News

OREGON COUNSELING ASSOCIATION is pleased to announce the 

2023/2024 EMERGING LEADER (EL) PROGRAM 

Through a competitive application process, ORCA will select one outstanding newly licensed LPC or LMFT (eligible up to the first five years of licensure) to participate in the EL Program.  The selected individual will enhance leadership skills to support ORCA’s state-wide efforts promoting the counseling profession.  

APPLY HERE

As an Emerging Leader, you will engage in leadership development, and opportunities focused on fostering collaboration and collegiality across counseling degrees and specialties, nurturing a common purpose and a sense of unity within the counseling profession, and advocating for counselors and their clients. 

The year-long program equips you to seek nomination for ORCA’s 3-year term of President-Elect, President, and Past-President.  Only licensed counselors and therapists may be elected to this leadership term by ORCA's bylaws. ORCA seeks to promote the development of effective leaders who feel prepared to assume this executive board position.  

Emerging Leaders should demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities such as excellence in counseling, service, and professional leadership. EL awardees must commit to the one-year EL program.  As an EL participant, you will receive comprehensive benefits, including complimentary ORCA membership, CE trainings, and mentorship by another board member.    

To Apply:

The EL program is focused on early-career licensed counselors & therapists. To be eligible, you must be newly licensed up to the first five years of licensure.  Both LPCs and LMFTs are eligible to apply.  If selected, you must fulfill the one-year EL program commitment.  ORCA encourages individuals who identify with marginalized communities to apply.

After completing the program, EL awardees are then eligible for nomination to the ORCA President-Elect position and future service with the ORCA Board

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

You will be asked to submit the following:

• 1-page professional statement addressing how your professional experiences and future goals are aligned with the ORCA Mission.  Please include proposed initiatives you would like to develop as a leader of ORCA that would positively support the counseling profession and mental health advocacy in our state. 

• Professional resume or CV highlighting experiences in leadership, counseling, and service.

• License date, type, and license number

EL Program Benefits

The ORCA Emerging Leaders Program connects early-career professionals with leaders and board members from ORCA.  The EL awardee will also be awarded the following:

• Complimentary 1-year membership to ORCA. ($111 value)

• Complimentary registration to the Annual ORCA Conference (over $250 value)

• Complimentary registration to ORCA CE events such as Lobby Week and Ethics CE trainings (up to $200 value)

• Recognition in ORCA Newsletter 

• ORCA Board mentorship, along with ORCA Board voting ability

• Opportunity to help the EL committee with the development and execution of subsequent year’s Emerging Leader Programs. 

Requirements of EL Awardee

ORCA Emerging Leader Awardees will commit to a one-year program and will be required to attend the following: 

• a minimum 3 ORCA meetings within the fiscal year

• a minimum of 1 COPACT meeting within the fiscal year.

• EL Awardee will be assigned to work on an ORCA project and/or committee to provide service to ORCA. 

Timeline for EL Program selection and participation

The following outline is the timeline for the successful development and execution of the ORCA Emerging Leaders Program.

• February 1,  2023:  Call for applicants

• March 1, 2023: The application window closes, and the review of applicants begins. 

• April 1,  2023:  Committee Meets to decide an EL awardee

• April 30, 2023:  ORCA Emerging Leader awardee is notified, an announcement of the Emerging Leader awardee, EL invited to May Retreat. 

• May 20, 2023:  At ORCA Retreat, the EL awardee’s one-year term begins. 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Questions? Please contact: pastpresident@or-counseling.org

Dear colleagues,

Conversion therapy (also known as reparative therapy, reorientation therapy, sexual orientation change efforts, or gender identity change efforts) is the discredited practice of using "therapy" or "counseling" to "treat" same-gender/sex attraction, gender non-conformity, and those identifying as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual or gender minority. The Oregon Counseling Association opposes conversion therapy: It does not work, it causes harm, and it violates the ACA and AAMFT Codes of Ethics. It is an attempt to treat something that is not a mental illness; something that does not need treatment. 

