In the Volume 18, Number 1, Summer/Fall 2001 issue of this newsletter, I set out some of the board’s reasons for exploring ways for NBCC to expand counselor credentialing and, therefore, counseling to more countries. The enormity of that task is underscored by the fact that even here in the United States we have been pursuing licensure since the early 1970s. Since the Virginia counselor law passed in 1976, we now have a twenty-eight-year expanse of gaining licensure. California, Hawaii, and Nevada still elude us.

When we think of the combined millions of dollars raised by counselors to achieve licensure in all states (the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico also have passed legislation), considering institutionalizing counseling in more than 200 nation states is daunting. Yet, two facts remain evident to the NBCC Board. The more countries that formalize the practice of counseling, the better position American counseling will have for future import and export of counseling services as well as enhanced professional prestige here in the United States. Further, and more important, counseling expansion means that more people are touched positively by our expertise.

Where in the World are We Going?
We began with lofty goals, and we are proud to have accomplished more since our 2001 resolve to expand than we ever would have expected. We were intent not to spend much money on our goals so that our major resources continued toward domestic issues. So, we looked to organizations that have already made significant strides in the worldwide scene.

First came the familiar.

Counselor Associations are Familiar Friends
There are relevant counselor associations which have been in existence for years. NBCC has sent representatives to the meetings of the International Association for Counselling (IAC) continuously for the last seven years. Our affiliate, the Research and Assessment Corporation for Counseling, Inc. (RACC) sponsors, in its entirety, the attendee fees for IAC’s International Research Seminar. We offer presentations on NBCC standards and certifications to a broad spectrum of international counselors. NBCC is interested in continued cooperation with IAC. Having the familiar face of Courtland Lee, an American Counseling Association past president and international visionary, on the IAC board is always a pleasure. (See www.iac-irtac.org for more information.)

Many of you may not know the works of the venerable International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG). For more than fifty years, this group has spearheaded multiple yearly conferences in all corners of the world, stressing career development in educational, governmental, and private settings. Like IAC, IAEVG boasts an international board and a commitment to an international focus on counseling and educational guidance. We have a joint committee studying a method for incorporation of certification to the recently developed standards of practice and training that IAEVG announced in September 2003. Our work with IAEVG includes multiple face-toface board and staff meetings as well as NBCC’s agreement to sponsor a plenary session at the upcoming IAEVG-NCDA Symposium, June 29–30, 2004. NBCC has invited a panel of five experts from four continents outside North America for this San Francisco conference. (See both www.ncda.org and www.iaevg.org for information about the San Francisco Symposium and backgrounds of the organizations.)

After a full NBCC Board attendance at a prearranged meeting with the staff of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) certification staff, NBCC and BACP traded staff for a few days to explore our different ways of credentialing counselors. CACREP’s executive director, Carol Bobby, joined us in Greensboro for part of a meeting with BACP’s staff.

NBCC will continue to seek information and professional relationships with organizations outside the United States. We will study other methods of credentialing and practice while being available to share our own expertise. There are correspondent counselor standards boards in Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Many more countries are exploring certifying counselors.

On to the Familiar
At an IAC conference several years ago, I was struck by a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) speaker who was clear about what counseling is. Over the years at conferences of the Center for Quality Assurance in International Education (QA) we became aware that many professions have globalization strategies, but that mental health in the United States has been slow to develop a plan. Here was a key. An international giant, UNESCO, was already understanding who we are!

The logical plan on NBCC’s part is to seek the expertise of global agencies that already have all countries in their infrastructure. Originally, we thought that we may get funding from them—but quickly we realized that we need our own funding to reach out. We enter our discussions with a clear message that we are not seeking funding. We are on our way to recognition with two major agency agreements that follow.

UNESCO’s Request
The chief of primary education of UNESCO in Paris turned to me at the end of a panel presentation and asked if NBCC could help Africa with creating certification standards for counselors. Within minutes, I had reported this to our board chair and executive committee. We all knew this was both a compliment to NBCC’s international reputation in certification and a challenge to our resources. Our new Internet-based job analysis system and years of experience in creating standards made it easy to set forth a proposal to UNESCO. In short, after our first meeting with the president of the African Association for Guidance and Counselling, we are certain that we can create an African-based standard with large scale international cooperation. And, we can do it with a low budget paid for by non-certification NBCC and Affiliates enterprises like testing in other professions and association management.

In short, the letter following this article tells the story.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Mental Health
As the new century dawned, a major effort began to make mental health more known as a WHO priority. (See www.who.org.ch.)

Before hearing Benedetto Saraceno, WHO’s director of mental health and substance dependence, speak at an IAC conference in Geneva last spring, NBCC Chair Wayne Lanning, NBCC’s Global Committee Chair Tom Collins, and I met with Saraceno. Our reason for meeting with him was to explain who counselors are and what we can do. His opening remarks shocked us out of our planned script for him. He simply said, “I have 450 million poor people to bring mental health services to. Counselling is the profession that I think can reach the most people.”

