Overview and Missions of ARCA, NRCA, and RCEA (ordered alphabetically)
American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA)
Parent Organization The American Counseling Association (ACA)
Formation 1958
Members in 2022 652
Purpose/Mission ARCA is an organization of rehabilitation counseling practitioners, educators, and students who are concerned with continually improving the profession of rehabilitation counseling in its service to persons with
disabilities.
ARCAs mission is to enhance the development of people with disabilities throughout their life span and to promote excellence in the rehabilitation counseling profession. These goals are addressed by ARCA through public education and legislative activities.
Emphases
  • To provide the type of leadership that encourages excellence in the areas of rehabilitation counseling practice, research, consultation, and professional development.
  • To eliminate environmental and attitudinal barriers so that more opportunities are available with regard to education, employment, and community activities to people with disabilities.
  • To increase public awareness of rehabilitation counseling and to extend its influence by encouraging members to become involved in the association’s outreach and educational efforts.
  • To help members develop their leadership skills through participation in ARCA’s organizational activities
  • To work with state officials to develop appropriate licensure requirements.
Strengths
  • Provides leadership in advancing the profession and science of rehabilitation counseling.
  • Promotes standards that represent the highest quality of professional rehabilitation counseling practice in a rapidly changing environment.
  • Provides research findings with direct application to the current and future practice of rehabilitation counseling.
  • Fosters dialogue and coordinates activities among rehabilitation counselors, educators, administrators, and other rehabilitation professionals within and among various specialty areas.
  • Engages in active collaborations and partnerships with other national professional organizations and with consumer groups.
  • Provides complimentary liability coverage for student members of ACA (parent association).
Publication Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin
Website http://www.arcaweb.org/
National Rehabilitation Counseling Association (NRCA)
Parent Organization None
Formation 1958
Members in 2022 159
Purpose/Mission NRCA is dedicated to the professional development of those committed to maximizing the self-determination and inclusion of people with disabilities. NRCA embraces a holistic approach to its mission to facilitate the fulfillment of human potential and promote global understanding of inclusivity.
NRCA represents practitioners at all academic and practice levels and facilitates dialogue among practitioners from varying disciplines to share in the development of research, education, intervention strategies, and expanded opportunities for people with disabilities. Furthermore, NRCA seeks to increase awareness of work in these areas on a global level, so that synergies are recognized and communities of practice are expanded.
Emphases
  • NRCA embraces a strengths-based, goal-oriented, and collaborative approach which focuses on (a) empowerment, (b) employment, and (c) community inclusion for people of all ages with disabilities, along with others who confront various sources of marginalization.
Strengths
  • NRCA general membership and board membership is very diverse in terms of race, disability, age, gender, sexual orientation, geography, and socio-economic status.
  • NRCA recognizes that disability and rehabilitation practice are global issues for which we provide a platform for respecting and learning from other cultures.
  • The issues surrounding global social justice permeate everything NRCA does.
  • NRCA is very supportive of rehabilitation students at all levels (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral) and provide students a number of outstanding leadership opportunities.
  • NRCA has an excellent and well-respected journal, the Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, which is one of the oldest journals in the field.
  • NRCA offers hybrid conferences and webinars that provide excellent professional development opportunities for members and the broader rehabilitation community.
Publication Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling
Website https://nationalrehabcounselingassciation.wildapricot.org/
Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Association (RCEA)
Parent Organization The National Rehabilitation Association (NRA)
Formation 2006
Members in 2022 232
Purpose/Mission RCEA brings together counselor educators and practicing counselors, providing research resources to those who wish to stay current on issues relevant to contemporary practice. 
RCEA provides a place for counselors and educators to come together, collaborate, and network. RCEA welcomes rehabilitation counselors from all practice settings and seek to provide members with training, continuing education opportunities, and more.
Emphases
  • RCEA was born of a recognition that rehabilitation counselors and educators need to communicate and collaborate in order to provide the best possible services to individuals with disabilities. It is a significant purpose of this division to reignite the passion in our profession through such collaborations, and to strengthen professional identities of rehabilitation counselors.
Strengths
  • It is an organization for rehabilitation counseling professionals that combines both practitioners and educators.
  • Provides an open-access journal that allows for relatively easy dissemination throughout the field.
