American Association of Christian Counselors

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The American Association of Christian Counselors, Inc. (AACC) is the largest organization of Christian counselors in the world. [1]

Overview

It is a corporation [2] headquartered in Forest, Virginia, United States. [3] AACC, as it is often called, creates the largest gathering of Christian counselors once per year in North America with annual conferences that often exceed 5,000 attendees. Speakers for these events include, Dr. Henry Cloud, Dr. John Townsend, Gary Smalley, Larry Crabb, T.D. Jakes, Ron Hawkins, John Trent, Emmerson Eggrich, Joni Tada, Arch Harte, John Eldredge, and a host of other popular Christian writers. AACC is under the direction of Dr. Tim Clinton and celebrated their 25th anniversary as a professional trade association in 2011. They were previously headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. [4] It has about nearly 50,000 members. [5] It publishes two journals: Christian Counseling Today and Marriage and Family: A Christian Journal. [6] It has adopted a code of ethics used for Christian counseling. [7] [8] [9] In 2014 AACC amended its code of ethics to eliminate the promotion of conversion therapy for same-sex attracted individuals, encouraging those individuals to practice a celibate sexual life instead. [10]

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References

  1. Brian Lang, Bill Wilson, A christian parents' guide to making the internet family friendly, Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1999
  2. "Business Entity Details 06243554". State Corporation Commission. Commonwealth of Virginia. Retrieved 28 October 2018. SCC ID: 06243554; Entity Type: Corporation; Jurisdiction of Formation: VA; Date of Formation/Registration: 9/24/2004
  3. James V. Geisendorfer, Religion in America: a directory, Brill Archive, 1983, p. 4
  4. Randolph K. Sanders, Christian counseling ethics: a handbook for therapists, pastors & counselors, Westmond, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997, p. 390
  5. Timothy Clinton, Archibald D. Harte, Caring for People God's Way: Personal and Emotional Issues, Addictions, Grief, and Trauma, Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2006 p. 506
  6. Harold George Koenig, Handbook of religion and mental health, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier, 1998, p. 342
  7. Lori Ann Russell-Chapin, Ted Chapin, Clinical Supervision: Theory and Practice, Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2011, p. 195
  8. Siang-Yang Tan, Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011, p. 375
  9. Tim Clinton, Ron Hawkins, The Popular Encyclopedia of Christian Counseling: An Indispensable Tool for Helping People with Their Problems, Irvine, California: Harvest House Publishers, 2011, p. 77
  10. "Gay, Christian and ... celibate: The changing face of the homosexuality debate - Religion News Service". Religionnews.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.