2022 annual report
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Charting our progress
The BCACC is very grateful for its dedicated volunteers and staff, and its supportive partners and collaborators. Through their efforts and contributions, the BCACC has accomplished much in the past year – a quantum leap in both its strategic and purposeful accomplishments.
Public Protection
The BCACC continued to fulfill its mandate to protect the public through the regulation of its registrants.
Member Services
In 2022, the BCACC delivered unparalleled value to its membership.
Public Education/Access
In the past year the BCACC has undertaken multiple activities to educate the public.
Profession Advocacy
The BCACC continues to take actions to promote and enhance the profession and RCC designation.
Public Protection
The BCACC continued to fulfill its mandate to protect the public through the regulation of its registrants.
It did so by:
1. Determining registration requirements and granting authorized use of the Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) title;
2. Setting standards of practice;
3. Recognizing education programs/courses;
4. Maintaining a newly created member register that everyone can search;
5. Addressing complaints about its registrants.
Registration
The BCACC granted the RCC title to 700 new registrants in 2022.
The RCC designation continues to be recognized by more and more employers and institutions and is sought after by mental health professionals.
Complaints/inquiry summary
The number of public complaints has increased over the years due primarily to the increase in registrants.
However, as a percentage of the overall number of registrants the number of complaints remains in line, if not below, those of other BC health regulatory colleges at less than 1%.
Complaints/inquiry summary
The largest number of complaints received was related to high-conflict family situations. To better protect the public and guide its registrants, the BCACC released a new Standard for Family Law: A Practice Standard for Registered Clinical Counsellors on the Preparation of Family Law Reports and conducted multiple supportive educational workshops in several cities across British Columbia.
Regulatory Modernization
The BCACC undertook more proactive efforts to enhance its public protection measures and to prepare itself and its members for the new Health Professions and Occupations Act.
The BCACC consulted and/or obtained support from multiple stakeholders including the BC Ministry of Health, Provincial and Federal Labour Mobility Ministry Branches, health profession regulatory colleges in BC and from across Canada, and a regulatory modernization steering committee member to validate its regulatory building blocks.
Over the past year the BCACC has launched:
- a Clinical Supervision Program,
- an Entry to Practice Competency framework and a publicly viewable member registry,
- and has presented at the Canadian Network of Agencies for Regulation (CNAR) on the topic of the regulation of Clinical Counselling.
MEMBER SERVICES and support
The BCACC delivered an estimated $75,000,000* in value to its members in the past year through referrals, not including other savings from discounted insurance, professional development opportunities and other affinity programs.
* Assuming 150,000 referrals at $100 per session with an average of 5 sessions per referral.
educational opportunities
To provide multiple opportunities for its members to fulfill their professional development goals and improve their practice, the BCACC also delivered 16 virtual and in-person events to more than 1300 attendees from multiple cities and sites across British Columbia.
Delivering value and connection
By deploying a hybrid of virtual and in-person events throughout BC, the BCACC created accessible opportunities for members to participate and engage.
Queering Your Practice
Working Competently, Affirmingly and Confidently with LGBTQ2IA+ Clients
Ethics Café
Beyond “Self-Care”
Fostering Powerful Practices for Your Own Resilience
Insurance with Mitchell and Abbott
Are you carrying the right insurance?
Beyond “Self-Care”
Fostering Powerful Practices for Your Own Resilience Part 2
Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit
Families, Family Breakdown and the Law
Victoria
Virtual Counsellor Café
Member Orientation
Families, Family Breakdown and the Law
Burnaby
Families, Family Breakdown and the Law
Nelson
Families, Family Breakdown and the Law
Prince George
When Ecological Grief and Collective Trauma Surface in Session
Families, Family Breakdown and the Law
Kelowna
Community in Connection.
A new BCACC discussion space, offered to our RCC communities.
