| Message from the President of ALGBTIC, Michael M. Kocet, Ph.D., LMHC, NCC
Finding the Spirit Within: Celebrating the Diversity of Spirit in the LGBTQ Community
Welcome to the website of the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Issues in Counseling. We are glad that you have chosen to explore our website which contains terrific resources on a variety of LGBTQI affirming issues in counseling. Over the next few months, we will be adding even more resources on our site. If you have any suggestions on resources, links, tools, or have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to email me at mkocet@yahoo.com.
Our division is continually seeking new leaders to help with our efforts of making the counseling profession affirming of LGBTQI issues. Please click on the link to the right to find out about ways that you can become involved in our professional association.
For this year, my presidential theme is Finding the Spirit Within: Celebrating the Diversity of Spirit in the LGBTQ Community which focuses on spirituality in the LGBTQ community and the many ways that we can celebrate our spirit and humanity! Throughout the year in our newsletter as well as ALGBTIC events during the ACA 2010 Convention in Pittsburgh we will be talking about ways spirituality can be viewed broadly and integrated into affirming practice within the LGBTQ community.
I have established a series of goals for ALGBTIC during this coming year. First, to continue growing our membership through a membership drive which will help bring in new members to our association. Second, to appoint an LGBTQ Inter-Spiritual Task Force who will identify ways to make issues of spirituality, faith, beliefs, and non beliefs welcoming and inclusive for LGBTQ individuals within our division. During the ACA Convention we will be holding a series of events that will aproach spirituality as a social justice issue - to help our own community reclaim our spiritual identities and to celebrate the diversity that exists within the LGBTQ community and to challenge systems of oppression and bigotry regarding spirituality and religion.
My third goal is to appoint a task force to work on revising our current LGBT competencies. The task force will examine ways to integrate new competencies in the areas of bisexuality, spirituality, ally competencies, just to name a few.
The fourth goal will be to revise and provide more current resources on our division website. My goal is to make the ALGBTIC website one of the pre-eminent places for students, faculty, scholars, practitioners, and consumers to get accurate and up-to-date information on a wide range of issues impacting the LGBTQI community.
I will also continue forging collaborative relationships with leaders from other ACA divisions to promote the work that we are doing, as well as to identify ways that our division can partner with others within the American Counseling Association to advocate for ways to promote inclusion, diversity, and social justice in all its forms.
I thank you for the many ways that you provide affirmative help and services to the LGBTQ community - locally, nationally, and beyond.
Please drop me a note at mkocet@yahoo.com and let me know how our division can best serve your needs.
Warmly,
Michael
Highlights from ALGBTIC.org
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2009 ACA Conference Presentations:
Want to Volunteer?
ALGBTIC President Michael Kocet is seeking individuals who are interested in becoming more involved in the division. There are a number of projects that will be taking place during the 2009-2010 year. Learn more about ALGBTIC volunteer opportunities.
ALGBTIC is now offering NBCC Approved Clock Hours!
The National Board for Certified Counselors has approved ALGBTIC to offer continuing education clock hours through our publication the Journal of LGBT Issue in Counseling as well as for live events, such as conferences and workshops. Future editions of the journal will have home-study quizzes which readers may submit with a small fee. Those who pass will earn CE clock hours that can be used towards recertification. In addition, ALGBTIC will be able to offer CE clock hours for workshops, conferences, and similar events that fit within the education guidelines of NBCC. Those state chapters interested in offering CE clock hours for conferences and other live events can apply to use the division approved continuing education provider number by contacting Michael Brubaker at mdbrubaker@netzero.net or by phone (352) 562-6099.
Call for Special Edition Submissions
The Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender
Issues in Counseling (ALGBTIC), a division of
the American Counseling Association (ACA) is
inviting submissions for our next special edition
of "The Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling".
This edition will focus on Counseling and Research
for LGBT Issues and the Military. The intent
of this special edition is to publish articles
relevant to working with sexual minorities around
issues pertinent to this special focus, and that
will be of interest to counselors, counselor
educators, and other counseling related professionals
that work across a diversity of fields, including
in schools, mental health settings, family agencies,
and colleges and universities. Read More >>>
ACA Responds to Pentagon Document
ACA responds to the Pentagon's document that
classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder.
This document was recently released and includes
outdated information about sexual orientation.
From the Associated Press, "the document
outlines retirement or other discharge policies
for service members with physical disabilities,
and in a section on the defects lists homosexuality
alongside mental retardation and personality disorders."
In response, ACA President, Patricia Arredondo,
sent a letter requesting that the Department of
Defense updates this document. The
complete letter is included here... Please
feel free to thank President Arredondo for her
support of lgbt issues.
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