Child and Adolescent Counseling Best Practices

Children and adolescents are distinct clinical populations with high rates of emotional, behavioral, and developmental disorders. Historically, counseling researchers have questioned the training counselors receive in their clinical work with children and adolescents. The Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC) was established in 2013 to help fill in the gaps in clinical work with children and adolescents and promote research and counseling services for these populations. The impetus for creating the ACAC Child and Adolescent Counseling Best Practices is based upon the need to provide counselors and counselor educators with guidelines to consider when expanding counseling skills to apply to clinical and research-based work with youth. The development of these standards attempts to address the potential obstacles and challenges counselors may face in their clinical work with youth.