Professional Advocacy
and Social Action for Dignity and Empowerment:
Anti-Bullying/Interpersonal Violence Campaign
Thelma Duffey, ACA President
Jen Curry, Anti-Bullying/Interpersonal Violence
Task Force Chair
Heather Trepal, Professional Advocacy
Task Force Chair
COUNSELORS COMING TOGETHER
A YEAR OF GIVING:
TO THE PROFESSION - TO OUR
COMMUNITIES
THROUGH
PROFESSIONAL ADVOCACY
AND
SOCIAL ACTION ADVOCACY
AGAINST BULLYING - ACROSS SETTINGS THROUGHOUT THE LIFE SPAN
COUNSELORS AFFECTING CHANGE THROUGH
CREATIVITY AND COLLABORATION
Impact
“I am only one, but I am
one. I cannot do
everything, but I can do
something. And I will not
let what I cannot do
interfere with what I can
do.”
-Edward Everett Hale
We are 56,000 strong and growing.
Imagine the impact we can have
together!
Making an Impact
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Intentional
Focused
Deliberate
Determined
Collaborative
At your Table
• Think of a time when you and others worked
together to make a difference. Share that
with your table.
• What personal quality did you bring to that
experience? Share that with your table.
• Can we have a shout out from volunteers in
the group on what some of those personal
qualities might look like?
Need
• Professional Advocacy
– Counselor branding
– Clarifying counselor
misinformation
– Licensure portability
and parity
– Counselor
recognition and
hiring in the VA
– Counselor Medicare
reimbursement
• Bullying and
Interpersonal Violence
Across Settings and
Throughout the Lifespan
– Families
– Schools
– College Campuses
– Work Settings
– Neighborhoods
– Cyber world
What impact are we to have in social
action ?
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Equity
System change
Justice & Fairness
Dignity & Empowerment
Human value
Safety
An awareness of violence
prevention in your own communities
What impact are we to have in
professional advocacy?
• Parity and portability for licensed
professional counselors
• System change with counselor
hiring in all mental health systems
• Fairness regarding information
about counselors in all settings
• Professional identity: A celebration
and promotion of the work that
professional counselors do
Counselors Coming Together
Our Platform for Organized
Advocacy and Social Action
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Anti-bullying and interpersonal violence
Education
Intervention
Research
Resource Development
Public Awareness
Presidential Initiative Goals
• Provide collaborative professional
advocacy and social action
• Address all four ACA identified
Strategic Initiatives
• Respond to community needs
• Create opportunities for
counselors to work together
within a unified cause
• Establish and support ways to
productively and collaboratively
address professional challenges.
The Importance of our Work
•
•
We can make a significant
contribution to the profession
of counseling at this critical
point in its development.
By working together
constructively and cohesively,
we:
– Educate the public,
legislators, and other
mental health
professionals on who
counselors are and on
what we do.
– Serve our communities
and together make a
difference.
A Call to Action
Please join us in the “Counselors Coming
Together/A Year of Giving”
ACA Presidential Initiatives
Anti-bullying/Interpersonal Violence
Campaign
Activity: At YOUR Table, Please Discuss
1. Bullying means different things to different people. How
would you define the term BULLYING for the clients you
work with?
2. For your division, or the state/region you work in, what
are some of the major bullying or violence concerns for
clients you work with? What systems issues impact the
degree of bullying or violence experienced by your
clients?
3. In what ways have you advocated in the past to reduce
bullying and violence in your community? What successes
have you experienced in your advocacy work? In what
ways did you not feel successful?
The Power of One and The Power of
Many…
Only One and Yet…
“I was now resolved to do
everything in my power to
defeat the system.”-Oskar
Schindler
And the Power of Many…
Our lives begin to end the day we
become silent about things that
matter…In the end, we will
remember not the words of our
enemies, but the silence of our
friends.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Why Bullying and Violence
Prevention?
Because of stories like Tyler Clementi’s…
LGBTQ Youth and Adults Continue to
Be Bullied and Harassed...
•
In a 2007 study, 86% of LGBT students said that they had experienced harassment
at school during the previous year (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network —
GLSEN)
• Research indicates that LGBT youth may be more likely to think about and attempt
suicide than heterosexual teens (GLSEN)
• In a 2005 survey, students said their peers were most often bullied because of
their appearance, but the next top reason was because of actual or perceived
sexual orientation and gender expression. (“From Teasing to Torment: School
Climate of America” — GLSEN and Harris Interactive)
According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network 2007 National School
Climate Survey of more than 6,000 students…
• Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the
past year because of their sexual orientation
• Nearly half (44.1 percent) reported being physically harassed
• About a quarter (22.1 percent) reported being physically assaulted
• Nearly two-thirds (60.8 percent) who experienced harassment or assault never
reported the incident to the school
There is no life to be found in
violence. Every act of violence brings
us closer to death. Whether it's the
mundane violence we do to our
bodies by overeating toxic food or
drink or the extreme violence of
child abuse, domestic warfare, lifethreatening poverty, addiction, or
state terrorism.
