Best Practices for Associational Advocacy in the Counseling Profession: A Grounded Theory Investigation

Presenters: Danielle Pester Boyd, PhD; Matthew L. Nice, PhD; Danica G. Hays, PhD; and A. Stephen Lenz, PhD, LPC

Learning Objectives:

Learners will identify the four primary components of the Model for Advancing Professions (MAP) Through Advocacy and describe their role in organizational advocacy.
Learners will describe at least three organizational best practices that support the development, implementation, and sustainability of public policy and advocacy initiatives.
Learners will examine the relationship between organizational infrastructure, stakeholder engagement, and advocacy outcomes within professional counseling organizations.
Learners will apply the MAP Through Advocacy framework to identify strategies for strengthening advocacy efforts within counseling organizations or professional leadership roles.

CE Credit: 1 NBCC Hours; 0 CRCC Hours; 1 WA Hours; 0 APT Hours; 0 NAADAC Hours; 1 NY Hours; 0 Ethics Hours

Danielle Pester Boyd, PhD

Danielle Pester Boyd is a faculty member in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling in the College of Education at Auburn University. Her scholarship focuses on counselor advocacy, leadership, public policy, and professional identity development.

Matthew L. Nice, PhD

Matthew L. Nice is a faculty member in the Department of Counseling at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His research and professional interests include counselor advocacy, public policy, leadership development, and counselor education.

Danica G. Hays, PhD

Danica G. Hays serves in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. An accomplished scholar and leader in counselor education, her research focuses on qualitative research methods, multicultural counseling, counselor development, and leadership.

A. Stephen Lenz, Ph.D

A. Stephen Lenz, Ph.D., LPC is Professor and Chair in the Department of Counseling, Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. As a practitioner-scholar, Dr. Lenz has worked with individuals experiencing acute stress responses and the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder for the last 10-years across community agency and private practice settings. He has been nationally recognized for his work with program evaluation and development for adolescents and young adults as well as contributions to the body of empirical evidence related to treating trauma. He is presently an Assistant Professor, Chair of the Counseling Outcome Research and Program Evaluation Academy at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and President-Elect of the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling, a division of the American Counseling Association. His work has primarily looked at applications of trauma-focused treatments among individuals with PTSD, as well as, modeling the relations between developmental trauma, emergent resilience characteristics, and degree of current well-being.