American Counseling Association
American Counseling Association | 5999 Stevenson Ave. Alexandria, VA 22304 | 800.347.6647 | 800.473.2329 (fax) | 703.823.6862 (TDD)
Copyright 2002, American Counseling Association, All Rights Reserved, See Disclaimer and Submission Statement
Printer Friendly Version

American School Counselor Association
One Vision, One Voice

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is a worldwide nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Va. ASCA supports school counselors' efforts to help students focus on academic, personal/social and career development so they achieve success in school and are prepared to lead fulfilling lives as responsible members of society. The association provides professional development, publications and other resources, research and advocacy to nearly 17,000 professional school counselors around the globe.

Ethical Standards for School Counselors
ASCA's Ethical Standards for School Counselors were adopted by the ASCA Delegate Assembly, March 19,1984, revised March 27, 1992, June 25, 1998 and June 26, 2004.

Association for Specialists in Group Work
The Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) was founded to promote quality in group work training, practice, and research both nationally and internationally. A division of the American Counseling Association (ACA), ASGW numbers among its members over 1200 group workers and group work educators.

Principles for Diversity-Competent Group Workers
The Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) is committed to understanding how issues of diversity affect all aspects of group work. This includes but is not limited to: training diversity-competent group workers; conducting research that will add to the literature on group work with diverse populations; understanding how diversity affects group process and dynamics; and assisting group facilitators in various settings to increase their awareness, knowledge, and skills as they relate to facilitating groups with diverse memberships.

As an organization, ASGW has endorsed this document with the recognition that issues of diversity affect group process and dynamics, group facilitation, training, and research. As an organization, we recognize that racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and so forth, affect everyone. As individual members of this organization, it is our personal responsibility to address these issues through awareness, knowledge, and skills. As members of ASGW, we need to increase our awareness of our own biases, values, and beliefs and how they impact the groups we run. We need to increase our awareness of our group members’ biases, values, and beliefs and how they also impact and influence group process and dynamics. Finally, we need to increase our knowledge in facilitating, with confidence, competence, and integrity, groups that are diverse on many dimensions.

Association for Specialists in Group Work Best Practice Guidelines
The Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) is a division of the American Counseling Association whose members are interested in and specialize in group work. We value the creation of community; service to our members, clients, and the profession; and value leadership as a process to facilitate the growth and development of individuals and groups.

The Association for Specialists in Group Work recognizes the commitment of its members to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice (as revised in 1995) of its parent organization, the American Counseling Association, and nothing in this document shall be construed to supplant that code. These Best Practice Guidelines are intended to clarify the application of the ACA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice to the field of group work by defining Group Workers' responsibility and scope of practice involving those activities, strategies and interventions that are consistent and current with effective and appropriate professional ethical and community standards. ASGW views ethical process as being integral to group work and views Group Workers as ethical agents. Group Workers, by their very nature in being responsible and responsive to their group members, necessarily embrace a certain potential for ethical vulnerability. It is incumbent upon Group Workers to give considerable attention to the intent and context of their actions because the attempts of Group Workers to influence human behavior through group work always have ethical implications. These Best Practice Guidelines address Group Workers' responsibilities in planning, performing and processing groups.

Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development
Mission Statement
The mission of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) is to provide global leadership, research, training and development of multicultural counseling professionals with a focus on racial and ethnic issues. This is accomplished through:
Enhancing the awareness of human development and counseling needs of racial and ethnically diverse groups
Sensitizing professionals to racial and ethnic differences
Advancing the knowledge base of multicultural counseling through theory development and research
Consulting with others to advance multicultural issues across the counseling profession

Counselors for Social Justice
Counselors for Social Justice is a community of counselors, counselor educators, graduate students, and school and community leaders who seek equity and an end to oppression and injustice affecting clients, students, counselors, families, communities, schools, workplaces, governments, and other social and institutional systems. CSJ is committed to:


Challenging oppressive systems of power and privilege.

Implementing social action strategies including the Social Justice Advocacy Competencies through collaborative alliances with other ACA entities, counselor education programs, and N-16 schools and community organizations.
Disseminating social justice scholarship about sociopolitical and economic inequities facing counselors and clients/students in schools and communities.
Maintaining an active support network online and in person for engaging in social justice activities in schools and communities.
Providing lively professional development to enhance counselor, counselor educator, and graduate student competency in social justice advocacy via ACA annual conference programs (Day of Action/Day of Learning), branches, regions, counselor education programs, N-16 schools, and community agencies.
Maintaining social justice advocacy resources online.

Washington Counseling Association
Mission Statement:

The mission of the Washington counseling Association is to promote the counseling profession and to promote public confidence and trust in the counseling profession.

Goal of WCA:


This professional association was created to further
counseling by:

Promoting and providing educational programs for counselors
Updating counselors on new information and developments in the field

Creating a network of support among peers

Serving as a link among peers

Serving as a link among members, the national counseling association, its divisions, and other human service organizations

Promoting governmental relations and legislation to benefit counselors and consumers of counseling

Encourage research, credentialing, ethics, and related standards in counseling
Components of WCA:


The Washington School Counseling Association (WSCA)

Mental Health Counselors

The Washington Career Development Association (WCDA)

The Washington State Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors (WSACES)

The Washington Association for Spiritual, Ethics, and Religious Values (WASERVIC)

The Washington Association for Multi-Cultural Counseling and Development (WAMCD)
Return to WCA Home Page

WASHINGTON SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION
The Washington School Counselor Association promotes best practices in, and advocates for, Professional School Counseling



A chartered state division of the American School Counselor Association
A division of the Washington Counseling Association, a chartered state division of the American Counseling Association
WSCA represents certificated Professional School Counselors who work in public and private schools at all levels.
Click to see our Strategic Goals.