Welcome to the new online presence of the Federation of Associations for Counselling Therapists in British Columbia, or FACTBC.
Our roots can be traced back to 1997, when several counselling associations in B.C. came together to form a Task Group for Counsellor Regulation, the sole aim of which was to work with government towards the formation of a College of Counselling Therapists, under the Health Professions Act.
Due to the risk of harm to the public posed by unregulated, incompetent or unethical practice, it was and remained the message of the Task Group that counsellors should be regulated in the public interest.
The lobby effort moved into high gear in 2012 with our representatives meeting with MLAs on both sides of the legislature. Virtually all the MLAs whom we met with expressed strong support for regulation.
Fast forward to 2014. In March, the Task Group associations moved our campaign to the next level, the formation of a new federation representing all of us, but which speaks with a single voice for upwards of 4500 counselling professionals in BC.
As can be seen by our list of member associations, FACTBC is presenting an across-the-board message that all counsellors in BC are ready for regulation and willing to assist in any way to expedite the process.
Along with this new website, FACTBC has a new presence on Facebook and Twitter, where our latest news and real-time trends can be followed and joined. Beyond the College, of course, the Federation has other plans for the advancement of the health profession of counselling in BC. We are only just getting started.