Walmsley and Associates - EFAP, Counselling, Wellness

Associations

Counsellor Designations

Follow this link for information about Counsellor Designations.

What is the difference between councils, federations, institutes, and professional associations?

There are generally two types of organizations. One type, often referred to as a professional association regulates who may become a member. The Canadian Psychological Association or the BC Association for Marriage and Family Therapy for example.

The other type of organization is often referred to as a council or institute and is usually organized around a specific topic or issue, like the family, addiction, violence, or parenting. The BC Council for the Family and the National Council on Family Relations for example.

Functions

A common function of all of these organizations is to collect and disseminate information about a specific interest.  The National Council on Family Relations and the American Association For Marriage and Family Therapy for example publish their own journals on the family, conduct research, provide specialized training opportunities, strike specialized committees to work on special initiatives, lobby the government, and organize yearly conferences.

The major difference between a Professional Association and a Council is in the type of membership, and who may join. Anyone who wishes to support a Council's area of interest may join. However, Council's do not certify, register, or examine members. A Professional Association will allow people to be supporting members but to use the Association's name requires the member to become a registered member. Thus, one cannot become a professional member simply by paying a membership fee.

Professional Associations have been given the authority by governments or by their membership to regulate membership. They establish minimal education criteria, examine and license members, supervise new members, and develop and administer ethical guidelines. As well, some professional associations require on-going training to remain a member in good standing.

While professional organizations will allow someone to be a supporting member, these people are not full fledged members because they have not met membership criteria.  A simple way to identify a registered member of an organization is to go to the web site and see if they are listed as a member.  Another way is to determine if they have a membership or license number.

The following links are a small sample of established health care associations, councils or federations:

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