Ethics complaints & remediation

A client files a complaint against you. Does it go to a licensing board or to a professional association — and what's the difference? Examiners test this precisely, because the two tracks have very different powers.

There are two parallel systems, and they are not the same. Licensing boards are state governmental bodies created by statute. They regulate your legal right to practice and can impose the heaviest sanctions — including revoking or suspending your license, fines, and mandated remediation. Because they're governmental, they can affect anyone licensed in the state. Professional associations (like the ACA) and certification bodies (like NBCC) handle complaints against their members/certificants only. Their ultimate weapon is expulsion from the organization or revoking the certification — they cannot take away your state license. Shorthand: the board controls your license; the association controls your membership.

Note a real-world shift: the ACA Ethics Committee stopped adjudicating individual ethics complaints against members (referring them instead to state boards and certification bodies), though ACA still offers ethics consultation and maintains the Code. The exam still expects you to understand the distinction in processes.

A typical complaint process runs: intake/filing → review for jurisdiction → investigation → hearing/adjudication (with due process for the counselor) → finding → sanction (if upheld) → possible appeal. The counselor has rights to notice and to respond.

Know the range of sanctions, roughly least to most severe: remedial measures (remediation — required supervision, additional coursework/CE, personal counseling, a corrective action plan), reprimand/censure, probation with monitoring, suspension, and finally revocation/expulsion (permanent loss of license or membership). The theme: minor or first-time issues favor remediation and rehabilitation; egregious violations (e.g., sexual misconduct, serious client harm) draw revocation. Filing a false or bad-faith complaint is itself an ethical violation.

Clinical Pearl: A state licensing board can revoke your license (governmental, statutory authority); a professional association or certification body can only revoke membership/certification — match the sanction to the body, and remember minor infractions favor remediation while serious ones lead to revocation.