The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) is a multidisciplinary professional membership organization involved in death education and supportive counseling in areas related to death, dying processes, loss, and grief. [1]
The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) is a multidisciplinary professional membership organization involved in death education and supportive counseling in areas related to death, dying processes, loss, and grief. [1]
Founded in 1976, the organization's 1,500 members around the world: the majority live and practice in North America. With the death awareness movement in full swing across North American and Europe by the 1970s, the genesis for the organization that would become the Association for Death Education and Counseling was in a seminar on death education at University of Rhode Island in 1975 [2] led by death education pioneers Dan Leviton, Gene Knott, and Grace Manov. [3] Originally named the Forum for Death Education and Counseling when it was granted tax exempt status in January 1976, the name was changed to its current form in 1986. [4]
The Association seeks to improve the study and practices related to thanatology. Its members represent many different professional disciplines including university educators, psychologists, clergy, social workers, nurses, physicians, professional counselors, and funeral directors. The association developed a Code of Ethics [5] to help assure that its members subscribe to generally-accepted ethical principles such as those articulated in the Belmont Report but with specific reference to end-of-life care, bereavement counseling, and death education. [6] Members of ADEC include leading scholars and clinicians in the field of thanatology; editors of two of the leading peer-reviewed journals in the field, Death Studies (Robert A. Neimeyer) and Omega: Journal of Death & Dying (Kenneth J. Doka) are active members and past presidents of the Association. [3]
An important hallmark of the association's mission and activities includes assuring professional excellence in the services rendered by members. In its Code of Ethics, ADEC declares "The Association envisions a world in which dying, death, and bereavement are recognized as fundamental and significant aspects of the human experience. Therefore, the Association, ever committed to being on the forefront of thanatology, provides a home for professionals from diverse backgrounds to advance the body of knowledge and to promote practical applications of research and theory." [5] The association publishes an encyclopedia containing state-of-the science perspectives on the field of thanatology, hosts regular web seminars and conferences for the education of professionals in death education and counseling, creates partnerships with universities and other organizations, and has created a credentialing program to provide a type of board certification for practitioners in the field. [6] [7] [8] The Association for Death Education and Counseling requires that all members subscribe to and conduct themselves in accordance with the tenets of the ADEC Code of Ethics. [5]
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 157,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has 54 divisions—interest groups for different subspecialties of psychology or topical areas. The APA has an annual budget of around $125 million.
Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a coach, supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a coachee. Occasionally, coaching may mean an informal relationship between two people, of whom one has more experience and expertise than the other and offers advice and guidance as the latter learns; but coaching differs from mentoring by focusing on specific tasks or objectives, as opposed to more general goals or overall development.
Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment, clinical formulation, and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries, clinical psychology is a regulated mental health profession.
Thanatology is the scientific study of death and the losses brought about as a result. It investigates the mechanisms and forensic aspects of death, such as bodily changes that accompany death and the postmortem period, as well as wider psychological and social aspects related to death. It is primarily an interdisciplinary study offered as a course of study at numerous colleges and universities.
Professional responsibility is a set of duties within the concept of professional ethics for those who exercise a unique set of knowledge and skill as professionals.
Death education is education about death that focuses on the human and emotional aspects of death. Though it may include teaching on the biological aspects of death, teaching about coping with grief is a primary focus. The scientific study of death is known as thanatology. Thanatology stems from the Greek word thanatos, meaning death, and ology meaning a science or organized body of knowledge. A specialist in this field is a thanatologist.
The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) is a professional organization of more than 2,000 public opinion and survey research professionals in the United States and from around the world, with members from academia, media, government, the non-profit sector and private industry. AAPOR publishes three academic journals: Public Opinion Quarterly, Survey Practice and the Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology. It holds an annual research conference and maintains a "Code of Professional Ethics and Practices", for survey research which all members agree to follow. The association's founders include pioneering pollsters Archibald Crossley, George Gallup, and Elmo Roper.
An educational consultant (EC), sometimes referred to as an independent educational consultant (IEC), is an advisor who helps parents and either traditional students or non-traditional students with educational planning for college and graduate school. Some also work with independent school students.
The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to define best practice in the ethics of scholarly publishing and to assist editors and publishers to achieve this.
Engineering ethics is the field of system of moral principles that apply to the practice of engineering. The field examines and sets the obligations by engineers to society, to their clients, and to the profession. As a scholarly discipline, it is closely related to subjects such as the philosophy of science, the philosophy of engineering, and the ethics of technology.
Grief counseling is a form of psychotherapy that aims to help people cope with the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive responses to loss. These experiences are commonly thought to be brought on by a loved person's death, but may more broadly be understood as shaped by any significant life-altering loss.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is a professional organization of social workers in the United States. NASW has about 120,000 members. The NASW provides guidance, research, up to date information, advocacy, and other resources for its members and for social workers in general. Members of the NASW are also able to obtain malpractice insurance, members-only publications, discounts on other products and services, and continuing education.
The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) was founded in 1969 as the Biofeedback Research Society (BRS). The association aims to promote understanding of biofeedback and advance the methods used in this practice. AAPB is a non-profit organization as defined in Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.
An online memorial is a virtual space created on the Internet for the purpose of remembering, celebrating, or commemorating those who have died. An online memorial may be a one-page HTML webpage document giving the name of the deceased and a few words of tribute, an extensive information source, or be part of a social media platform where users can add their own words and photos.
Death Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal published ten times a year by Routledge and sponsored by the Association for Death Education and Counseling – The Thanatology Association. It focuses on issues related to death, dying, bereavement, and death education.
The American Association of Pastoral Counselors was a professional organization of pastoral counselors from a variety of religious and psychological traditions. In 2019, AAPC consolidated with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) and now exists within the organization as the ACPE Psychotherapy Commission.
The Forum on Education Abroad is a 501(c)(3) non-profit association recognized by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission as the Standards Development Organization for the field of education abroad. It is located on the campus of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2001, the Forum now boasts over 800 institutional members that collectively represent 90% of U.S. students that study abroad. Members are primarily U.S. colleges and universities, program provider organizations, overseas host institutions and programs and affiliates that provide services to the field.
Dale G. Larson is an American psychologist who is a professor of Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University, where he directs graduate studies in health psychology. He is best known for his contributions to the end-of-life field and for his research on self-concealment.
Clinical mental health counseling is a healthcare profession addressing issues such as substance abuse, addiction, relational problems, stress management, as well as more serious conditions such as suicidal ideation and acute behavioral disorders. Practitioners may also assist with occupational growth in neurodivergent populations and behavioral and educational development. Clinical mental health (CMH) counselors include psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health technicians, marriage counselors, social workers, and family therapists.
The New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS) is one of the professional associations for psychologists in New Zealand. It is the largest professional body for psychologists in New Zealand, providing for both research psychologists and practicing psychologists.