Conference Sketch

American Counseling Association Conference 2003 occurred this spring from March 21 to 25. Even though it was held in Anaheim, California [the home of Disneyland], this was no Mickey-Mouse conference. At this conference, ACA celebrated its 50th birthday with tribute to the growth of the counseling profession and to its leaders. During the conference, there occurred 474 workshops, as well as 44 half- and full-day Learning Institutes! The total delegate-count … at 2500…was lower than previous ACA conferences, partially due to the Iraqi conflict. This war was the content of the introductory comments in all plenary addresses and workshops. There was also a marked reduction in the number of foreign delegates. The Canadian representation has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Our acknowledged skill set in distance-education and e-learning is evident in workshop discussions.

The workshop topics offered the full spectrum: career counseling/education, substance-abuse, assessment, racial equity, clinical psychology, lesbigay issues, assessment, program/curriculum design, group counseling, rehabilitation, social advocacy, trauma/stress, and spirituality. The target-population of the workshop topics ranged from toddlers to seniors.

Over 80 exhibitors offered physical and virtual [web-based] products. The most popular area in the Exhibit Hall was actually was the ACA-sponsored cybercafe. Delegates were confined to 15 minute-access to peruse emails; there was always a queue of delegates!

I shall be highlighting the content of certain workshops in my September Cybercounsellor e-column [hosted on the Ontario School Counsellors Association website:www.osca.ca/cybercounsellor/index.htm

Next year’s ACA Conference is in Kansas City; details will be posted on their website:www.counseling.org