The American Mental Health Counselors Association

The American Mental Health Counselors Association: Reflection on 30 Historic Years

“…Messina and Spisso joined with Gary Seiler and Jim Hiett, also in Florida, in an attempt to establish a new division within APGA. Messina contacted then-APGA President Thelma Daley for information on what needed to be done to establish a new division (Weikel, 1985(Weikel, , 1994.…”

“…With strong pro and con sentiments, the AMHCA membership voted 51% to 49% in November 1977 to become a division of the APGA. During this time, Steve Lindenberg was voted the new president-elect of the AMHCA (Weikel, 1985(Weikel, , 1994.…”

“…Many of AMHCA's current priorities were initially developed at the Columbia meeting, for example, licensure laws for mental health counselors in those states that did not yet have them, obtaining third party payments from health insurance plans for services rendered by mental health counselors, defining private practice standards for mental health counselors, obtaining "full parity" for mental health counselors with other "core providers" of mental health services (psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and psychiatric nurses), provision of treatment to special populations, such as the elderly and mentally retarded. (Hershenson & Power, 1987, p. 51; see also Weikel, 1985) The AMHCA leadership was informed later that month that the APGA Board had voted to make AMHCA its 13th division, effective July 1, 1978; Jim Messina, who was president of AMHCA at that time became a member of the APGA Board. Although the move to the APGA did not result in all AMHCA members joining the newly formed division, AMHCA's membership quickly rose back to 1,500 and continued to show strong growth in the membership rolls over the next few years (Weikel, 1994).…”

“…(Hershenson & Power, 1987, p. 51; see also Weikel, 1985) The AMHCA leadership was informed later that month that the APGA Board had voted to make AMHCA its 13th division, effective July 1, 1978; Jim Messina, who was president of AMHCA at that time became a member of the APGA Board. Although the move to the APGA did not result in all AMHCA members joining the newly formed division, AMHCA's membership quickly rose back to 1,500 and continued to show strong growth in the membership rolls over the next few years (Weikel, 1994).…”

“…The history of AMHCA and mental health counseling as a profession has been previously covered by Weikel (1985), Smith and Robinson (1995), and Weikel and Palmo (1989). However, it seems appropriate that on the occasion of such a momentous anniversary we take time to reflect on the significant role that AMHCA has played in the development of mental health counseling as an independent mental health profession and its recognition as a core mental health profession along with psychiatry, psychology, social work, and marriage and family therapy.…”