
Michael C. Lazarchick: External constituents or their customers have needs. Every time we deliver a service or provide information that addresses one of these needs, we are elevating our image in public awareness. We need to provide congressional staff with information on issues that will help them prepare briefs for their congressperson. We need to submit articles to the AARP Bulletin and similar publications on a regular basis, written by counselors, for general public consumption. We need to submit links to articles written by counselors that support information found on fact sheets published by the Alliance for Mental Health. Of course, we need to use every type of media outlet and understand that we are limited only by the extent of our imagination. How quickly would our penetration level rise in public consciousness if Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation) made a public service announcement?
Most important, we are among the most educated people on this planet and are in a very noble occupation. We need to share our knowledge and skills at every opportunity. When we serve other humans, fight injustice, respond to tragedy and take actions to heal our planetary community, we are creating our image in public consciousness.
A. Michael Hutchins: ACA has collaborative relationships with many other organizations. Under my leadership, ACA will create a networking map to explore the next steps in coalition building. Using emerging technology, I will expand dialogue with groups who have common concerns and passions to share expertise, vision and strategies.
As ACA president, I will actively explore our emerging relationships with worldwide colleagues. Some of our entities work collaboratively to train counselors in other parts of the world. We must continue to do so. Working with the International Association for Counselling, I will encourage collaborative visioning, participation and action.
We must share the energy and creativity of our graduate students and emerging professionals by participating in collaborative efforts across disciplines. By working with our credentialing and training associations, I will encourage cross-discipline training. On a local level, we will actively work with branches to provide relevant training and work with community organizations on local concerns affecting our clients and their communities.
ACA will continue to develop close relationships with the “press” on local, state and national levels. Through our scholarship and leadership, we will become the “go to” organization in specific situations, publicly being acknowledged in the media. We will become an NPR sponsor.