bell hooks
Hate & Violence: The Shooting at
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal
Church
A Culture Where Hate Has Been
Tolerated…
According to the FBI, of the 6,933 hate crime offenses reported in
2013, 63.9 percent were crimes against persons (e.g., intimidation,
assaults, rapes, murders). Among the report’s findings for 2013:
• Of the 5,928 incidents reported, six were multiple-bias hate crime
incidents involving 12 victims
• Of the 5,922 single bias incidents reported, the top three bias
categories were race (48.5 percent), sexual orientation (20.8
percent), and religion (17.4 percent)
• Of the reported 3,407 single-bias hate crime offenses that were
racially motivated, 66.4 were motivated by anti-black or AfricanAmerican bias, and 21.4 percent stemmed from anti-white bias
• 60.6 percent of the reported 1,402 hate crime offenses based on
sexual orientation were classified as anti-gay (male) bias
Even today we raise our hand
against our brother... We have
perfected our weapons, our
conscience has fallen asleep, and we
have sharpened our ideas to justify
ourselves as if it were normal that
we continue to sow destruction,
pain, death. Violence and war lead
only to death.
Pope Francis
Violence and Bullying in Our Schools…
Newtown, Connecticut
Sandy Hook Elementary
School
December 14, 2012
School-Based Bullying
• Every 7 MINUTES a child is bullied. Adult intervention – 4%. Peer
intervention – 11%. No intervention – 85%.
• Biracial and multiracial youth are more likely to be victimized than youth
who identify with a single race.
• Bullied students tend to grow up more socially anxious, with less selfesteem and require more mental health services throughout life.
• Kids who are obese, gay, or have disabilities are up to 63% more likely to
be bullied than other children.
• 1 MILLION children were harassed, threatened or subjected to other forms
of cyberbullying on FACEBOOK during the past year.
• 86% of students said, “other kids picking on them, making fun of them or
bullying them” causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in schools.
• It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of
attack or intimidation by other students. (Source: National Education
Association)
Bullying and the Link to Violence…
• Among students, homicide perpetrators were more than twice as
likely as homicide victims to have been bullied by peers
• Bullying statistics say revenge is the strongest motivation for school
shootings
• 86% of students said, “other kids picking on them, making fun of
them or bullying them” causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence
in the schools.
• According to bullying statistics, 1 out of every 10 students who
drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying.
• Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75% of schoolshooting incidents
Lindhurst High School (1992), East Carter High School (1993), Margaret Leary Elementary (1994),
Tavares Middle School (1995), Frontier Middle School (1996), Heath High School (1997), Thurston High
School (1998), Columbine High School (1999), Lake Worth Middle School (2000), Santana High School
(2001)….
Students aren’t the only ones Bullied
• June 15, 2015 a Milwaukee paper
reported that during Thanksgiving
break 2014, a special education
teacher, Karis Ann Ross (37), a
special education teacher,
committed suicide after repeated
bullying by colleagues
• Ross was transgender and was
bullied prior to and after
transition
• Though bullying was reported
and documented for 10 full years,
no action was ever taken against
the three perpetrators according
to reports
In the Workplace…
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI),
of the 4,547 fatal workplace injuries that
occurred in the United States in 2010, 506
were workplace homicides.
• Nearly 2 million American workers report
having been victims of workplace violence
each year. Unfortunately, many more cases go
unreported.
Individuals with Disabilities
According to the World Health
Organization:
• Children with disabilities are 3.7
times more likely than non-disabled
children to be victims of any sort of
violence
• 3.6 times more likely to be victims
of physical violence
• 2.9 times more likely to be victims
of sexual violence
• Children with mental or intellectual
impairments appear to be among
the most vulnerable, with 4.6 times
the risk of sexual violence than
their non-disabled peers
• Adults with disabilities were found
to be 1.5 times more likely to be a
victim of violence than those
without a disability
Human nature is complex. Even if we do have
inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination
to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control.
Steven Pinker
Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical
violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only
refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
My attitude toward peace is rather based on the
Burmese definition of peace - it really means removing
all the negative factors that destroy peace. So peace
does not mean just putting an end to violence or to
war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such
as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty.
Aung San Suu Kyi
So What Can You Do? Well, A lot
actually!
• We need your help!
• President’s initiative: Bullying and violence prevention
• Committee assigned by Dr. Duffey to oversee and assist
in this project
• Four Projects we are asking the divisions and regions to
participate in:
– Counselor’s Tool Box
– Facilitated Discussions at ACA
– Special Issues of Journals, Newsletters, and other media
related to these initiatives
– Webinars or Professional Development, Division
conferences, or other programs
Counselor’s ToolBox
We are asking that by December 1, 2015, all divisions will have developed a
Counselor’s Tool Box for Anti-Bullying and Interpersonal Violence that is pertinent
to their membership. The Toolbox should ideally contain the following folders:
• Articles: Links to Journal articles that contain theoretical or practical
information for how to prevent and intervene with the populations of interest
to that division’s membership.
• Reference list: A list of books, articles, videos or other media that may be
helpful to your membership in developing prevention, intervention and
advocacy skills to reduce bullying and violence in their communities and for
their clients.
