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IAC was invited to send a representative to participate in a World Health Organization (WHO) training in Tunisia March 14-17. The training introduced EQUIP, a new mental health product that WHO is promoting to continue advancing the application of basic counseling and relational skills for mental health helpers and professionals. The 40+ representatives included experts from a variety of NGOs and world health associations. The participants provided feedback throughout the experience, and WHO offered clear efforts to improve the tool and understand the needs related to implementation of the tool across cultures.
The purpose and goals of the EQUIP are directly aligned with the objectives and mission of IAC, and summarized in the IAC vision: a world where counselling available to all. The EQUIP tool offers a thoughtful and practical way for training basic counseling and helping skills. This offers a promising strategy to make a significant impact in addressing global mental health needs, especially where professional services are limited or non-existent.
EQUIP is a competency-based program designed by WHO and UNICEF to enhance helping language to address mental health and wellness needs in ways that reflect the core elements of clinical mental health skills. The tool was developed particularly out of the work of Dr. Brandon Kohrt, psychiatrist and professor at George Washington University. The concepts related to this competency tool offer descriptions of counseling skills that are common to the profession, yet this resource offers operationalized descriptions to the competencies that are pertinent to mental health professionals, helpers, and counselors offering support in a variety of contexts.
The foundational tool of EQUIP is the ENACT tool that provides systematic, concrete supervision strategies and descriptions. Additional resources are available, which build off this initial strategy, including assessment tools, role-play narratives, role play videos, and others. EQUIP is a way for organizations to have some degree of understanding of training for competency among the unlicensed workforce with basic concepts, but it also offers deeper competency measures to enhance greater knowledge and depth of insight.
The WHO designs all their tools (including EQUIP) to be open access. EQUIP is a research-based tool that provides standardized training in easy-to-understand modules that explore skills within the context of role play scenarios. The material offers a strong rationale for why this relational and focused method can enhance necessary areas of development that may need further refinement. EQUIP focuses on 15 areas of competency to provide benchmarks to identify ways that practice ‘do no harm’ principles, and they provide other developing and advanced approaches within these target areas of competency. This open access resource is available on the WHO website: https://equipcompetency.org/en-gb, solely for the purposes of advancing the knowledge and application of appropriate clinical, counseling, and helping skills.
25/04/2023 -
LivingWorks and the International Association for Counselling (IAC) are pleased to announce their partnership in promoting suicide prevention on an international scale. LivingWorks is the leading provider of suicide prevention training programs, including Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), safeTALK and Start. These evidence-based programs empower individuals and communities to identify and respond to individuals who may be experiencing thoughts of suicide. LivingWorks has trained over 2 million people in more than 35 countries and is supported by over 50 peer-reviewed research evaluations and studies. Through this partnership, LivingWorks and IAC aim to bring together their expertise and resources to create a shared vision of a world safer from suicide. Click HERE to read on..
21/03/2023 -
On February 24, the International Association for Counselling Executive Council unanimously approved its Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Professional Counsellors, written by IAC President Bill Borgen and IAC Secretary Nathan Perron.
IAC collaborated with counsellors and counselling associations from every region of the world to create this universal declaration. These principles, which provide a framework of shared human values, underscore the power of professional counselling to improve lives and reduce suffering. While recognizing different approaches to counselling conduct and practice internationally, the principles also provide a non-partisan approach to help legitimize and normalize access to mental health care around the world.
07/03/2023 -
IAC Europe News: Advocacy for Counselling -- Meeting the President of the European Parliament.
A meeting has been confirmed with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in Brussels, in April 2023.
As part of the important push for better recognition of the counselling profession in the European region, IAC Europe is embarking on renewed advocacy efforts. This activity sees IAC representatives meet with leaders of European institutions, intergovernmental bodies, government representatives, and other stakeholders. A region-wide strategy for IAC Europe is being developed and will identify best practice for advocacy policy and promotion. The associations participating in IAC Europe have an excellent opportunity to learn from each other.
The counselling profession also has much to learn from kindred professions that have successfully advocated for their professions (e.g. social work, mental health nursing, psychology). All research shows that advocacy is always more effective when associations -- with the same agendas and priorities -- collaborate rather than work individually. Active engagement with, and input to, European mental health and social policy will have a positive impact on the counselling profession. Being successful in regional public policy arenas, means associations being aware of current issues at both national and regional levels and knowing how to advocate effectively on issues that affect counsellors.
The meeting with President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, is a significant high-level advocacy development and will be reported on in detail. A clear pathway for the formal recognition of the counselling profession in Europe needs to be identified.
