07/08/2024

PCA July Announcements and Upcoming Events

UPCOMING EVENTS:

It is time to update the cover page for the Journal of the Pennsylvania Counseling Association! This is your opportunity to have your art and your name on the journal cover for issues to come!

Contest Rules

1. You must be a member of the Pennsylvania Counseling Association
2. The cover must have the title Journal of the Pennsylvania Counseling Association
3. The artwork must be original.
4. Please submit with the following format
   1. PDF or JPEG format
   2. Standard page size (5 by 7), Vertical Layout
5. Prize includes your artwork being featured on the cover of the journal and a $50 gift card!
6. All artwork is due by September 1, 2024.
7. Artwork will be voted on and a decision will be made by October 1, 2024.
8. Questions, reach out to Angie Conrad and Holly Branthoover at pcajournal@gmail.com.

Call for Awards Nominations

The Pennsylvania Counseling Association Call for Award Nominations will be released soon.

 Selected nominees will be awarded at the Awards Luncheon at the 56th Annual Conference October 25-27, 2024, at the Harrisburg Hilton.

Please direct any questions to the Award Chair, Abra Kuniak, pcacommittee.awards@gmail.com

Please consider nominating a colleague or program for one of the following awards:

• PCA Outstanding Practitioner Award: Awarded to an outstanding professional counselor for service to the profession; nominees must be current PCA members.
• PCA Lifetime Achievement Award: Awarded to a PCA member who is a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania resident and who has demonstrated outstanding dedication, service, and/or achievement in professional counseling. A PCA member can only receive this award once.
• PCA Outstanding Counselor Education Program Award: Awarded to an outstanding professional counseling program in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At least one member of the counselor education program must be a PCA member.
• PCA Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Awarded to an individual who is currently a graduate student in professional counseling within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and who shows excellent potential and professionalism; preference will be given to a PCA student member who has had some involvement with the association.
• PCA Outstanding Research/Publication Award: Awarded to a PCA member who has contributed to the professional counseling profession through outstanding effort in the area of research and/or publication.
• PCA Outstanding Supervisor Award: Awarded to a PCA member who has demonstrated outstanding work as a supervisor in a university, community/mental health counseling, or school setting.
• PCA Outstanding Professional Teaching Award: Awarded to a PCA member to honor excellence in teaching in a counseling, counselor education, or counseling supervision program in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
• David W. Hall Advocacy Award: Awarded to a PCA member who has promoted the profession of counseling through advocacy to whom the many professional counselors in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are forever indebted.

We ask that you keep in mind for all nominators and recipients:

• All recipients receiving individual awards must be current PCA members. An individual can only be nominated for one individual award per year. Membership will be verified by the PCA Awards Committee.
• In the case that a group is the recipient of an award, only one member of that group must be a current PCA member. A group can only be nominated for one group award per year. Membership will be verified by the PCA Awards Committee.
• All nominators must be PCA members. Individuals writing letters of support do not need to be PCA members.
• A nominator can only submit one nomination (individual or group) per year.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Journal of the Pennsylvania Counseling Association is currently accepting articles for review for Fall 2024

To review journal requirements, please go to our webpage at:http://www.pacounseling.org/aws/PACA/pt/sp/journal

The Journal will be published in November 2024. 

 If you have any questions about the journal or submitting an article, please reach out to the editor, Dr. Holly Branthoover at pcajournal@gmail.com.

Save the Date for the PCA 56th Annual

Conference at the Harrisburg Hilton!

 PCA has an official Discord server!

The server is now live, and we will be rolling out links to the server via an email from our marketing and outreach committee to the registered email address of our members. If you are not familiar with Discord, it’s a service that allows anyone to create a unique server. This server is then filled with interest channels (in our case, channels that are specific to our divisions, interest networks, and of interest to counselors generally), and members who have access to the server can move within these text and audio/video channels to interact with other members.

Here are some quick notes on how to make use of this new member benefit:

• If you already have a Discord account but may not use it much, following this link will just add another server to your left navigation panel and you can switch back and forth by selecting which server you want to use at the time.
• If you're totally new to Discord, I'm providing a brief explanation video, through YouTube, that Discord has created about itself: https://youtu.be/TJ13BA3-NR4?si=usQRQKXDEIA6Rbe0 [youtu.be]

So, once you get the email from us with the link, here’s how to join:

• To start, just click the provided link in your unique email, login or create an account if you don’t have one already (Discord accounts are free).
• You may be asked if you’d like to download the Discord app on your PC or mobile device. It’s a slightly more user-friendly way of interacting with the server.
• You should then be taken to our private server. You may have to click an entry notification again to gain access. There will be some onboarding questions to enhance safety and make all members aware of our moderation policies before entering.
• The PCA server is locked down to provide a safe space for association members and to use this community as a membership benefit. Only active members can use it. Prospective members can see some channels and interact in them, but just within those specific channels initially.
• In order to gain full access to the server, just click on the the "Intro Messages" channel to enter it, and then post a brief message telling us who you are (name and PCA email address would be ideal). One of our moderators or admins will double check your membership status, and then give you member access, which will provide you with all of the appropriate channels. We will also delete your chat with your name and email address as soon as we grant access. You can then click on any channels under the various categories to gain access to them and interact with other members.
• The channels and categories are ways to keep the constant live chat more organized so specific interest areas don’t get lost in one main chat room. As a result, you may be asked to move a chat to another room, if it fits better within a specific chat category.
• Participation in this server is completely voluntary, but we ask everyone in the server to behave as professionals. Anyone who uses the server inappropriately, engages in abrasive or toxic behaviors, etc. may be warned, timed out, or banned from the server. Server access is a member benefit, but it is not a right. Loss of server access will not necessarily result in a revocation of membership status.
• You may reach out to me, Dr. Steve Kuniak, with specific questions at pcamarketingdirector@gmail.com, but please understand that this is a volunteer role for me, and that I do check my email and Discord messages regularly, but am not available 24/7.

This Discord server is meant as an answer to a long-standing request from members. It is the ability to interact with PCA members across the state, in real time, just like we do in the conference or in the conference app, but all year rather than just during major get togethers. Hoping to see you all in Discord, where we can benefit from one another’s professional expertise and collegiality.

Best,

Dr. Steve Kuniak

PCA Marketing and Outreach Chair

PCA Past President 2020-2021