Mental Health Access and Provider Support Act (S.B. 4202 / H.R. 8081)
Mental health counselors are essential providers for Medicare beneficiaries, but current reimbursement rates limit access to care for older adults and individuals with disabilities.
We’re asking you to take a minute to make your voice heard.
The Mental Health Access and Provider Support Act (S.B. 4202 / H.R. 8081) would improve reimbursement rates and expand access to mental health services for underrepresented communities. Your outreach can help move this forward.
Thank you for advocating for the profession and the clients we serve,
NBCC Government Affairs Team
International Institute for the Advancement of Counseling Theory
Consider joining the International Institute for the Advancement of Counseling Theory (IIACT). Everything on IIACT’s website is FREE and includes such things as their quarterly newsletter, videos, research they’ve conducted, podcasts, access to books and videos, a theoretical orientation survey, and much more.
It’s all free and underwritten by my endowment. Please join and let others know about our institute.
The RISE Model: A Culturally Adapted CBT Framework for Helping Clients Foster Resilience in the Political Climate
The RISE Model – Reframe, Integrate, Strengthen, and Establish – offers a culturally adapted cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and self-affirmation framework for addressing psychological distress rooted in political climates. Developed in response to heightened sociopolitical stress, particularly among Black and Brown communities, this framework bridges evidence-based practice with cultural and identity-affirming strategies. Drawing from qualitative insights, the model highlights how reframing thoughts in context, integrating cultural and spiritual strengths, strengthening community connections, and establishing coping boundaries can foster resilience and agency. A case illustration demonstrates the application of the model in therapy, showing meaningful improvements in anxiety reduction, cultural pride, and community re-engagement. Findings underscore the potential of the RISE Model as a creative intervention that transcends symptom reduction to function as cultural reclamation and collective healing.
ACA Responds to HHS Request for Information tied to Great American Recovery Initiative
On July 1, ACA submitted comments in response to the Department of Health and Human Services’ request for information for input on policy recommendations to strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery services for substance use disorders and mental illness.
ACA’s response focused on three policy proposals addressing the behavioral health workforce shortage, as we recognize the limited supply of mental health counselors and other behavioral health professionals available to meet the needs of people living in rural and underserved communities.
The first proposal recommended expanding the existing Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals to establish a post-graduate behavioral health residency program that supports provisionally licensed counselors and other behavioral health professionals as they complete their required clinical hours. The second proposal focused on expanding the behavioral health workforce by adding counseling students to the existing National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program as they are currently excluded from the program’s eligibility requirements. The third proposal aimed to expand workforce capacity by allowing professional counselor licensure boards, the Counseling Compact and relevant state board associations to apply for funding through the Licensure Portability Grant Program (LPGP).
Together, these proposals would have a significant impact on the counseling profession by strengthening the pathway to independent licensure, helping to ensure that trained behavioral health professionals successfully enter the workforce, reducing financial barriers for counseling students to support degree completion and expanding the reach of licensed counselors to practice across state lines. These changes would reduce disparities and increase access to mental health and substance use disorder services in rural and underserved communities.
ACA will continue to respond to federal and other policy opportunities that improve counselors’ ability to ensure that individuals seeking mental health and substance use disorder treatment can access affordable, timely and clinically appropriate care in their communities.
If you would like to become involved in ACA’s advocacy efforts, contact us at .
Therapodcast: When Faith Enters the Counseling Room - Ethics, Prayer, and Spiritual Competence
In the second installment of our series on spirituality, religion, and counseling, Dr. Martin Wesley welcomes Dr. Craig Cashwell, Dr. Aparna Ramaswamy, Dr. David Walther, and Dr. Matt Buckley for an engaging discussion about one of the counseling profession’s most nuanced ethical challenges.
Together, the panel explores what it means to provide spiritually competent counseling while remaining grounded in client autonomy, informed consent, multicultural competence, and professional ethics. Rather than offering simple answers, the conversation wrestles with the complexity counselors face when clients bring deeply held religious or spiritual beliefs into therapy.
The discussion examines practical questions such as when prayer may be appropriate, how counselors can ethically integrate spiritual practices, the role of forgiveness in healing, and how counselors can avoid unintentionally crossing the line into persuasion or proselytizing. The panel also considers the differences between counseling that helps clients explore their own beliefs and approaches that seek to direct clients toward predetermined religious conclusions.
