Indian Counseling Association (ICA) is a professional body created to bring together various counseling professionals in India under one umbrella and to represent them in India. To create awareness among the public, to establish common standards, to create the practice requirements, ethics framework and help every member to achieve their professional goals.
Counseling for various needs and situations of human life demands constant learning. ICA helps to disseminate and share the recent knowledge and skills among its members.
Power of network, with 1000’s of members who can understand and appreciate you is a very important requirement in any profession. It is even more when you work with human feelings and emotions.
Making someone live a better, happier life is a noble thing to do! Counselors and life-coaches help individuals everyday to unravel the complexities of life, coach & help achieve their goals.
It is free to join, there is no membership fee. The goal is to help each other, learn, teach and learn from the professionals of different regions of India and different disciplines. ICA will impress upon various government agencies, social organizations, educational institutions and corporates and other professional bodies for the benefit of the “Counselors & Life coaches†in India.
Some of the key Benefits are
Learning and teaching keeps the mind sharp. It is important to be aware of recent developments, learn tips and ideas from fellow members.
Being an ICA member brings in benefits of discounts with “group purchasesâ€, advertisement, marketing and IT products and services.
Counselors and Coaches spend many hours to help the individuals to reach their goals. The support of fellow ICA members will of immense help to them to perform their counseling, mentoring and coaching duties. Heart, Mind, Soul and Body are all interconnected to live better happier lives. ICA’s key objective is to protect its members and to provide all necessary support as a group
ICA will promote the services of its members among all segments of the Indian market and guard their interests. ICA will also help to provide services and solutions to manage the practice operations through the collective effort of its members. ICA will also promote standards, ethics, certifications, licensing and uniform professional requirements across India.
Counselors and Coaches must keep the learning alive as the society and technology evolves. ICA will organize in person events, webinars, online group chats and conversations to keep in touch with fellow members. The power of the network will help in learning and continuous education.
Indian Counseling Association (ICA) is set up for the purpose of “making individuals lead a happy life†through well qualified, skilled and knowledgeable professionals such as counselors, therapists and life-coaches. ICA Advocacy is to promote the awareness of counseling professionals work in India and to create legislation to improve the services provided by each Indian state to the schools, colleges and universities and corporates.
This will help our next generation to be well prepared with counseling and coaching to handle difficult situations that life throws at them. The following FAQ will address the common questions and there will be updates as we go about our business of supporting the counselors and coaches in India.
There are no fees to join the association. However voluntary contributions are welcome and accepted.
All professionals involved in helping individuals to lead a happy life, such as counselors, therapists, psychologists and life-coaches.
Enrolled in a accredited Master's degree
With minimum 2 Internships and Practicums
With Master's degree and <5 years of experience
With minimum 2 Internships and Practicums
With Master's degree and 5 to 10 years of experience: Member
With 5+ articles published in the Journals, Magazines, Books
With Doctoral degree and 10-20 years of experience
With Masters degree and 15-20 years of experience
With 10+ published articles in the Journals, Magazines, Books and Video Assets
With Doctoral degree and 20 plus years of experience
With 20+ published articles in the Journals, Magazines, Books, Audio and Video Assets
Reference and recommendations from existing Distinguished Members
(This is the highest honor ICA can bestow.)
The members will have access to the community, learn from them on various topics including “how to set up new practiceâ€, to “how to handle difficult situations oneself in the professional world†and anything in between The members will have exclusive discounts on IT services, software and hardware, and other goodies
One of the key objectives is to establish a uniform code of conduct, ethics and requirements to practice as “counselors†in India. For example, US & Canada and a number of other countries have mandated a minimum of Master degree in Counseling or allied subjects, 3000 hours of work experience and 300 hours of supervised training under a licensed practitioner. Additionally school counselors who play a very important role should have education in “Guidance and Counseling†However in India we do not have such a mandate or there is no “licensing body†in every state in India. Our collective goal is to establish the quality standards for the benefits of the profession and the public in India.
Yes, this is one of the major requirements that a professional should acquire based on their education, supervised training and experience. This can be done by the certification agency or licensing body under state government. Any other license or certification cannot be considered as “qualification†of license. In India we do not have any such statutory body, ICA is working with the government and other non-profit organizations to establish this through advocacy, meetings and law. Since “health†is the subject matter of “stateâ€, it should be licensed through state.
Again, health and education is the domain and subjects of state. However there could be a standards organization at the country level similar to NBCC (national board of certified counselors - nbcc.org) as in the US. This can be established in due course as ICA members and other friendly organizations can lobby the government to set up one at national level.
ICA, by striving to achieve the unified standard requirements for the profession, in future India too, can have certifications and licenses as in US/Canada such as LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) and LFMT (Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist), etc.
Thank you for your interest in ICA. The best way to reach us would be to fill the form below and we will get back to you.
Adyar, Chennai, TN 600020
ica.in@outlook.com
9445520417
