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VA GIVES FULL RECOGNITION TO PROFESSIONAL

COUNSELORS -- New legislation opens the door

for licensed counselors at the VA.

 

 Iraq War veteran visits South Texas War Memorial

 

Story here... http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/
2007/01/06/counselors-gain-full-recognition-by-va/

Story below:

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Counselors Gain Full Recognition by VA

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

In a major step forward for the professional counseling profession, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system will soon be opened up to their professionals.

Until now, the VA has not been able to hire counselors for mental health professional positions at the same pay grade as clinical social workers, nor can licensed professional counselors apply for supervisory positions open to clinical social workers and others.

Now these roadblocks will disappear.

Passage of the legislation — the “Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006,” S. 3421 - follows years of work by American Counseling Association and the American Mental Health Counselors Association to gain recognition of licensed professional counselors within the VA.

Although rehabilitation counselors are recognized within the VA, licensed professional counselors have had only a limited role as mental health providers.

The American Counseling Association has over 42,000 professional members who provide counseling and psychotherapy services to hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.

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Larry Scott

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