I’m very excited to announce that my application to become a member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) has officially been approved. (C’mon you’ve got to celebrate the wins my friends!)
But what does this actually mean to consumers of counselling services? I’m glad you asked. You see, counselling isn’t a regulated profession, yet. This means that any Tom, Dick, or Harry could get an ABN and say “Hey I’m a counsellor, I’ll sort ya out maaaaate” – yikes! However, the ACA has been established to protect consumer wellbeing from rogue operators. To be eligible to become an ACA member counsellors must have at least completed an accredited qualification. To maintain membership, we all must uphold the ACA’s Code of Ethics and Practice and keep our minds fresh by undertaking hours upon hours of ongoing professional development and supervised practice.
In addition to my ACA approved counselling qualification, I’ve also completed a bachelor of social science, specialising in psychology, and am on the cusp of completing a bachelor of psychology with honours – bring on October 2024! As a part of the honours program I was the lead researcher on a project in 2023 that explored the emotional wellbeing of parents who have children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The paper that I authored for the research project was awarded firs class honours and praised for being “an extremely valuable project”.
Okay, I’ll stop celebrating/pumping up my own tires. (That’s a matter of reader perspective but perhaps I’ll do a blog on bragging one day, it’s actually quite an interesting interpersonal phenomenon.) Don’t mind me as I get a little side tracked, the point is: do your research. Satisfy yourself that the counsellor you want to engage with isn’t some random Tom, Dick, or Harry.
Felicitations 😊✌️