Professional Protection: Safeguarding the Future of Counseling

Episode

In this episode, Dr. Victoria Kress shares her work in advocacy and talks about the importance of counselors engaging in professional protection. She shares her "1-minute elevator speech" and emphasizes that, as counselors, we need to build a strong professional identity. Dr. Kress imparts strategies for "little a" and "big A" advocacy, with the aim of protecting our licensure laws, increasing resources and reimbursement opportunities for counselors, and strengthening our service to clients.

Guest

Victoria E. Kress, Ph.D./LPCC-S, NCC, CCMHC is the director of the clinical mental health and addictions counseling programs at Youngstown State University. She has over 20 years of experience in various clinical settings. She served as a governor appointed member of the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board, and served as the chair of the Counselor Professional Standards Committee. She has been the recipient of over 30 counseling awards, most of which for her scholarship and her leadership, advocacy, and mentorship initiatives. She has received the CACREP award for excellence in advocacy, the ACES’s Distinguished Mentor, Leadership, and Professional Standards Awards, the ACA’s Counselor Educator Advocacy, Distinguished Mentor, Professional Service, Humanitarian and Caring Person, and the Government Relations Awards. She has also received a number of university and Ohio Counseling Association awards including the OCA Counselor of the Year Award. She is a past president of Chi Sigma Iota International and the Ohio Counseling Association, and she is a past ACA Midwest Region chair. She has published over 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and has co-authored 5 books on counseling both adults and children.