Please see the information below on this momentous bill and follow ORSAIGE and ORCA for updates.

Thank you for your support.

Dr. Kaj Kayij-Wint, LMFT, ORCA President

Hello ORCA and COPACT members, 

We at the Oregon Counseling Association (ORCA) and the Coalition of Professional Associations of Counselors and Therapists (COPACT), the legislative and advocacy arm of ORCA, are deeply saddened and concerned about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. No matter what each of our individual politics are, human and constitutional rights have been stripped from many persons living in the United States. The effects of overturning Roe v. Wade will disproportionately harm marginalized members of our communities who already face systemic issues in healthcare, housing, education, and more.  

ORCA and COPACT stand with people who no longer have the right to make their own healthcare decisions for their bodies and lives. In our own ACA Code of Ethics, we value the autonomy of our clients and their ability to make informed decisions for their healthcare. Along with the ACA, we recognize there will be serious repercussions for members of our communities affected by this decision and their families in regards to education, employment, economic security, and physical and mental health. 

While access to safe and legal abortions and reproductive care are still available in Oregon, that is not the case for our colleagues, friends, and family in other states. We seek to provide you with resources for yourselves, your clients, your students, and our community—please see below.

ORCA and COPACT are holding space for all of you. Our mission is to empower counselors and therapists, as well as those we advocate with and for every day. We will continue to do this important work, not just of improving access to quality mental healthcare, but also striving to support the basic human rights of our clients and community members. 

Please take care of yourselves and each other, 

Gianna Russo-Mitma, LMFT, COPACT President 

Dr. Jeffrey Christensen, LPC, ORCA President 

Dr. Kaj Kayij-Wint, LMFT, ORCA President Elect 

Tever Nickerson, LPC, COPACT Treasurer & ORCA Past President 

Greg Peterson, LPC, ORCA Pres Elect Elect  

Oregon Resources: 

Ethics consultation for clinicians: 

https://or-counseling.org/Ethics-Consultation-Request 

Forward Together: Rights, Recognition, and Resources For All Families supporting political action in Oregon: 

https://forwardtogether.org 

Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-columbia-willamette 

Oregon Abortion Access Fund

https://nwaafund.org/info/oregon

OHSU Center for Women’s Health

https://www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/abortion

National Supports: 

Ethics support for clinicians: 

https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics 

Planned Parenthood: 

https://www.plannedparenthood.org 

Resources for Teens:

Teen Source:

https://www.teensource.org/

Planned Parenthood - Info for Teens:

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens

Center for Young Women’s Health:

https://youngwomenshealth.org/

Power to Decide:

https://powertodecide.org/teen-talk

We are pleased to announce the 

2022/2023 EMERGING LEADER (EL) PROGRAM 

Through a competitive application process, ORCA will select one outstanding newly licensed LPC or LMFT (eligible up to the first 5 years of licensure) to participate in the EL Program.  The selected individual will gain leadership skills to support ORCA’s state-wide efforts promoting the counseling profession.  

As an Emerging Leader you will engage in leadership development and opportunities focused on fostering collaboration and collegiality across counseling degrees and specialties, nurturing a common purpose and a sense of unity within the counseling profession and advocating for counselors and their clients. 

The year-long program equips you to seek nomination for ORCA’s 3-year term of President-Elect, President, and Past-President.  By ORCA’s bylaws only licensed counselors and therapists may be elected to this leadership term. ORCA seeks to promote the development of effective leaders who feel prepared to assume this executive board position.  

Emerging Leaders should demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities such as excellence in counseling, service, and leadership in the profession. EL awardees must commit to the one year EL program.  As an EL participant you will receive comprehensive benefits including complimentary ORCA membership, CE trainings and mentorship by another board member.    

