Division Information
Connecticut Mental Health Counselors Association (CMHCA)What is CMHCA?
CMHCA is the division of the Connecticut Counseling Association (CCA) that represents counselors whose focus is on providing mental health treatment to clients. Mental health counselors are employed in a variety of settings, such as clinics, hospitals, residential treatment programs, and private practice. CMHCA is also a branch of the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA): www.amhca.org
Who can be a member of CMHCA?
Anyone who is a member of CCA and has an interest in mental health counseling can be a member of CMHCA. This includes students in community counseling programs, masters and doctoral level clinicians, and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs).
What does CMHCA have to offer?
CMHCA holds three to four division meetings a year in various locations across the state that members are encouraged to attend to gain knowledge about what your professional organization is doing for you, to network with colleagues, and to give feedback about your CCA/CMHCA membership. In addition, CMHCA co-sponsors workshops throughout the year, providing continuing education opportunities on topics of interest to mental health counselors. Advocacy for our profession and LPCs is also a main focus of this division.
Other benefits to becoming a member of CMHCA include:
● Discounted attendance to our annual professional development day each fall for the opportunity to network with colleagues and learn the latest practices in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health care issues.
Connecticut Career Counseling and Development Association (CCCDA)
CCCDA provides a wide variety of resources designed to support professional career counselors in their work with clients. Graduate students interested in the career counseling field will also benefit from the information available on this site.
Mission Statement
The purpose of the CCCDA shall be to promote a greater understanding of the meaning of work and careers, to foster career development over the lifespan, and to establish, support, and improve standards for professional service in the field of career guidance and counseling in Connecticut.
These principles are demonstrated through coordination of professional development workshops, connections with elected officials, yearly activities to celebrate Career Development Month in November, and session presentations at the annual CCA conference.
CCCDA Membership Benefits
* Professional Development Workshops provide the opportunity to learn state of the art counseling approaches. Please visit Workshops to learn more about our current workshop schedule.
* Networking Connections facilitate communication between fellow career counselors in a wide variety of counseling specialties and work settings. Annual Membership Directory to assist with networking contacts.
* Skill Development Opportunities allow members to extend and strengthen skills in event planning, management, budgeting, financial planning, and public speaking while serving in a Board of Directors position.
* Internet Resources house centralized web-based information that is most helpful when working with clients in all settings.
* Mentoring for graduate students and new professionals. Certain members have agreed to help counselors-in-training learn more about their work settings and the requirements for entry. Mentoring is designed to ease a new professional’s entry into this field.
* Collaboration with the other divisions of CCA by providing career counseling, guidance, and planning, CCCDA also provides assistance with Professional Resume Development, Job Search Strategies, Networking Opportunities, and Job Leads.
* Scholarships are available to current graduate students to assist in meeting the expense of attending professional development events.
The Connecticut Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (CACES)
CACES is a division of the Connecticut Counseling Association is composed of school counselors, community, agency and mental health counselors as well as private practitioners and counselor educators who are interested in enhancing the quality education and supervision for all counselors.
CACES members recognize that practicum and internship experiences represent one of the most critical segments of graduate students preparation for the counseling profession. Field experience provides students with their first opportunity to apply theories and skills they have learned as well as how to apply ethical problem solving in real life settings.
Interns learn how to conduct themselves consistent with the standards of their profession, critique their own work, learn from the constructive criticism, and develop and increased awareness of their relationship and interactions with fellow workers, supervisors and clients.
Why Learn About Supervision?
Those of us who have supervised counselors over the years can probably remember our first experiences as a supervisor of new counselors. We had many questions. What’s my function here? Is there a better way to supervise, if so what? How can I tell if my intern is learning? What legal and ethical issues do I need to be aware of?
Many supervising counselors have not taken a course in clinical supervision. So when do we learn to supervise? Most counselors take their first clinical supervision class while completing a doctoral program after having already supervised interns.
Supervisors who accept student interns assume many responsibilities for which they often have little formal training. We act both as facilitators and evaluators of our interns. As facilitators, supervisors work to ensure their students are provided with training and learning to enhance professional functioning. As Evaluators we act as gatekeepers to ensure interns practice according to an acceptable standard of care and follow professional codes of ethical conduct.
Finally, supervisors are also responsible for client welfare.
