ACS Eligibility

To enter the ACS program, you must

1. be an active RCC in good standing
2. hold a master’s degree in counselling psychology (or in a related field)
3. have at least 5 years of post-graduate clinical experience with a minimum of 1000 direct client contact hours
4. maintain professional liability insurance and ensure that the insurance covers the provision of clinical supervision services
5. have satisfied the professional and ethical conduct requirements
6. have received at least 75 hours of supervision post-graduate
   • At least 50 hours of supervision must be individual/paired supervision
   • The remainder of 25 hours must be either individual/paired supervision or group supervision (facilitated by a clinical supervisor)
   • At least 25 hours must be in British Columbia
   • Peer supervision hours are not acceptable
7. be willing to pay a non-refundable one-time application fee of $100.00

The ACS Designation Program Application Form can be found on the How to Apply and FAQs page.

Upon entering the program, you must meet the following training component requirements to receive the ACS designation.

• Complete a 30-36 hour clinical supervision foundations/fundamentals course, before providing clinical supervision for the ACS program training component, within the last 5 years of the program entry application submission date
  • The pre-approved clinical supervision course is available on the How to Apply and FAQs page
• Provide at least 100 hours of clinical supervision throughout 12 to 24 months after the completion of the clinical supervision fundamentals course
  • At least 70 hours of the 100 hours must be individual/paired supervision
  • The remainder of 30 hours can be group supervision (facilitated by you as a supervisor)
  • The supervision must be to a minimum of 4 individual supervisees for a minimum of a 3-month period of relationship per individual supervisee
    • The preferred ratio is 1 individual supervision hour per 5 client contact hours
• Receive a minimum of 18 hours of supervision-of-supervision from a qualified Supervisor of Supervision throughout the same 12 to 24 months period that you are providing supervision to fulfill the 100 hours
  • Receive at least 12 hours of individual sessions and up to 6 hours may be paired
    • Group Supervision of Supervision hours is not accepted
  • Receive direct and indirect supervision of supervision in an equal ratio.
    • For detailed definitions of direct and indirect supervision of supervision, please review the definition of terms.

Please read the Qualifications of a Supervisor of Supervision and the Supervision of Supervision Guidelines thoroughly.

A qualified Supervisor of Supervision is who

1. has a minimum of a master’s degree in counselling psychology or in a related field
2. is a certified/designated supervisor from a professional/regulatory body (e.g., ACS, CCS, CACFT-S, CACFT-SM, etc); or pre-approved by BCACC*
3. has a minimum of 5 years of clinical supervision experience
4. has participated in receiving or providing supervision of supervision and is willing to attend BCACC’s Supervisor of Supervision orientation**
5. can provide at least 18 regularly scheduled supervision-of-supervision sessions, a minimum of one hour per session

*BCACC can provide support in finding a qualified Approved Clinical Supervisor for the SoS role upon request. If you have someone that you would like to receive supervision of supervision from for this program requirements, but the professional does not hold a supervisory designation (e.g., ACS, CCS, CACFT-S, CACFT-SM, etc), you may request BCACC to review the professional’s training and experience for the Supervisor of Supervision (SoS) role for this program. For more information, please email [email protected].

**BCACC’s Supervisor of Supervision orientation recording is available. The qualified professional can request a recording link via email at [email protected].

• Before contracting to work together, the supervisor candidate and the Supervisor of Supervision should compare the goodness of fit between their philosophies of supervision, their clinical approaches, and their interpersonal styles.
• Upon agreeing to proceed, a contract should be developed between the Supervisor of Supervision and the supervisor candidate that delineates fees, hours, time and place of meetings, case responsibility, and caseload process and review.
• The schedule of meetings should be such that the supervisor candidate is able to receive 18 hours, a minimum of one hour per session, of supervision-of-supervision while providing the 100 hours of supervision requirement within the same period of 12 to 24 months. Out of the 18 hours, a minimum of 12 hours of Supervision of Supervision must be individual, and up to 6 hours may be paired. Although recommended as professional development, group Supervision of Supervision hours is not accepted for this program’s training requirements.
• It is recommended to have one continuing Supervisor of Supervision for all 18 hours. However, there is a possibility of having a maximum of two Supervisors of Supervision as long as at least 9 hours are from one Supervisor of Supervision. Please note that the Supervisor of Supervision evaluation report must be submitted by each Supervisor of Supervision.
• In BCACC’s Approved Clinical Supervisor Designation Program, candidates are expected to receive both direct and indirect supervision of supervision in an equal ratio. For detailed definitions of direct and indirect supervision of supervision, please review the definition of terms.
• The Supervisor of Supervision will provide comprehensive oversight of the supervisor candidate’s supervision of counsellors/trainees/supervisees; paying particular attention to individual and group supervision, giving sufficient time to work through developmental phases, resolve therapeutic difficulties and ensure the supervisor candidate can evaluate the development of appropriate clinical skills and competencies of counsellors/trainees/supervisees.
• The Supervisor of Supervision will review the candidate’s supervision informed consent/supervision contract and professional disclosure statements and provide feedback as needed.
• The Supervisor of Supervision will review the candidate’s philosophy/reflection paper at the end of the SoS sessions and discuss with the candidate to reflect on their learning since the course completion.
• The Supervisor of Supervision will provide ongoing feedback to the candidate and submit a final evaluation report to BCACC.