To Apply:

The EL program is focused on early-career licensed counselors & therapists. To be eligible, you must be newly licensed up to the first 5 years of licensure.  Both LPCs and LMFTs are eligible  to apply.  If selected, you must fulfill the one year EL program commitment.  ORCA encourages individuals who identify with marginalized communities to apply.

After completing the program, EL awardees are then eligible for nomination to the ORCA President-Elect position and future service with the ORCA Board

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

You will be asked to submit:

• 1-page professional statement addressing how your professional experiences and future goals are aligned with the ORCA Mission.  Please include proposed initiatives you would like to develop as a leader of ORCA that would positively support the counseling profession and mental health advocacy in our state. 

• Professional resume or CV highlighting experiences in leadership, counseling, and service.

• License date, type and license number

EL Program Benefits

The ORCA Emerging Leaders Program connects early-career professionals with leaders and board members from ORCA.  The EL awardee will also be awarded:

• Complimentary 1-year membership to ORCA. ($111 value)

• Complimentary registration to the Annual ORCA Conference (over $250 value)

• Complimentary registration to ORCA CE events such as Lobby Week and Ethics CE trainings (up to $200 value)

• Recognition in ORCA Newsletter 

• ORCA Board mentorship

• Opportunity to help EL committee with the development and execution of subsequent year’s Emerging Leader Programs. 

Requirements of EL Awardee

ORCA Emerging Leader Awardees will commit to a one-year program and will be required to attend: 

• a minimum 3 ORCA meetings within the fiscal year

• a minimum of 1 COPACT meeting within the fiscal year.

• EL Awardee will be assigned to work on an ORCA project and/or committee to provide service to ORCA.

Timeline for EL Program selection and participation

The following outline is the timeline for successful development and execution of the ORCA Emerging leaders Program.

• April 4, 2022:  Call for applicants

• May 1, 2022:  Application window closes, and review of applicants begins. 

• June 6, 2022:  ORCA Emerging Leader awardee is notified. 

• July 2022:  ORCA’s announcement of the Emerging Leader awardee and beginning of ORCA’s fiscal year. The EL awardee’s one year term begins. 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Questions? Please contact: pastpresident@or-counseling.org

https://www.or-counseling.org

Nominations are now open for ORCA board leadership!

The Oregon Counseling Association is seeking nominations for the elected positions of President-Elect and Treasurer! 

This is your chance to get involved with professional development decisions and activities impacting counselors and therapists in Oregon. ORCA is dedicated to promoting the counseling profession by being responsive to our members needs, fostering collaboration and collegiality across counseling degrees and specialties, nurturing a common purpose and a sense of unity within the counseling profession and advocating for counselors and their clients.  

Board Positions open for election

PRESIDENT-ELECT
We are looking for licensed LPCs or LMFTs (or soon to be licensed) who are passionate about leadership in this field and our organization. You must be a member of ORCA & ACA, or plan to be.  This person must commit to a 3-year term on the ORCA Executive Council and attend Board meetings every other month.  The 3-year Presidential term is fulfilled by serving consecutively 1 year as President-Elect, 1 year as President and 1 year as Past-President. 

TREASURER
The scope of this elected office includes the primary responsibility of overseeing the management and reporting of the Association’s finances. The Treasurer presides over the Finance Committee (which includes, at a minimum, the Executive Council). The Treasurer must be knowledgeable with the use of Quickbooks.  This is a 2-year Board term.  This person must commit to attending the ORCA Executive Council meetings and ORCA Board meetings every other month.

If you are interested, you may self-nominate or encourage a colleague to nominate you. To be eligible, you must have attended a minimum of one ORCA Board meeting prior to the elections. The next ORCA Board meeting is scheduled for March 12, 2022. 

Nominations are due by March 31, 2022 by 5pm PST. You can complete the nomination form: Here

Voting will take place between April 4 and April 11, 2022, with the announcement of election results the week of April 18. New board officers are sworn in at the ORCA May retreat.  The leadership positions begin July 2022.  

