The National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates (NBCC) is a national certifying organization for professional counselors in the human services in the United States. It is an independent, not-for-profit credentialing organization based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The purpose of the organization is to establish and monitor a national certification system, identify the certified counselors who have and to maintain a register of them. Its NCC and MAC certifications are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the accrediting organization of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA).
NBCC has more than 48,000 certified counselors, in the U.S. and more than 40 countries. Its examinations for professional counselors are used by all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to accredit counselors on a state level.[1]
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In 1982, NBCC was created by a committee of the American Counseling Association (ACA). The committee created NBCC to be an independent accrediting organization. NBCC and ACA have strong historical ties and work together to further the profession of counseling. However, the two organizations are separate with different goals: the ACA concentrates on membership association activities such as conferences, professional development, publications, and government relations, while the NBCC concentrates on promoting quality counseling through certification and promotes professional counseling to private and government organizations.
The certification program recognizes counselors who have met predetermined standards in their training, experience and performance on the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE).
NBCC's flagship certification is the National Certified Counselor (NCC). There are currently over 48,000 NCCs in the U.S. and many other countries.
The requirements include:
The NCC is a voluntary certification and is not required for supervised or independent practice, it identifies counselors who have voluntarily sought and met established standards. It is not, however, a substitute for state-mandated licensure. Many states use the NCE examination as part of their licensing requirements, which may provide license portability for counselors who wish to practice in more than one state.
In addition to the NCC, the NBCC also administers three specialty certifications, each requiring the NCC credential as a prerequisite or co-requisite, specialized graduate-level coursework, and passing of an examination in the specialty area.
It has discontinued two other specialty credentials, the National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC) and the National Certified Gerontological Counselor (NCGC). There are several hundred counselors who hold these credentials, but they are no longer offered to new applicants.
Non-counseling certifications are administered by NBCC's sister organization The Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE)[2].
Obtaining national certfications from NBCC aids counselors in strengthening their professional identify of counselor. This is particularly important for professional school counselors who are often viewed as teachers. While school counselors hold the dual roles of educator and counselor (Schellenberg, 2008), they are first and foremost counselors with specialized training--and sometimes the only counselor a child or adolescent may ever see. Professional school counselors who wish to better align themselves with mental health professionals are encouraged to obtain national voluntary counseling credentials. The School Counselor’s Study Guide for Credentialing Exams (Schellenberg, 2012), published by Routledge, is the only study guide currently on the market that is based on the ASCA School Counselor Competencies, CACREP Standards, NBCC NCSCE content requirements, and the NCATE and NBPTS Standards. The study guide prepares users for the NCSCE, Praxis II School Counseling Specialty Exam, NBPTS School Counseling national certification exam, Comprehensive School Counselor Education program exams, and State certification exams for professional school counseling. Highlights of the text include: case scenarios, guided reflections, end of chapter and full-length practice tests with justifications for correct and incorrect responses, and a foreword written by the ASCA President for 2012-2013. The author of the study guide is Dr. Rita Schellenberg, an associate professor and director of the school counseling program for Liberty University. Dr. Schellenberg has over a decade of experience as a licensed professional school counselor in public schools at both the elementary and secondary levels and is also a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. Her national credentials include National Certified School Counselor (NCSC), National Certified School Counselor (NCSC), Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC), and Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS). More information about the study guide can be found at www.thenewschoolcounselor.com.