Rachel Jacoby, PhD, elected President of Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling

Palo Alto University professor Rachel Jacoby, PhD, was elected President of the Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC). She begins her term on July 1, 2022. ACAC works “to promote a greater awareness, advocacy, and understanding of children and adolescents…among members of the counseling profession and related helping fields.”

Dr. Jacoby has been a member since 2018. Shortly after joining, she became the graduate student representative on the association’s Board of Directors. She also served as the chair of the Counseling Competencies Committee and the Professional Development Committee, and she founded the ACAC-Ohio chapter in 2019, of which she served as president and past-president.

“I love this organization because it has given me the space to grow as a counselor who works with children and adolescents,” she said. “It has become a home for me to feel connected to other counselors who share a passion for working with this population and it has become a resource for me as I continue to grow as a counselor and counselor educator.”

Dr. Jacoby is excited to increase the resources available to members and non-members interested in child and adolescent psychology, grow ACAC membership, and increase member involvement.

“I am excited because we will be starting our first ever Emerging Leader program, with four new master’s-level and doctoral-level students as our new emerging leaders,” Dr. Jacoby elaborated. “We have a wonderful webinar program that I hope will continue and we will be revamping our professional development opportunities, website, and accessibility to our journal as well.”

Early in her career, Dr. Jacoby worked in a community mental health agency in which most of her clients lived in the foster care system. “We had a large number of kids living in the foster care system because of the opioid crisis, and we are a city with one of the highest rates for human trafficking in the country,” she said.

Her work in the agency and in private practice gave her an opportunity to work with children, teach them skills, and offer them a sense of control in their life. But ever since an internship in her undergraduate program, “I always knew working with children, adolescents, and families was my passion.”

Jacoby is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Supervisors (LPCC-S), National Certified Counselor, Certified Family Life Educator, and Certified Trauma Practitioner, based out of Ohio. She is a faculty member in the Palo Alto University MA in Counseling program. She is also a recipient of the CACREP Carol Bobby Pioneer Award for Visionary Leadership.