Dedicated to the development of counselling standards around the world, NBCC International strives to develop relationships with current and future counselling leaders. The NBCC International Fellows at ACES program was launched at the 2002 Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) National Conference to provide a venue that encourages the development of these relationships. Through the program, select counsellors at various stages in their careers interact with each other, their U.S.-based counterparts, and with NBCC International staff. Dialogue begins at the ACES Conference and continues well beyond through post-conference activities.
Most of the current Fellows were nominated by U.S.-based counsellor education program coordinators. They are: Arline Edwards-Joseph (North Carolina State University, Antigua & Barbuda), Sachin Jain (University of Wyoming, India), Dr. Chieko Koyama (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Japan), Nikolai Ermakov (Denver Seminary, Kyrgyzstan), Ana Gouveia (University of Rochester, Portugal), and Kyoung Mi Choi (Syracuse University, South Korea). These individuals bring diversity to the program, not only because of the variety of countries represented, but also by virtue of their progress as professionals. Most have some degree of practical experience from their home countries; several are already counsellor educators. This year’s program also includes two Fellows currently involved with counselling programs outside the United States: Maria Dipal, from the Higher Education Learning Programme (HELP) University/ College in Kuala Lumpur, and Dr. Huda Ayyash-Abdo, coordinator of the school counselling area of the master’s in education at the Lebanese American University in Beirut.
This year’s Fellows participated in training conducted by members of the NBCC Board of Directors’ Global Committee. This committee consisted of Dr. Sylvia Fernandez, Dr. Linda Foster, and Dr. Kurt Kraus, and three invited guests from abroad: Dr. Tuncay Ergene (Turkey), Dr. Fidan Korkut (Turkey), and Dr. Andreea Szilagyi (Romania). Each international committee member is a leader in developing counsellor credentialing and/or accreditation in their respective countries. Korkut and Szilagyi were 2002 Fellows who have since returned to their home countries.
In the spirit of encouraging Fellows to disseminate their expertise through conference presentations, scholarly publications, and personal interactions with colleagues, each Fellow prepared and delivered part of a two-hour joint presentation. Spanning the Globe Part 2 focused on the status of counselling in the native country of each Fellow. This effort provided concrete experience with international counsellor collaboration and with delivering a succinct message. Next, the Fellows will work together on a manuscript that will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal as a means of encouraging cross-national partnerships in advancing counselling knowledge. Finally, during a reception held in their honor and through the personal connections made during the conference, the Fellows formed relationships that will enhance future professional collaboration. NBCC International is pleased to have a leadership role among counselling institutions facilitating international collaboration. We look forward to further exchanges with the Fellows and encourage NCCs to acknowledge their achievements and invite dialogue should they be introduced to a Fellow at one of the many counselling meetings taking place globally.