Whether you’re a counselor, counselor educator, graduate student, clergy member, or simply interested in the intersection of faith and mental health, this episode offers thoughtful perspectives that encourage humility, self-awareness, and ethical decision-making.
In this episode, we discuss:
* When prayer belongs in the counseling session, and when it doesn’t
* Ethical use of Scripture, meditation, and other spiritual practices
* Client autonomy, informed consent, and multicultural competence
* Forgiveness, healing, and spiritual decision-making
* The difference between exploring a client’s beliefs and imposing our own
* How counselors can work effectively with clients from diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds
* Practical guidance for integrating spirituality into counseling ethically and responsibly
Spirituality can be a profound source of strength, resilience, and meaning. It can also be a source of conflict, pain, and unanswered questions. This conversation explores how counselors can respectfully walk alongside clients in that journey without losing sight of either ethics or empathy.
Link to this episode: When Faith Enters the Counseling Room – Ethics, Prayer, and Spiritual Competence
Link to past episode: Spirituality, Religion, and Counseling – Personal Journeys, Professional Perspectives
Link to Therapodcast website
Duration of Status for international students and scholars
I have been striving to follow the proposals about DHS’ Plan to End Duration of Status for international students and scholars, which just reached the final rule status today.
This has severe implications for international students and scholars who hope to transition to work pathways in the U.S.— such as more rigid academic rules and timelines; visa delays and disruptions; travel bans; the threat of ending postgraduate OPT; more restrictions on freedom of speech and greater risks of being targeted; new H-1B visa rules and fees, and so much more – overall, more uncertainty, fear and anxiety… And of course, recognizing the intersectionality, we can hardly imagine the vulnerabilities of the international students who seek asylum and navigate immigration uncertainty in the current, highly threatening political climate.
You can find the detailed information and implications here.
You can further explore the proposed regulations and their implications, as well as ways to take advocacy action, under these organizations:
- President’s Alliance
- The NAFSA Don’t End DS page, also helps you send a letter to your congressional representatives in 2 minutes! I encourage you to share your story and insight/experiences about the contributions of international students and scholars.
I hope you will consider sharing this information with your institutions/organizations, professional networks, and other social circles, and invite them to advocate by publishing statements with specific calls to action such as contacting the congressional members and other representatives from your region and state. I hope you will also consider contacting and checking whether our professional organization leaders and university/college leaders are making efforts to reach Congress.
If you have very limited time, you can consider increasing visibility on LinkedIn – NAFSA makes great content for you to-share and add thoughts.
Or other social media such as NAFSA on Instagram
or follow and share with #DontEndDS – you can share insight and experiences about the contributions of international students and scholars.
Finally, please consider attending or sharing information about this upcoming conference by the NCDA International Student Services Committee on Friday, August 7 (virtual; free for the NCDA members) – “Building Together: Centering Advocacy, Community, and Adaptability”- a very timely, critical theme!
A Toolkit for Culturally Responsive & Evidence-Based School Counseling
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., April 3, 2026 – The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute of Leadership, Equity, and Justice (Proctor Institute<https://rutgers.us7.
“At a time when student mental health needs are both urgent and widespread, and federal funding for school-based mental health programs continues to shrink, the role of school counselors has never been more critical,” shares Ian Levy, Assistant Professor of School Counseling and Educational Psychology at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. “Rather than responding only in crisis, school counselors are uniquely positioned to build systems of prevention, affirm student identity, foster community, and equip students to navigate a complex world.”
The toolkit is based on a review of school counseling research and practice, which says that “academic, social-emotional, and post-secondary development” are the most important parts of a school counselor’s job. With an average of 376 students per counselor, classroom-level instruction and prevention are very important. Other important areas include culturally responsive counseling methods, working with teachers and families, strengths-based assessment, and data-driven leadership and advocacy. Leaders in the field say that success means helping students grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally, especially Black and Brown youth who have to deal with systems that were not made for them.
To support this vision, the report introduces the Educator-Counselor (EC) identity as a framework for school counseling practice. It suggests that counselors provide universal mental health services through classroom instruction, employ culturally relevant counseling techniques such as Bibliotherapy, Hip Hop and Spoken Word Therapy, and conduct strengths-based evaluations that respect students as complex human beings. The toolkit also advocates for deliberate cooperation, community asset mapping, and funding for data systems that allow school counselors to recognize and resolve racial disparities in achievement, attendance, and discipline. The toolkit concludes by highlighting the necessity of implementing these tactics with a steadfast dedication to social justice, development, wellness, and prevention.