The American Association of Christian Counselors, Inc. (AACC) is the largest organization of Christian counselors in the world.Brian Lang, Bill Wilson, A christian parents' guide to making the internet family friendly, Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1999
Overview It is a corporation headquartered in Forest, Virginia, United States.James V. Geisendorfer, Religion in America: a directory, Brill Archive, 1983, p. 4 AACC, as it is often called, creates the largest gathering of Christian counselors once per year in North America with annual conferences that often exceed 5,000 attendees. Speakers for these events include, Dr. Henry Cloud, Dr. John Townsend, Gary Smalley, Larry Crabb, T.D. Jakes, Ron Hawkins, John Trent, Emmerson Eggrich, Joni Tada, Arch Harte, John Eldredge, and a host of other popular Christian writers. AACC is under the direction of Dr. Tim Clinton and celebrated their 25th anniversary as a professional trade association in 2011. They were previously headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.Randolph K. Sanders, Christian counseling ethics: a handbook for therapists, pastors & counselors, Westmond, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997, p. 390 It has about nearly 50,000 members.Timothy Clinton, Archibald D. Harte, Caring for People God's Way: Personal and Emotional Issues, Addictions, Grief, and Trauma, Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2006 p. 506 It publishes two journals: Christian Counseling Today and Marriage and Family: A Christian Journal.Harold George Koenig, Handbook of religion and mental health, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier, 1998, p. 342 It has adopted a code of ethics used for Christian counseling.Lori Ann Russell-Chapin, Ted Chapin, Clinical Supervision: Theory and Practice, Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2011, p. 195 Siang-Yang Tan, Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011, p. 375 Tim Clinton, Ron Hawkins, The Popular Encyclopedia of Christian Counseling: An Indispensable Tool for Helping People with Their Problems, Irvine, California: Harvest House Publishers, 2011, p. 77 In 2014, AACC amended its code of ethics to eliminate the promotion of conversion therapy for same-sex attracted individuals, encouraging those individuals to practice a celibate sexual life instead.
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