Perspectives From the Field, An Interview with Daniel Balva

In this episode, host Dr. Michael Walsh speaks to Dr. Daniel Balva, a licensed Psychologist, licensed mental health counselor, and is the past President of the American Rehabilitation Counselor Association (ARCA). Daniel Balva shares his experiences in the helping profession and in ARCA, the humanization of "the giants" of the field, and the importance of universal design and in amplifying voices.

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Transcript

Mike Walsh: [00:00:00] Welcome to Counseling Today podcast. I'm here today with Daniel Balva. Daniel Balva is a licensed psychologist, licensed mental health counselor, national certified counselor, as well as a certified rehabilitation counselor. He most recently worked as a postdoctoral psychology resident with a focus in primary care, mental health integration and whole health at the VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System in Honolulu, Hawaii.

which serves veterans around the Pacific basin. Daniel graduated from the university of Georgia with his PhD in counseling psychology and from Florida international university with his master's degrees in clinical mental health counseling and clinical rehabilitation counseling. He's a past president of the American rehabilitation counseling association, past president of the Florida association for multicultural counseling and development, former member of the American counseling associations international committee, And a founder of the Global Student Psychology Committee and a past student chair of the American Psychological Division's [00:01:00] 52 International Psychology Division.

He has a strong passion for global mental health, capacity building, and disability education and awareness, all of which form the basis of his research and clinical interests as well as leadership involvement in various organizations. So Daniel, that was a mouthful. Welcome. 

Daniel Balva: Thanks so much, Mike, for having me.This is, you know, I have to say I'm a big fan of your podcast and I'm just so honored to be here. So thank you. 

Mike Walsh: Well, thanks so much. It's going to be fun chatting with you a little bit today. 

Daniel Balva: I'm looking forward to it.

Mike Walsh: Yeah, yeah, so we met for the first time, I think, down in New Orleans, right? At the ARCA pre conference. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, I know, uh, it was, it was quite a whirlwind with, uh, with some of the weather that was happening, but we're so grateful that you were able to be there and, and, uh, And join us for the festivities over there. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah, you guys just did a fantastic job. And you were ARCA president at that time. Yes. 

Daniel Balva: Correct. So I just transitioned into past president earlier in the month of July.

So. [00:02:00] 

Mike Walsh: Yeah, that's a fantastic role past president, right? B e having been president is good because you're a little less work. 

Daniel Balva: Oh yeah, so I have to say effective July 1st, my email, it was, it was pretty sad. It was nice and sad at the same time. 

Mike Walsh: Yes. Yeah. The, the, sometimes the silence is nice. 

Daniel Balva: Oh, absolutely. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah.

Yeah. Cool. Well, welcome to the show. I'm glad to have you. I just wanted to explore a little bit. Tell us a little bit about You've had a really dynamic career and you're early in your career. So talk a little bit about, you know, how that developed, what you, what, what interests led you to, to do all the things we just heard about.

Daniel Balva: Yeah. So I will say I, I started with my master's degree in Florida. So I was at Florida international university and upon graduation, I came across the Florida counseling association. And they just had a lot of wonderful events there. And that's that's where I met Dr. Sacco- Bene as well. And so 

Mike Walsh: she's great.

Daniel Balva: Oh, yeah, she's wonderful. [00:03:00] Um, during that time, I had got to I got to meet some of the different divisions under FCA. One of them being the Florida Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development or FAMCD. And, uh, I thought, you know, what the heck, I'll, I'll give it a try. And I'll, I'll run for their graduate student representative, even though I've just recently graduated at the time.

And somehow I was elected to the position. And, uh, within a few months, FCA had their annual conference. And when I went, the president at the time said, Hey, We need someone to run for president elect. Will you do it? I said, what do you mean? I just got involved a few months ago. 

Mike Walsh: Right. That sounds familiar.

Yeah, 

Daniel Balva: exactly. And that's, that's pretty much foreshadowed, uh, my, my time in leadership thus far. I got put into the role. Um, immediately at the convention of, uh, president elect started my tenure the following year as president of FAMCD. And at that time at another [00:04:00] Florida Counseling Association conference, a past president from ARCA said, Hey, why don't you come join the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association?

And why don't you run for student representative? I said, Oh, man, these, these conferences are dangerous because 

Mike Walsh: you get sucked in. Yes. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, there's no end in sight. And, um, so that kind of led, one thing led to another. I got involved in ARCA and then as I was finishing my tenure as student representative, uh, the president, past president at the time called me and said, Hey, we need someone to run for president for president elect.

And we think you'd be great. And I said, what are you talking about? I'm just. I'm just a doctoral student now at the time, and that's not for me, and he said, no, no, really. Um, and so just a lot of motivation and encouragement from people that I've looked up to in the field and continue to look up to.

That's kind of been the backbone of even these considerations of getting involved because otherwise I wouldn't have thought that that was [00:05:00] something I could even do. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah. Yeah. That sounds really familiar. Um, I went to the American Counseling Association in Detroit as a, as a student. I was a, um, was I a master student at the time?

I think I was, no, I was, I just started my doc program actually. And, uh, I was involved with the association for humanistic counseling at the time. And there was a meeting, there was a board meeting, and my mentor at the time was the president. And so, um, I had been kind of involved and around the organization, and I walked in, you know, and they're all smiling at me.

And I thought, this, there's something, something's up here. And they said, hi, um, so we sort of need someone to run for president elect. So I, that, that story sounds totally familiar to me. And I said the same thing, I'm a student, what do you mean? And, no, no, no, it'll be great. And, uh, yeah, and I had the opportunity to do that.