The ensuing conversation led to another meeting (this one six hours long) of the entire NBCC Executive Committee and the WHO mental health substance dependence executive staff. The end product of that meeting led to an agreement to begin a long-term relationship between NBCC and WHO. As a beginning, we have agreed: 1. To write a booklet in a series of suicide prevention materials to explain suicide potential and treatment to counselors in the WHO system. 2. To give expert opinion for standards of practice and credentialing of addiction workers. 3. To begin a collection of data to identify counselors and counselor training sites globally to be included in WHO’s Atlas project (see www.who.int/ mental_health/media/en). 4. That NBCC’s executive director, Thomas Clawson, will be a professional discipline representative to WHO’s newly established Global Council on Mental Heath (see www.who.int/ mental_health/advocacy/ council/descriptions/en).

This beginning with WHO and the major project with UNESCO are the most significant international steps in NBCC history. We are proud to represent the ideas of counselor certification and ethical practice to the global community.

But Are We International?
NBCC is based in the United States. UNESCO and WHO know this and would like us to expand. So, we needed yet another strategy. In order to have United Statesbased sensitivity to global issues (and to remember that our main goals are domestic), NBCC has elected a diverse board over the past few years. The board has foreign-born, first-generation Americans, people of color, and people who have lived and traveled extensively abroad. Our past two public members (noncounselors on the NBCC Board) have been carefully selected to give us advice. One member was elected who lived in Greece. She was succeeded by Ted Iliff, former ten-year CNN executive editor, who at this writing is living in Baghdad and is the general manager of all broadcast, radio, and print media in Iraq. He also never misses a board meeting and is helpful with his insight.

In November, NBCC established a new division with oversight by a standing committee. NBCC International  will house the WHO and UNESCO projects, all new international issues, international organization relations, and two more newly created projects that follow: the International Vanguard of Counsellors and NBCC International Secretariats.

The Vanguard
In the fall of 2002, NBCC instituted a program at the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) conference, bringing in eleven international fellows to discuss counseling in other countries and plans for future interaction. These NBCC international fellows are already providing us with substantial leadership. All are doctoral students or postdoctoral students, and all are citizens around the world.

One of the ideas brought forth from that forum was to create an avenue for many international counseling students to connect, while students, and then have a way to continue that connection.

In January 2004 a poster will be sent to all United States counselor education programs with a tear-off information sheet. We will collect as many addresses as possible of: international counseling students studying in the United States, counseling students studying outside the United States, and mentors who would be willing to interact in forums and chat rooms. The NBCC International Fellows then will become part of the larger group of International Vanguard of Counsellors. This will be a free Web-based coalition with the express purpose of keeping a global dialogue about theory, technique, and practice fresh and open to many perspectives (see www.vanguardofcounsellors.ch).

Secretariats— What are They?
In order to respond to regional questions and provide a point of operation for future initiatives, NBCC International will begin to look and feel that way. We plan to have e-mail addresses, mail addresses, and phone numbers for contact people who understand credentialing in the United States and their region, hence secretariats. Our many contacts have created a network of NBCC friends who are volunteering for these positions. We will have a more formal office in an international organization center in Geneva, Switzerland. Note that when you see .ch at the end of one of our Web sites, that site is registered for Switzerland. “CH” Canton Helvetia is the country code for Switzerland. At this writing, we plan secretariats in Lilongwe, Malawi; Geneva, Switzerland; Bucharest, Romania; Ankara, Turkey; Venezuela; Mexico City, Mexico; Japan; India; and Washington, DC. These “virtual” costs will be minimal.

Have We Begun?
Just barely. We’ve achieved much, but have much more to do. Our success and luck with UNESCO and WHO make it clear that other world organizations could be valuable resources. We also know that in October, the first master’s program was given “licensure” status by the Ministries of Education and Health in Mexico. This CACREP-style program is a joint program with the University of Scranton. We are in contact with counselor educators and counselors in many countries. Unfortunately, space in this newsletter doesn’t permit full discussion. We will, however, continue our work and “mind the store” at home.

We remain aware that issues like military recognition of counselors, strong certification of school counselors, better services to NCCs, and continued contact with counseling and mental health organizations are our first priority. Our international gains are meant to strengthen the profession and serve more people.

As I write this, I realize that there are details of the above and many more projects not mentioned. We’ll continue to update global issues.

And one last thought, years ago NBCC tested United States waters by adding an “l” to counseling on the front page of our Web site. Either nobody noticed or most of you “got it.” The response from many abroad was that NBCC was respectful of the more common spelling. We won’t debate the one el/ two el issue. We’ll just use one or the other when we think it’s right. For safety though, we’ve been buying Web sites that contain both spellings and linking them so it is seamless. We think the least of our worries is to decide which is right. We’ll settle for both as long as more people get the message of counselling worldwide.