• PDF Resources: Informative resources that can be given to clients, stakeholders
and community members about bullying and violence prevention. Some
examples might include downloadable/printable handouts, tri-folds, flyers,
newsletters, or power points.
• Websites: Develop a list and include links to websites that are relevant to
bullying and violence prevention for the membership of your organization.
Examples may include videos, testimonials, and helpful resources. Please be
sure to vet all website links.
• Referrals, Networks, Where to get help: Organize resources including links,
directories, and network information for addressing the bullying and violence
prevention needs of clients and communities relevant to your division
A Call to Action
Please join us in the “Counselors Coming
Together/A Year of Giving”
ACA Presidential Initiatives
Advocacy for the Profession of Counseling
At your table: Discuss advocacy for the
profession
• What does it mean to you
personally?
• What does it look like for
your school, division,
region, state branch or
committee?
• What prevents you from
being an effective
advocate?
• What unique skills and
resources do you bring to
advocacy?
5 Special Foci
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Counselor branding
Clarifying counselor misinformation
Licensure portability and parity
Counselor recognition and hiring in the VA
Counselor Medicare reimbursement
What is Branding?
Shark Week!
Chicken vs. Pork and Counselor
Branding
Counselor Branding
• To develop counselor branding that improves
the public perception and recognition of
professional counseling and professional
counselors
• Advocate inside and outside of traditional
areas for branding (e.g., Counseling
Awareness Month, ACA website, press
releases and social media)
• Possible activities: Logo contests, speakers,
marketing campaigns, PSAs.
Clarifying Counselor
Misinformation
• To correct misinformation about professional
counseling on websites and in text books (e.g.,
undergrad Psychology)
• To work on advocating for professional counselors in all
settings where clarification on role/outcomes is
needed.
• Partner with key volunteers (e.g., students, CSI, etc.) to
work to identify and correct information in various
places
• Possible activities: Update accurate information on the
web and write textbook companies to clarify
misinformation; clarify misinformation on counselors in
all settings.
Counselor Medicare reimbursement
• Identify key partners at the state and national
level to assist
• Advocate toward adding licensed practicing
counselors to Medicare’s reimbursement
schedule
• Partner with ACA Government Affairs staff to
direct advocacy efforts
Licensure portability and parity
Analysis of state licensure laws on 20/20 components of
licensure portability building blocks:
• Identify key partners at the state and national level to assist
• ACA’s Professional Standards Committee will conduct an
analysis of current state licensure laws and barriers to
advocacy for licensure change within each state.
• Taskforce will develop advocacy training materials for
impacting state licensure laws
An actual email from a concerned
counselor:
Good afternoon,
My name is Jane Doe and I currently hold an active, non-restrictive LPC
license in the state of Texas but come from a non-CACREP accredited
school. I currently work at the VA and the accreditation of my school
has now become a setback in me advancing further in my career. I
honestly do not know if you will have the answer to my question but
after brainstorming with my supervisor, we both thought it might be a
good idea to approach you. I was wondering what can be done, would
it be possible for me to get a second master’s degree at your school
under the same degree to get that accreditation or could I do part of
the program since I have my Master’s degree already?
I would greatly appreciate any advice.
Counselor advocacy and hiring within
the Veterans Administration
• Identify key people at the state and national levels to
assist
• Identify barriers to counselor hiring and recognition
within the VA
• Increase recognition of licensed counselors in the VA
• Increase hiring of licensed counselors in the VA
• Increase employment opportunities for fully licensed
counselors who already work within the VA system
• Partner with ACA’s Government Relations Staff
What is your GOLD STAR idea?
Who can Participate?
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All Counselors
Divisions
Regions
Branches
Students
ACA Staff
Partners
What can WE do?
• Address one or
both advocacy
efforts
• Tools
• Community
Campaigns
• Conduct Research
• And much more!
How Do We Influence Social Action
Change?
• Diverse approach
• Develop products and
resources
• Organize platforms for
saying “NO” to bullying
• Identify the damage
• Focus on empathy
development in our
campaign
• Legislation, public figures,
and the media
• Facilitated Discussions at the ACA conference in
Montreal: We will be hosting a cross-division forum to
discuss both initiatives.
• Special Issues of Division Journals, Newsletters, and
other media related to these initiatives: Please let us
know if you would be interested in having a special
issue of your division journal highlighting any aspect of
of the initiatives so that we can help advertise for you!
• Webinars, Professional Development, Division or
Regional Conference Themes: Please consider hosting
a webinar for your membership, a professional
development or perhaps centering your division’s
conference around this theme as well in whatever way
best suits your membership.
How can you Begin?
• Email blasts to your membership on each of
these initiatives
• Facebook posts
• Use #counselorscomingtogether to your Twitter
followers
• Identify people in your membership
• Encourage participation from your school,
division, branch, region, or committee towards
these efforts!
• Celebrate your work and keep us posted!
A Call to Action
Please join us in
“Counselors Coming Together:
A Year of Giving”
ACA Presidential Initiative
by participating in the following:
Advocacy for the Profession of Counseling
Anti-bullying/Interpersonal Violence Campaign