Both positions are required to join ORCA and the American Counseling Association.  The President-Elect position requires you be licensed as an LPC or LMFT (or will license during your Pres-Elect term).

Hello all,

Please see the below information on the No Surprises Act from the COPACT Board.

COPACT: Info on the No Surprises Act & Good Faith Estimate

NOTE: This is NOT legal advice. This is information from an ethics CE that COPACT is relaying to Oregon clinicians. There seems to be new/more information everyday, so be aware that this information may be updated. The forms from HHS/CMS are "models" or "templates" to be used and are subject to change. These are not definitive answers at this time, rather a guide on how to start understanding and implementing this law into your practices. As clinicians, we are currently attempting to make a good faith effort and there is no perfect answer.

Yes, this is meant for LMFTs, LPCs, LMFT Associates, LPC Associates, etc., and not just Psychologists.

If the No Surprises Act is news to you, please catch up here. 

All of our info below came from a training by Becky Beaton-York, PhD & Ethicist from The Knowledge Tree and her malpractice insurer The Trust, who is not affiliated or partnered with COPACT or ORCA. 

AAMFT has a blog post here.

First and foremost, the biggest issue:

We know that we cannot ethically predict how long treatment for a client will take. The Good Faith Estimate (GFE) is just a fee structure for a year of sessions to give clients an idea of what they’re about to spend, so they’re not hit with surprise medical or mental health bills that they cannot afford (hence, No Surprise Act). It’s a way to be more transparent about your fees with clients (yes, even though it’s probably already on your Informed Consent & Fee Agreements).

Acronyms to know before reading this:

OMB = Office of Management & Budget

HHS = U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services

GFE = Good Faith Estimate

Takeaway & things to know:

So far (and this could absolutely change, even in the days ahead) this is meant for clients who are uninsured or using cash pay/out of pocket (whether they are insured or not)

Just because there is a grace period and it won’t likely be enforced until July 1, 2022, we need to start complying with the law and ethics of this ASAP

If you don’t have a Tax ID number (EIN), it’s a good idea to get one now

Ask each client if they have insurance or plan to use it for your sessions

Your Good Faith Estimate (GFE) must be a separate document from your Informed Consent

You must give any new clients and existing clients this GFE within 3 days of their next appointment/ASAP

You do not need to give a diagnosis or diagnosis code on this GFE document

If we don’t provide this form, we can potentially be fined by a licensing board

Clients sign this even though it’s not a contract, and you’ll keep it in their file for 7 years just like clinical records

You must also go over the GFE verbally with clients

Use the existing forms from HHS to avoid pitfalls and fill it out specifically to your practice/work (OMB Control Number 0938-1401, per HHS)

Your GFE with your client will include:

-    A letter and 2 main forms:

-    Letter: Model Disclosure Notice Regarding Patient Protections Against Surprise Billing

-   Forms: Standard Notice & Consent Document with 1) Surprise Billing & Protection Form and 2) Good Faith Estimate

-   Various CPT codes and their cost per session

-    Estimate for 1 full year of sessions - do this GFE annually - if a client plans to attend monthly, create a specific GFE for them

-    The estimate amount must be within $400 of the actual cost (cannot exceed it)

-    Any time you increase your fees, you must create a new GFE for each client

You will need to post this form to your website and/or in your office physically:

Form: Model Disclosure Notice Regarding Patient Protections Against Surprise Billing

Forms in other languages?

The HHS has not uploaded forms in anything other than English unfortunately.

What is next?

There may be a Part 2 rolling out after March 31, 2022 from HHS and OMB.

Resources:

Training by Becky Beaton-York, PhD & Ethicist from The Knowledge Tree and her malpractice insurer The Trust

AAMFT Blog Post

Click here for a template for a Good Faith Estimate form *note that this document may have formatting issues

Click here for a template for a Standard Notice and Consent form

Click here for a template for a Letter to Clients

Click here for a Website Office Disclosure Notice form

If you have further questions or comments, please Contact COPACT.