  • It is a division of the oldest association for rehabilitation professionals in the National Rehabilitation Association with a history of state and regional activity.
Publication Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Journal
Website https://www.nationalrehab.org/rcea
Presidents of ARCA, NRCA, and RCEA by Year
Yeara ARCA NRCA RCEA
1959 Salvatore DiMichael David E. Young
E. J. Buchanan
1960 William Usdane Robert A. Lassiter
1961 Abraham Jacobs Harley B. Reger
1962 Lloyd Lofquist LeRoy C. Larsen
1963 C. H. Patterson I. W. Leggett
1964 William Gellman Richard A. Koebler
1965 Daniel Sinick Gordon D. Smith
1966 John McGowan Charles D. Maine
1967 John Muthard Richard A. Morris
1968 Marceline Jaques Daniel C. McAlees
1969 Martin Acker Edwin J. Chorn
1970 Leonard Miller Alton R. Ray
1971 Gregory Miller Mary S. Smith
1972 Richard Thoreson Michael A. Oliverio
1973 George Ayers Carl E. Hansen
1974 Lawrence Feinberg Thomas K. White
1975 George N. Wright Betty S. Hedgeman
1976 Tom Porter Anne D. Crumpton
1977 Ray Ehrie James E. Gray
1978 Bob Johnson Philip Case
1979 Frank Touchstone Arnold Wolf
1980 Don Linkowski Joyce Pigg
1981 Kenneth Reagles Robert Hasbrook
1982 Dan McAlees Lawrence Warnock
1983 Stanford Rubin Henry C. DeVasher Jr.
1984 Ken Thomas Martha S. Wolf
1985 Paul McCollum Patricia A. Mundt
1986 Edna Szymanski Allen Searles
1987 Randy Parker Susan Magruder Pollock
1988 Brian McMahon John G. Moline
1989 John Thompson Ethel D. Briggs
1990 Ross Lynch Florence Curnutt
1991 Dennis R. Maki Patricia Nunez
1992 Martha Walker Robert Neuman
1993 Jeanne Patterson Richard Coelho
1994 John Dolan Madan Kundu
1995 Linda Shaw Jack Hacket
1996 Michael Leahy Jan La Forge
1997 Bill Richardson Joseph Turpin
1998 Vilia Tarvydas John Reno
1999 Donna Falvo Gregory G. Garske
2000 Chow Lam Win Priest
2001 Deborah Ebner Lorie McQuade
2002 Ellen Fabian Chris Reid
2003 Susan Bruyére Thomas Wilson
2004 Timothy Janikowski Connie McReynolds
2005 Betty Hedgeman Connie McReynolds
2006 Jan LaForge Jeanne Patterson Ray Feroz
2007 Irmo Marini Jeanne Patterson Dru Fentum
2008 Patty Nunez Charles Palmer
2009 Yolanda Edwards Joseph Keferl
2010 Carolyn Rollins Penny Willmering
2011 Frank Lane Jennipher Wiebold
2012 Carrie Wilde Elizabeth Boland
2013 Joe Keferl Pat Decouteau
2014 Paul Toriello Connie McReynolds
2015 David Staten Thomas Wilson Cayte Anderson
2016 Quiteya Walker Angela Price Dana Byrum
2017 Henry McCarthy Ian Shadrick Sara Johnston
2018 Michelle Bradham-Cousar Chrisann Schiro-Geist Stephen Zanskas
2019 Noel Ysasi Michelle Marmé Dru Fentum
2020 Michael Hartley Michelle Marmé John Keegan
2021 Stephen Zanskas David Perry Cayte Anderson
2022 Sonia Peterson David Perry Susan Benton-Flowers
2023 Valerie E. Dixon Ian Shadrick Rene Gonzalez

Note. ARCA = American Rehabilitation Counseling Association, NRCA = National Rehabilitation Counseling Association, RCEA = Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Association. The greyed-out area for RCEA represents the years prior to its formation. Blank spaces that are not greyed out either did not have a president for that period or the president could not be determined by researchers or the designated association. Finally, leaders of all three associations were invited to write or to revise these descriptions prior to publication.
a Year represents the year the individual’s presidency concluded. In many cases, their presidency spanned two different years.