the national Association of Black Counselors

Correctional Health

The Correctional Health Division is for those counselors who have interest in working with criminal offenders in and out of prisons to address behaviors associated with the criminal offense, recidivism, relapse prevention, and mental health issues. The goal of this division is to promote awareness of issues associated with counselors who work with clients who are in the corrections, and to provide a unique opportunity for correctional mental health professionals to examine emerging issues, exchange ideas and discuss solutions.

Faith & Spirituality 

Both in the field of mental health and the Black community, there is an ever-increasing awareness of the importance of the ‘mind and soul.’ This division’s aim is to educate, support, and provide resources and opportunities to share developments and sound practices in the area of spirituality and mental health.

Marriage & Family

This division serves to promote counselors within the field that work to improve the health and well-being of families, couples, and individuals. The marriage and family division will offer support, training, and advocacy.

Sexuality

This division has been established as a vehicle for facilitating communication, advocacy, and support for Black sexologists and other related professionals that treat sexual disorders and concerns.

LGBTQIA

The goal of the LGBTQIA Division is to provide education, resources, and support for therapists who specialize in working with clients with LGBTQIA issues.

Grief & Trauma

The goal of the Grief and Trauma Division is to raise awareness within the Black community of the effects of unaddressed grief and trauma.

Afro-Latino

The term Afro-Latino usually refers to those of African descent from Hispanic countries or countries of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean that speak Spanish. The Afro-Latino Division has been established for those with interest in supporting both therapists and clients of Afro-Latino descent. NABC seeks to acknowledge and honor their diverse views of racial identity, reflecting the complex and varied nature of race and identity among Latinos by providing advocacy, support, and facilitating communication.

Men

Black men as a group often experience significant amounts of psychological stress as a result of discrimination, social and economic challenges, and racial injustice. NABC seeks to address the treatment needs of Black men and to provide support, advocacy, and resources to Black male treatment providers and clients.

Greeks

NABC recognizes the profound impact of historically Black fraternities and sororities—particularly the Divine Nine—on professional networks, community leadership, and cultural identity within the Black counseling community. It serves as a space to harness shared BGLO experiences, traditions, and values to strengthen mental health initiatives, foster mentorship, and honor the legacy of Black Greek life in our field. The division welcomes members affiliated with ALL Black Greek letter organizations who seek to connect their organizational principles with counseling excellence.

Addiction Treatment and Recovery

This division is for counselors who have interest in treating clients with addiction and substance abuse issues. The goal of this division is to suggest future strategies to deal with the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns; practical challenges encountered; and the solutions adopted in the field of addiction treatment and therapy in regard to the Black community.

College & Career Counseling

The goal of this division is to bring together professionals for collaborative dialogue on issues that drive sustainable and inclusive practices focused on student success. This division will provide support, assistance, and guidance to counselors that support students and others as they explore academic, social, career, and personal development.

Seasoned Greens (Retired)

The Seasoned Greens Division focuses on counselors who have drastically reduced services or no longer provide direct or administrative services in the counseling field. Because they still have much to offer, however, the counselors are eager to maintain a presence and a voice in the field.

Children’s Services

This division serves to provide, support, advocacy, and professional development to counselors who primarily work with children, adolescents and their families. This division includes school counseling and play therapy subdivisions.

Expressive Arts

The goal of the Expressive Arts Division is to provide support, education, and advocacy to Black counselors who provide integrative mental health services encompassing visual arts, poetry, literature, music and dance.

Students & Residents

The purpose of the Students and Residents Division is to provide support, training, education and advocacy for students and those moving toward licensure in counseling.

• For Students – The internship provides opportunity for the student to gain supervised experience in the use of a variety of professional resources such as assessment instruments, computers, print and non-print media, professional literature, research, and information and referral to appropriate provides. Because opportunities for internships are limited and more difficult for Black counseling students to obtain, NABC has developed a mentoring program for counseling students and an internship training program.

• For Residents – Involves postgraduate training for psychotherapists emphasizing working with clients in more complex ways and continued training in areas other than direct client services. This Subdivision will provide support for many in the licensure phase. Because opportunities to practice clinical counseling are limited and often confined to brief counseling or case management models, NABC has developed a postgraduate training program for counselors.

Paraprofessionals

Paraprofessionals in counseling range from bachelor’s degree recipients to community college students. The goal of this division is to ensure that proper training, supervision, support, and resources are provided to paraprofessionals.

**Pending divisions will launch with 5 active members to provide leadership and expertise for the specialization**