Article archive / October 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 2. Source pages: 1, 8, 12.
963 Attend Standing-Room-Only Conference Record Number Attend Louisiana Counseling Assn Convention
The Louisiana Counseling Association (LCA) hosted 963 attendees, a record number, at its 45th Annual Conference held last month in New Orleans.
“Not only did conference swell beyond belief,” said conference organizer and Executive Director Diane Austin, “but LCA’s membership has increased. Last year at this time, we had just over 1800 members, we are now over 2000. It is certainly a welcome change but I am not sure of the reasons.”
The conference included seminars, presentations, and reports, which were chosen carefully by the selection committee, explained President Bruce Galbraith told the Times.
“From the comments I heard,” Galbraith noted, “our members spoke of the quality of the sessions. We were pleased to offer our members a variety of sessions that met the needs of mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, professional school counselors, college counselors, religious counselors, addiction counselors and career counselors,” he said.
The LCA is composed of many divisions, and there different educational goals were addressed by the variety of presentations at this year’s Convention. These are:
• Louisiana Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
• Louisiana Association for Multi-Cultural Counseling and Development
• Louisiana Association of Marriage and Family Counselors
• Louisiana Association for Spiritual, Religious, and Ethical Values in Counseling
• Louisiana College Counseling Association
• Louisiana Career Development Association
• Louisiana Mental Health Counselors Association
Louisiana School • Counselors Association
Louisiana Association of Addiction and Offender Counselors
• Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Issues of Louisiana
• Louisiana Counselors for Social Justice
• Counselor Intern Association of Louisiana
Joan Fischer, Chair of the LCA Professional Development Committee, told the Times, “This conference was the most comprehensive offered yet, with over 60 presentations offered from Saturday through Tuesday. Participants could earn continuing education credits on topics as diverse as ethics, supervision, diagnosis, school counseling, marriage counseling, etc.”
Fischer, a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and supervisor, has presented over twenty-five workshops herself. She is director of the Thomas E. Chambers Counseling and Training Center at Our Lady of Holy Cross College.
The response from attendees was very positive, Fischer noted, and her team is still in the process of tabulating results.
Galbraith explained, “To see so many counselors under one roof was exciting.” Also, he pointed out the high level of involvement of the students from around the state. “To be able to meet so many grad students, to witness their efforts from volunteering to work in helping put on the conference, to presenting in sessions and to interacting with students from various universities and colleges in the state was impressive.”
Ms. Austin said that the LCA growth, with membership increasing from 1800 last year to 2000 this year, seems related to a number of changes. “Louisiana's Counseling Educators are doing a great job of teaching the graduate students about professionalism and the purpose of the professional association,” she noted.
Also, LCA accepted a petition from counselor interns to start a new division and this is helping to address their needs, she said. The membership in this division has doubled in the last year, Austin noted.
Austin also said that BESE (Board of Elementary and Secondary Education) adopting the Louisiana Model as best practices, and the new compass Evaluation for Professional Schoo Counselors, may have also led to some of the growth in the association.
“The Government Relations Committee should be renamed the Advocacy Committee,” she said, “because in addition to working on legislative issues, they are also working in other areas to advocate for the various specialties.”
Galbraith told the Times that one of the high points for him was the opportunity to speak with so many members and the positive views voiced about the work of the association. “That makes me think that our leadership is working hard to meet the mission of our Association,” he said.
“… experiencing the camaraderie and congeniality among all of our members. Observing how no matter what field our counselors are engaged in that there is a common idea that we must provide the best service we can to the population that we serve,” he said.
“Also, our strong leadership, from our division presidents to our committee chairpersons, forge a team effort, and our membership has come to circle the dates to attend.”
Louisiana Counseling Association drew record numbers to their September Convention in New Orleans. Above, a “Best of Show” presentation by Dr. Thomas Estis called, “Defeat and Hope.”
Christopher Monceaux (L), graduate student at LSUS, and Dr. Meredith Nelson, Associate Professor in the LSUS Psychology Department, presented “Genes, Environment, and Gene-Environment Interplay: The Future of Mental Health Treatment?” at the recent Counseling Association Convention in New Orleans.
Naomi Pittman interprets for a presentation at the Louisiana Counseling Association convention held last month in New Orleans. Ms. Pittman works with Lighthouse Louisiana, a group providing services, training, employment and advocacy for persons with vision loss and also hearing impairments. Mr. Clinton LaBerge, Deaf Services Manager, explained to the Times that Lighthouse has been providing services in New Orleans since 1915. In 2012 they expanded services to include individuals with hearing loss.
LCA Presidents gathered at the recent Convention of the Louisiana Counseling Association. (L to R) Past-President Paul Ceasar, President-Elect Tim Fields, and First President-Elect John Crawford. Current President Bruce Galbraith, told the Times, “We have a custom that on the Monday night of conference all of the Past Presidents are invited to get together as a group and share stories of their Presidency. It was great to have twelve Past Presidents sitting in a room sharing the highs, the lows and the funny things that were part of their term.”
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