CMHCA is the division of the Connecticut Counseling Association (CCA) that represents counselors whose focus is on providing mental health treatment to clients. Mental health counselors are employed in a variety of settings, such as clinics, hospitals, residential treatment programs, and private practice. CMHCA is also a branch of the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA): www.amhca.org
Who can be a member of CMHCA?
Anyone who is a member of CCA and has an interest in mental health counseling can be a member of CMHCA. This includes students in community counseling programs, masters and doctoral level clinicians, and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs).
What does CMHCA have to offer?
CMHCA holds three to four division meetings a year in various locations across the state that members are encouraged to attend to gain knowledge about what your professional organization is doing for you, to network with colleagues, and to give feedback about your CCA/CMHCA membership. In addition, CMHCA co-sponsors workshops throughout the year, providing continuing education opportunities on topics of interest to mental health counselors. Advocacy for our profession and LPCs is also a main focus of this division.
Other benefits to becoming a member of CMHCA include:
● Discounted attendance to our annual professional development day each fall for the opportunity to network with colleagues and learn the latest practices in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health care issues.
- Continual opportunities to network with fellow counselors and build a strong professional “go to” base.
- Affordable listing on the CCA website counselor referral directory, accessible by other counselors as well as potential clients.
- Up-to-date information about legislation that impacts the profession.
Connecticut Career Counseling and Development Association (CCCDA)
CCCDA provides a wide variety of resources designed to support professional career counselors in their work with clients. Graduate students interested in the career counseling field will also benefit from the information available on this site.
Mission Statement
The purpose of the CCCDA shall be to promote a greater understanding of the meaning of work and careers, to foster career development over the lifespan, and to establish, support, and improve standards for professional service in the field of career guidance and counseling in Connecticut.
These principles are demonstrated through coordination of professional development workshops, connections with elected officials, yearly activities to celebrate Career Development Month in November, and session presentations at the annual CCA conference.
CCCDA Membership Benefits
* Professional Development Workshops provide the opportunity to learn state of the art counseling approaches. Please visit Workshops to learn more about our current workshop schedule.
* Networking Connections facilitate communication between fellow career counselors in a wide variety of counseling specialties and work settings. Annual Membership Directory to assist with networking contacts.
* Skill Development Opportunities allow members to extend and strengthen skills in event planning, management, budgeting, financial planning, and public speaking while serving in a Board of Directors position.
* Internet Resources house centralized web-based information that is most helpful when working with clients in all settings.
* Mentoring for graduate students and new professionals. Certain members have agreed to help counselors-in-training learn more about their work settings and the requirements for entry. Mentoring is designed to ease a new professional’s entry into this field.
* Collaboration with the other divisions of CCA by providing career counseling, guidance, and planning, CCCDA also provides assistance with Professional Resume Development, Job Search Strategies, Networking Opportunities, and Job Leads.
* Scholarships are available to current graduate students to assist in meeting the expense of attending professional development events.
The Connecticut Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (CACES)
CACES is a division of the Connecticut Counseling Association is composed of school counselors, community, agency and mental health counselors as well as private practitioners and counselor educators who are interested in enhancing the quality education and supervision for all counselors.
CACES members recognize that practicum and internship experiences represent one of the most critical segments of graduate students preparation for the counseling profession. Field experience provides students with their first opportunity to apply theories and skills they have learned as well as how to apply ethical problem solving in real life settings.
Interns learn how to conduct themselves consistent with the standards of their profession, critique their own work, learn from the constructive criticism, and develop and increased awareness of their relationship and interactions with fellow workers, supervisors and clients.
Why Learn About Supervision?
Those of us who have supervised counselors over the years can probably remember our first experiences as a supervisor of new counselors. We had many questions. What’s my function here? Is there a better way to supervise, if so what? How can I tell if my intern is learning? What legal and ethical issues do I need to be aware of?
Many supervising counselors have not taken a course in clinical supervision. So when do we learn to supervise? Most counselors take their first clinical supervision class while completing a doctoral program after having already supervised interns.
Supervisors who accept student interns assume many responsibilities for which they often have little formal training. We act both as facilitators and evaluators of our interns. As facilitators, supervisors work to ensure their students are provided with training and learning to enhance professional functioning. As Evaluators we act as gatekeepers to ensure interns practice according to an acceptable standard of care and follow professional codes of ethical conduct.
Finally, supervisors are also responsible for client welfare.