The workshop is designed to help participants:

1.  Define clinical mental health counseling.

2. Review the scope of practice of CMHCs.

3. Explore the history of clinical mental health counseling.

4. Identify the few 'professional disparities' between clinical mental health counseling and allied therapeutic professions (i.e., clinical psychology, clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, psychiatry/psychiatric nursing) and how to overcome them.

Presenter:

Dr. Aaron Norton is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with certifications in addictions, alcohol and drug counseling, rehabilitation counseling, clinical mental health counseling, trauma treatment, forensic mental health evaluation, forensic behavioral analysis, and forensic psychometry. He is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Dept. of Mental Health Law & Policy and serves as Executive Director of the National Board of Forensic Evaluators, Southern Regional Director and Ethics Committee Liaison for the American Mental Health Counselors Association, and Chair of the Government Relations Committee for the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association. He is the Consulting Editor for AMHCA’s The Advocate Magazine.  He has 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor specializing in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues, cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and depressive disorders, and substance use treatment. He was awarded Mental Health Counselor of the Year by the American Mental Health Counselors Association in 2016, Counselor Educator of the Year by the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association in 2016, Researcher of the Year by the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association in 2019, and he was awarded AMHCA’s Public and Community Service Award in 2020.  An experienced writer, presenter, and trainer, he has been published in several academic journals and professional magazines in the counseling profession.