A Message from Membership:
ORCA has been hard at work redesigning and updating our membership services. To be more efficient, ORCA has moved the renewal dates to a quarterly renewal basis, which means your renewal date has been automatically forwarded to the next quarterly renewal. The quarterly renewal dates are: January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, and October 15th. Upon receiving your application, processing will take 3-6 weeks. Renewal dates are determined based on your initial anniversary date, please see the website for more details. Confirmation will be sent via email. If no email is listed, confirmation will be sent via the postal service; please allow an additional 4 weeks for this.
Why Join?
There are many reasons why professional counselors join ORCA. See for yourself!
PUBLICATIONS / COMMUNICATIONS:
- "The Counselor" Newsletter
- Membership Directory
- Division newsletters, published by the ORCA Divisions
- The new ORCA Email Network
- ORCA Web site, linking with ACA Web site and other professionally relevant sites
CONFERENCES / TRAINING:
- Annual Fall Conference, bringing together Professional Counselors from varied settings
- Support for Divisions' annual training
- NBCC continuing education contact hours via ORCA's NBCC Provider Number
- Graduate Student credit for fall conference
- Support and information regarding the ACA Annual Conference, and
- Regional training opportunities throughout the year
EMPLOYMENT POSTINGS:
- Employers seeking qualified counseling candidates advertise openings in "The Counselor"
PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR RESOURCES:
- Professional Liability Insurance
- Consultation from Professional Counselors on ethics, licensure, third party reimbursement, managed care, and other counseling related issues. Call 800-233-2547 for information and/or referral.
- Representation with community groups and workplace groups
- Maintenance of Speakers Bureau for members who wish to provide professional training Supervision for licensure hours; qualified counselors listings provided
STRATEGIC PLANNING:
- Continual strategic plan supporting the Counseling Profession and the ORCA Membership
- Advocacy Chair working to promote Professional Counselor issues and support members
- A structure for professional standards and ethical practices as a branch of the American Counseling Association
- On-going advocacy with legislators, educators, medical business, and other helping professionals
- Education of the public for counselors role in mental health
PUBLIC POLICY AND LEGISLATION:
- Long time support of Professional Counselor issues in the public domain and the legislature
- Support of the ORCA Divisions in pursuing PP&L issues on behalf of their specific membership needs
- PP&L Chairs at both the ORCA and Division levels working together for all member's issues
LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
- To serve on ORCA committees, ORCA board, division boards
- ORCA Presidents representing members at regional and national ACA leadership meetings
- Annual Spring Leadership Retreat for ORCA Board Members
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION / NETWORKING:
- Opportunities to connect with other Professional Counselors via the Annual Fall Conference, Division trainings and meetings
- Member to member across the state email connections Membership Services
- 800 line
- "The Counselor" Newsletter