Hello Norbel~
This is an interesting topic, but one that is really a matter of
opinion. That said, I’ll try to give both sides of the argument, and
conclude with a few personal opinions based on my experience as a
Christian.
Interestingly the American Counseling Association begins its
description of its role in the world this way: “Professional
associations serve many functions …These include providing a vehicle
for their members to: (a) share knowledge; (b) set educational,
training and ethical standards; and (c) provide advocacy for the
advancement and credibility of the professions they represent.”
Notice that they do not mention “protecting the public.”
However, they do go on to say, “Since legislators cannot be expected
to know enough about all the professions that might warrant
regulation, they turn to professional associations for guidance in
establishing requirements and standards to incorporate into laws and
regulations.” (“Counselor Licensure Laws: The Role of the American
Counseling Association,” by Harriet L. Glosoff,
http://ericcass.uncg.edu/creden/glosoff.html )
This article continues by correctly pointing out that while licensing
organizations may be new, the idea that certain professionals must
pass some sort of “test” before they practice is not. “As early as the
13th century, physicians were required to meet certain educational
standards and be licensed to practice medicine,” Glosoff points out.
However, she then goes on to say that such early practices were at
least partially designed to restrict the number of new professionals
entering the field. She then states that The American Counseling
Association does not seek to do this.
On the other hand, The Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists
openly says, “The purpose of the Board is to protect the public by
setting standards for the practice of professional counseling and
LIMITING THE USE OF THE Certified Professional Counselor, Licensed
Clinical Professional Counselor, Certified Marriage and Family
Therapist, Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified
Professional Counselor-Alcohol and Drug, Licensed Clinical Alcohol and
Drug Counselor, Certified Associate Counselor-Alcohol and Drug, and
Certified Supervised Counselor-Alcohol and Drug.” (“About Board of
Professional Counselors and Therapists,”
http://www.dhmh.state.md.us/bopc/html/about.htm , EMPHASIS mine)
To be fair, licensing does ensure that a certain number of quacks do
not enter the field legitimately. In that sense, licensing *does*
protect the public. However, the protection is limited. There’s no way
a single licensing group (or even multiple groups) can pick out all
the wheat from the chaff. We’ve probably all known licensed
physicians, counselors, etc. who had no business practicing.
Most licensing groups say something along these lines: “Our mission is
to protect the public by …promoting high standards of professional
performance of those engaged in the practice…” (“Welcome,” State of
Nevada Board of Examiners for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors,
http://alcohol.state.nv.us ) Some licensing groups are more effective
at trying to educate their members than others. Such “educational
opportunities” are helpful to those who truly wish for excellence in
their work, but any member can choose to ignore most of this education
very easily, if they chose to.
The best way that licensure seems to “protect” the public appears to
be with regard to court cases. “Licensure protects the public by
allowing the public legal recourse to state licensing boards when
practitioners have committed malpractice or engaged in unethical
behaviors.” (“Professional Credentialing and Organizations,” SD State
University, as found in this Google temporary cache:
://www.google.com/search?q=cache:qHBlsokUqbQJ:www.sdstate.edu/wedc/http/credentials.htm+licensure+protects+public+counselors&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
)
I would like to believe that all churches are run by perfectly honest,
well-intentioned, and kind people…but nobody is perfect, including
Christians. In recent years, there have been many cases of churches
and pastors gone amuck, and so perhaps the double-supervision of both
church and licensing groups is a good thing. Since Christian
counselors are held to a higher standard than secular counselors,
perhaps the fact that they must held accountable not only to God and
the church, but also to the secular world, is something that will help
them achieve that higher standard.
I hope this helps,
Kriswrite
Research Strategy:
"protect the public" Licensure counselors
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22protect+the+public%22+Licensure+counselors+&btnG=Google+Search
licensure "does not protect" the public
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=licensure+%22does+not+protect%22+the+public&btnG=Google+Search
licensure "does not protect" counselors
http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:_dgEcgjc8bYJ:www.namiscc.org/newsletters/March01/FACT.htm+licensure+%22does+not+protect%22+counselors&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
licensure protects public counselors
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=licensure+protects+public+counselors&btnG=Google+Search |
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