25/02/2023 -
The annual ACA Conference and Expo takes place this year in Toronto, Canada, March 30-April 1, 2023. This large event provides an excellent opportunity for the international community that are attending to meet, network, and enjoy the world-class conference.
Expo Hall Booth
IAC will have an Expo booth where we will jointly exhibit with LivingWorks (a public service corporation focusing on suicide prevention). Please drop by the Expo Hall and say Hello!International Roundtable Meeting
Leaders of national associations that are attending the ACA conference in Toronto have been invited to attend an IAC Associations' Roundtable meeting on Saturday, April 1, 10:00 am-12:30 pm, at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. For further details please email IAC CEO Naoise Kelly.ACA International Committee Events
The American Counselling Associations's International committee is hosting an international panel and reception Friday, March, 31, 6:00-8:00 pm.
24/02/2023 -
Türkiye and Syria Earthquakes
On 6 February 2023, a series of massive earthquakes struck south-eastern Türkiye near the border with the Syrian Arab Republic. These and hundreds of aftershocks caused significant destruction on each side of the border, claiming tens of thousands of lives, and leaving over one hundred thousand injured, across both countries. Much of the essential infrastructure, including health facilities, has been damaged or destroyed.
As an association, IAC wishes to extend a message of support and solidarity for the victims of the earthquakes that have devastated the region. All counsellors everywhere are thinking of those suffering through this terrible crisis. We particularly think of our many Turkish friends and counselling colleagues. We join in the United Nations call for sustained and safe access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria. We will offer all and any support we can in the mental health and psychosocial response. Follow updates from the International Red Cross HERE, and World Health Organization HERE.
16/02/2023 -
IAC was delighted to sponsor NBCC's third annual international virtual conference.
The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) and the NBCC Foundation hosted its third annual international virtual conference, Mental Health Connections: Building a Global Counseling Community, November 30 – December 2, 2022. Presenters represented over 20 countries. Discussions highlighted an international perspective on topics such as counseling professionalization efforts and the state of mental health worldwide, mental health needs of and responses to international students and immigrants, as well as the challenges that helping professionals in other countries face. Over 300 counselors and mental health professionals registered for this year’s event.
IAC was proud to sponsor and support this event, which aligns directly with the association's mission. Next year’s NBCC Mental Health Connections conference is scheduled for November 29 – December 1, 2023.
15/12/2022 -
IAC welcomes Ethan Weston as our new IAC Regions and Roundtables Coordinator. Ethan comes on part-time secondment from the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), where he serves as a project coordinator. Ethan's work will engage counselling associations worldwide by bringing association leaders and officials together in each of the six IAC regions to help advance the profession. This work supports unified region-wide initiatives in the areas of Advocacy (for better recognition of counselling); Standards, Education and Practice; Partnership; Policy Development; and Research.
After graduating from Algonquin College with a specialty in Business Fundamentals, Ethan jointed CCPA as in administrator in the continuing education department. He went on to serve in various roles for CCPA's accrediting body, the Council on Accreditation of Counsellor Education Programs (CACEP), as well as in CCPA's Membership and Accounting Division.
CCPA is generously sponsoring Ethan's IAC work for two days per week for the next two years. If your national association would like to consider a similar placement/secondment of a staff member to IAC, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact ceo@iac-irtac.org.
08/12/2022 -
IAC has collaborated with counsellors and counselling associations from every region of the world to create its Universal Ethical Principles for Counselling Professionals. These principles, which provide a framework of shared human values, underscore the power of professional counselling to improve lives and reduce suffering. While recognizing different approaches to counselling conduct and practice internationally, the principles also provide a non-partisan approach to help legitimize and normalize access to mental health care around the world. IAC welcomes feedback to these draft principles by February 15, 2023. Please submit your feedback here.
14/11/2022 -
IAC is partnering with Perkama International, the International Counselling Association of Malaysia, to host the 2022 International Counseling Convention, 1st-4th November, in Kuching Malaysia. The theme of this year’s conference, Standing Alone Together: Managing the Paradox, reflects the universal challenges of social isolation highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic that continue in cultures around the world.
The program includes an associations roundtable meeting with representatives from national counseling associations worldwide, keynote speeches by Perkama International President Dato’ Dr Abd Halim Mohd Hussin and IAC Executive Council President Dr William Borgen, sessions on a variety of counselling issues, Q&A sessions, and community-based and professional development workshops. Other events include dance performances, town hall sessions and awards presentations.
A representative from the United Nations World Health Organization, Dr. James Underhill, will present about WHO's new EQUIP project, a series of resources and tools for the assessment of competencies, enhances training and supervision for improved mental health and psychosocial support services, on November 2. Learn more about EQUIP here or watch a short video on EQUIP here.
26/10/2022
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