Feedback Page
# 4.
The use of "CFT" in Counselor Credentials
Regarding
misleading advertising
of counseling qualifications
Now suppose that a
counselor obtains a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Psychology with a
clinical concentration in the Couple and Family Therapy (CFT)
program track. Setting up a business to do private practice
counseling, he ponders over his name and credentials. "John
Smith, MA" looks awfully bare compared with the existing
competition. So he decides to go with "John Smith, MA, CFT."
Is this an acceptable practice? Or is it imply additional
qualifications therefore misleading to the public? Is it
ethical? Is it professional? I decided to write the
university that issued the degree.
A.
To:
Ormond Smythe, Vice President for Academic
Affairs, Antioch University Seattle
Sent: Thu 1/01/09
Subject: An inquiry about Antioch University
approved degree related acronyms
Dear Ormond Smythe:
I am writing you because of one of your
degree holder's advertising and my interest
in acronyms.
I am the editor of the online "Dictionary of
Initials, Acronyms and Abbreviations Used by
Counselors and Social Workers."
http://www.counselingseattle.com/initials.htm
(or just type "counselor initials" into
www.Google.com.)
I have recently run across someone who
advertises themselves as "John Smith, MA,
CFT" (fictious name) and says s/he has an MA
in Clinical Psychology of Couples &
Family Therapy from Antioch University,
Seattle.
My question is, what acronym would you tell
graduates of your Master of Arts degree from
Antioch University Seattle's School of
Applied Psychology, Counseling and Family
Therapy to use?
Has Antioch approved the use of "MA, CFT"?
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Floyd Else, MA, LMHC, NCC, Webmaster:
http://www.CounselingSeattle.com,
CounselingSeattle LLC, PO Box 6714,
Bellevue, WA 98008-0714
|
B.
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009
15:49:25 -0500
[
emphasis added by webmaster ]
Subject: An inquiry about Antioch
University approved degree related acronyms
To: Floyd Else
CC:
Dr. Paul David
From:
Ormond Smythe
No, Antioch has not authorized the usage you
describe. The individual in question
presumably holds the Antioch degree of M.A.
(Master of Arts) in Psychology, which is one
of seven master's degrees Antioch University
is authorized to offer in the State of
Washington.* Within that degree program
there are three clinical concentrations
available (i.e. program tracks designed to
prepare students for work as mental health
practitioners). These are--
Child,
Couple, and Family Therapy (CCFT),
which was known until half a dozen years
ago simply as Couple and Family Therapy
(CFT). This program is accredited by
the Commission on Accreditation for
Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE),
and its graduates are eligible for
licensure in Washington as marriage and
family therapists (LMFT).
Mental
Health Counseling (MHC), whose
graduates are eligible for licensure in
Washington as mental health counselors (LMHC).
Art
Therapy (AT), which students may
take in conjunction with either of the
other two clinical concentrations but
not as a stand-alone concentration.
This program is approved by the
American Art Therapy Association (AATA),
and its graduates are eligible to become
Art Therapist Registered (ATR) through
the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB).
Because the AT track is offered only in
conjunction with licensure tracks in
CCFT and MHC, graduates are also
eligible to become Washington State
licensed Marriage and Family Therapists
(LMFT) or Mental Health Counselors (LMHC),
as appropriate to the particular program
of studies completed.
In addition to these three concentrations,
the M.A. in Psychology is also offered with
a non-clinical concentration in Integrative
Studies in Psychology (ISP), a flexible,
individualized option for students wishing
to complete a graduate program in psychology
without entering upon a practice in a mental
health discipline.
Besides the M.A. in Psychology, the School
of Applied Psychology, Counseling, and
Family Therapy also offers a Doctor of
Psychology (Psy.D.) degree in clinical
psychology. A separate master's degree, the
M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is
offered through the Antioch Center for
Creative Change (C3), not by the School of
Applied Psychology.
Since the above-listed M.A. psychology
concentrations are not separately authorized
degrees, the proper way for a graduate to
list his/her Antioch University credentials
is simply M.A., or M.A. in Psychology.