Happy 2022, members!

Many of us were surprised when, towards the end of 2021, we learned about provisions of the No Surprises Act (passed in Oct 2021) which took effect on Jan 1, 2022. The Act requires health care providers to supply any uninsured, out-of-network, or self-paying clients with a written Good Faith Estimate for health care services, either when scheduling care or when the client requests an estimate.

Our professional code of ethics already stipulates that we must inform clients about fees and billing practices.  How this new federal requirement will apply in Oregon has yet to be fully explained. ORCA and COPACT are working diligently to clarify how this will play out for our profession in Oregon. 

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, the ACA has released a brief statement on the impact of the No Surprises Act on behavioral health providers, as has the AAMFT.

It is with the greatest sadness that the Oregon Counseling Association announces the passing of longtime friend and former board member Roy Huggins. Roy served for 5 years on the board of the Oregon Mental Health Counselors Association (a precursor to ORCA) and then as the Oregon Counseling Association's Technology Committee Chair.

The company he founded, Person-Centered Tech, is a partner of ORCA and frequently sponsors our events, often presented by Roy. Roy had been been a regular presenter for our CE trainings and workshops focused on Ethics, Telehealth and the effective use of technology in counseling. He consulted on these issues both with ORCA and counselors and therapists nation-wide.

A memorial page for the counseling community to  share and read memories, share and view pictures, and listen to Spotify playlists of music Roy loved and a GoFundMe supporting Roy's wife are linked below.

https://royhuggins.wixsite.com/remembering-roy/

https://www.gofundme.com/f/surviving-the-loss-of-roy-huggins

The 2021 ORCA Awards were presented at this year's annual conference in Ashland on November 12. Read more about this year's award winners below:

The Leona Tyler Award 
Dr. Teresa McDowell

This award is designed to recognize counselors who have made outstanding contributions to the profession and whose work has had statewide implications for counseling. Dr. Leona E. Tyler was Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Oregon. Her many contributions to our profession, including research, writing, teaching and supervision of graduate students, attained both national and international acclaim. The award was established in 1967, and was initially presented to Dr. Tyler, announcing that in her honor an annual award was being established by the Association. It is ORCA’s highest award.

Distinguished Service Award

Tever Nickerson

This award recognizes persons or groups who have contributed substantially to the Association and the counseling profession. This award is traditionally presented to Association members. However, non-members such as legislators, school officials, agency administrators, or others in the larger community may also receive the award for outstanding contributions to the Association. 

The Human Rights Award
Keely Helmick

Dr. David Capuzzi, former counselor educator at Portland State University, established this award in 1986-87, during his year as President of the American Association for Counseling and Development (now the American Counseling Association–ACA). As a state branch of ACA, the Oregon Counseling Association believes this award is one opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to respecting and fostering human dignity.  The award is presented to members who have demonstrated an exemplary level of professional and personal commitment in the areas of human rights and the advancement of human dignity.

Larry S. Conner Distinguished Public Advocate Award

Charmagne Westcott

This award honors those who have made outstanding contributions to ORCA’s public policy and advocacy efforts on behalf of LPCs, LMFTs, and all of the people we serve. This award may honor those who have worked to pass an important piece of legislation that advanced access to quality mental health care for all Oregonians, or who have effectively protected LPCs and LMFTs in the legislature, or who have successfully worked with government agencies on the state or federal level to enhance professional counseling and marriage and family therapy.

Every year, the Oregon Counseling Association takes time to recognize individuals in our state who have made outstanding contributions to our Association and/or our profession. The ORCA Board is actively seeking your nominations for the following awards: the Leona Tyler Award, the Human Rights Award, the Distinguished Service Award, and the Distinguished Public Advocate Award.

The Oregon Counseling Association is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2021 Annual Counseling Awards are open now through Sept. 24!

To nominate an award recipient or to learn more about the awards, please click here.