Understanding your Health and Dental benefits
Additionally, the BCACC launched and completed some very significant projects in the past year including:
Approved Clinical Supervisor Program
To enhance the overall practice of the profession and to ensure that Clinical Supervision is being performed by qualified practitioners, the BCACC launched the RCC-ACS designation.
Student category
Due to overwhelming demand from multiple counselling psychology students, the BCACC launched its new student category with multiple competitive benefits. The number of students joining the program exceeded the initial goal set for the program.
Joan Campbell Award
The first recipients of the Award were Gillian Bagan and Pin-Han Hsu. Covering BCACC application and membership fees, criminal record check, and insurance fees for the first year of membership, the Award facilitates enhanced access to the Clinical Counselling profession from under-served communities and supports eligible candidates experiencing financial hardship who would otherwise not be able to join the profession.
New Website & Branding
The BCACC membership was consulted in choosing new branding for the organization and a more full-featured website was launched. The new website meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines set by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium.
Public Education / Access
In the past year the BCACC has engaged in multiple activities to educate the public on various aspects of mental health and continued with its advocacy for improved public access to mental health services.
Public Referrals
Between 150,000 to 200,000 members of the public utilize the BCACC’s Find a Counsellor tool annually to secure the services of a Clinical Counsellor.
Based on the public’s feedback the Find a Counsellor tool was enhanced to improve usability and new features were added.
Publicly Funded Counselling Advisory Committee
The BCACC contributed/participated as a member of a time-limited Advisory Committee comprised of clinical experts, service providers, people with lived and living experience and Indigenous partners as part of the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions’ and the Ministry of Health’s goal to increase access to affordable Mental Health and Substance Use Services (MHSU) in BC.
The Advisory Committee’s purpose was to inform the development of options for a Publicly Funded Counselling model for adults (17+) presenting with “mild-to-moderate” MHSU needs. The BCACC and the Advisory Committee provided strategic guidance and input to both ministries to develop guiding documents and options.
Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund
The BCACC applied for $200,000 in funding to finance Clinical Supervision of mental health providers and students as a means of improving access to mental health services for underserved communities. While the application was not successful, the BCACC remains committed to this concept and intends to seek other sources of funding to support these types of initiatives.
Public Education
Fostering community connection, breaking stigma, and providing empowering information to help people through complexity.
The BCACC revamped its Matters of the Mind program conducting five workshops for the general public with more than 1,200 registrants on the following topics:
Panel Discussion on Domestic Violence during Covid
The BCACC was honoured to have our inaugural webinar conversation facilitated by Maureen McEvoy and featured Tracy Porteous, Susan Robinson and Kristi Yuris.
215 registrants
Helping Teens Who Cut
537 registrants
Holiday Stress: Setting boundaries you can live with
189 registrants
Parenting Youth ADHD
471 registrants
PROFESSION ADVOCACY
The BCACC continues to take actions to promote and enhance the Clinical Counselling/Psychotherapy profession in BC, and the RCC designation in particular, to increase awareness of the need for Mental Health services and to remove or minimize barriers to RCCs’ ability to provide services.
Enhanced Public Relations
A key part of BCACC’s advocacy work was to increase its visibility in the eyes of the public and many other stakeholders through social media and press/media releases.
Participation in Key Events
To increase awareness of the need for mental health services and the role RCCs can play, BCACC attended several events and conferences:
Work Meaningfully Conference
Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of British Columbia and Yukon
Mental Health Conference
BC First Responders
National Conference
Canadian Network of Agencies of Regulation (CNAR)
National Conference
Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE)
Ongoing/New Engagements
To showcase RCCs and remove practice barriers, BCACC met with several stakeholder groups including:
BC Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions
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Crime Victim Assistance Program (CVAP)
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First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)
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Collaboration/
Partnerships
To enhance and advocate for the profession, BCACC engaged in collaborative work and partnerships with the following agencies and organizations:
Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA)
BC Dental Hygienist Association (BCDHA)
Vancouver Division of Family Practice