Those of our graduates who hold the
appropriate approvals or licensures may also
use the abbreviations LMFT, RTA, or LMHC
with their names, but these represent state
licensures or certifications by professional
organizations, not academic credentials
conferred by the University. I have
consulted with Dr. Paul David, chair of our
CCFT program, and he confirms that we do not
endorse or encourage the use of initials
after practitioners' names except where
those initials correspond to a degree,
license, or certification that has been
bestowed on the holder by an appropriate
authority. Hence an identification of the
form "John Smith, M.A., C.F.T." would not be
appropriate because it could mislead the
reader into thinking that Smith holds some
certification or licensure which in fact
does not exist. Neither would "John Smith,
M.A., M.F.T." normally be appropriate,
unless Smith holds a license in marriage and
family therapy from some state (such as
California) which uses the M.F.T.
designation. If Smith is licensed as a
marriage and family therapist in Washington,
he could use "John Smith, M.A., L.M.F.T."
Regardless of his licensure status, Mr.
Smith could say simply "John Smith, M.A."
--and he could then, on a second line of his
letterhead, business card, or other
document, say "marriage and family therapy"
or "couples and family therapy" to indicate
his area of specialized practice. It is our
understanding that a presentation in that
form would be permissible because, spelled
out fully rather than abbreviated as a set
of initials, it would not carry the
implication of a specialized license or
credential.
Just to clarify, I should
note that Antioch's Child, Couple, and
Family Therapy M.A. concentration, though it
is accredited by COAMFTE and can lead to
state LMFT licensure, is not itself called a
Marriage and Family Therapy program
principally because of Antioch's historic
commitment to serve client families and
couples who may not be involved in a formal
marital relationship --including clients who
are lesbian or gay. For that reason some of
our graduates have chosen to advertise
themselves as "couple and family
therapists," or as "child, couple, and
family therapists," rather than as "marriage
and family therapists." Antioch respects
the choice made by its graduates, as long as
no specific licensure claims are associated
with these designations, and as long as the
designations are not given in a form which
could be misread to suggest holding a
license which the practitioner does not in
fact hold.
-O.S.
Ormond Smythe
Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Dean of the Faculty
Antioch University Seattle
2326 Sixth Avenue
Seattle WA 98121
206-268-4108
|
C.
To: Ormond Smythe
Subject: Thanks for your clarification
Sent: 1/06/09
Ormond Smythe
Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Dean of the Faculty
Antioch University Seattle
Dear Mr Smythe:
Thank you for your prompt and unambiguous
response. I greatly appreciate your taking
the time and effort to research and respond
to my inquiry.
This matter has become a bone of contention
between myself and a local counseling
center.
I agree with you that advertising their
staff's professional credentials using MHC,
MFT, and CFT is misleading and therefore
both unprofessional and unethical.
The counseling center, unfortunately, has
jumped to defend the practice, saying that
there is nothing wrong with it.
[ See:
http://www.counselingseattle.com/consumer/cedar-park-church.htm
]
Sincerely,
Floyd Else, MA, LMHC, NCC, Webmaster:
http://www.CounselingSeattle.com,
CounselingSeattle LLC, PO Box 6714,
Bellevue, WA 98008-0714
|
This was page four of
Feedback Letters. To Read Page One of
Feedback Letters
You Can Help ↓
Call to
Action:
CounselingSeattle.com holds
that it is unethical and unprofessional for counselors to advertise
their counseling or coaching practice with the misleading degree
acronyms or meaningless generic initials. In doing so they are falsely
implying that they have some special
training certification or licensure beyond their degree
and deliberately mislead people searching for a counselor--people who are
in pain and despair, distressed, often temporarily or chronically
mentally ill, or their loved ones who are searching for qualified help.
[Please see the extracts from Washington law and various professional
ethics codes and see if you don't agree!]
If you agree with CounselingSeattle.com that counselors,
therapists or coaches who continue to use the unauthorized or misleading
generic professional initials such "BA, MFT," "MA,
MHC," or "MA, CFT"
are confusing and misleading the public, please help us
by communicating your concern. Give these counselors a
call or an email and let them know how YOU feel about it--and why!
Perhaps YOU with your
personal experiences either as a user of mental health services or as a
mental health professional, can explain it to them in a way that they
will understand. Your help is appreciated.
Floyd Else, MA, LMHC,
Webmaster
|
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