So it was, it was pretty cool. Pretty cool. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, so it's definitely quite a [00:06:00] shock. I, I think you have to, on one hand, steer clear of it. Clear of conferences because of that reason. It's a great way to get involved as well. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah. And I think for you, you know, kind of having seen how much success you've had in your, in your early career, uh, and having been familiar with your organizational style and what an amazing job you did down in New Orleans when you're talented, that shows through and people want, people want you involved.

Daniel Balva: Appreciate that. It's very kind. 

Mike Walsh: So, so tell us a little bit about what you're working on now. I know you've got all kinds of different things going on. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, the first thought that popped up was retirement. Um, it does sound pretty nice, right? Um, but currently I've been working on a few different projects.

One, um, within ARCA. So during my president elect year, um, I had done a few presentations with Dr. Sacco- Bene on looking at clinical competencies within supervision, specifically as it relates to [00:07:00] supervising supervisees with disabilities. And there really isn't much literature out there. Specifically, there, there are a few staple articles from a few key authors, but That's kind of just what's out there.

And so we started looking at, okay, well, what about within the counseling realm? What about within psychology and within social work, within the allied mental health professions? And the more we looked, uh, the more we noticed that it really wasn't something that was out there. Um, so we wanted to kind of take that and turn it into a task force within ARCA.

And so currently just finished data collection on a Delphi study, trying to gauge more into what people perceive as these competencies or best practices for supervision. Again, specifically for supervising supervisees with disabilities. And so that's something we're hoping to kind of roll out within the next year or so.

We're super excited for that one. Um, aside from that, we're trying to [00:08:00] look at continuing to bring ARCA to, to the next level. We're trying to make, We're trying to help provide a greater sense of unity within the rehabilitation profession. There are just so many organizations, each of which are truly wonderful.

But within ARCA specifically, we want to make it a home for rehab professionals. And so that's that's Even though in this past, I'm in this past president position now, that's something that I still feel strongly about, still really want to contribute to you. And so that's kind of another project that I'm trying to work on in collaboration with the ARCA leadership.

And then outside of that, just looking at a few, other kind of research opportunities, research projects. And so outside of the disability world, um, a passion of mine is international and global mental health. And so currently looking at a few projects on how many articles within ACA journals and APA journals are written about the global South, specifically from authors and with participants in the global South.[00:09:00] 

And so that's kind of a side project that I'm looking at. And, and, and, You know, just from there, seeing, seeing what comes next. 

Mike Walsh: Wow. That's cool. Tell me a little bit more about the global South. Talk to talk a little bit about that, if you will. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah. So a lot of what we find in terms of kind of within the realm of international literature.

We have a lot of authors who are located either in the United States or in Canada or in high resourced countries within Europe. And so oftentimes those are the authors who are writing about, you know, concerns within lower middle income countries. And so what we're trying to look for is we're trying to raise a platform and, and kind of help share voices from authors who are in these lower middle income countries.

So that's part of this project is looking at, you know, How many publications are, are provided by, are published by these authors who are in lower and middle income countries versus just authors in the [00:10:00] U. S. or Canada or Europe as well. So it's, it's definitely a venture. We're, we're venturing out across all APA journals, all ACA journals for the past 20 plus years.

And so by the time we finally finish and maybe retirement, we'll finally get there. Yeah, 

Mike Walsh: what a fantastic way to, to, to, to give voice, to amplify voice, to provide a platform for folks who, who don't really have that platform as a, as a, as a rule. 

Daniel Balva: Absolutely. Yeah. And it's just so much wonderful literature out there that oftentimes we don't take a look at.

Because we're used to either the same staple journals or a lot of key authors who are doing wonderful, who are making wonderful contributions in the fields. But it's nice to kind of venture out and see what else exists as well. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah, I've had the pleasure of being involved as a reviewer and now as an associate editor with the international [00:11:00] journal for the advancement of counseling.

And I've just so appreciated the opportunity to work with authors. And I've, I've kind of been involved with other journals from time to time, including JCD and, and, uh, and JHC. And it's been a fantastic opportunity to look at the literature, but working with authors that, that we don't normally see represented, I think is just fantastic.

And it's. Helping them to find their voices is, is a great opportunity. 

Daniel Balva: Absolutely. Yeah, I couldn't agree more that that was something, um, earlier, uh, in the bio it had shared about, um, the global students psychology committee. And so, um, that kind of brings up a thought related to that committee is, you know, during the pandemic, a lot of.

A lot of us, all of us pretty much were, were isolated in some form or other. Of course, Zoom saved the day for a lot of us. But that was an opportunity where, you know, we couldn't travel. We couldn't attend conferences, at least in person. And so that was a committee [00:12:00] that we had started where we wanted to connect psychology students from all across the globe.

And so we established this committee, um, that had over 50 students from 30 different countries across each continent, and we would meet on a monthly basis and just talk about what does mental health look like within our respective countries. And so a lot of these students would share exactly as you had mentioned, you know, difficulties either publishing, difficulties kind of getting their voice out there when, you know, a lot of times we focus on voices within the U. S. or in Europe, Canada. Um, and so. That was just another wonderful opportunity where, you know, just being open to learning from one another across different countries and just a wonderful experience there as well. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah. I've had a phenomenal opportunity to travel a little bit. I did a counseling delegation to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Um, I've traveled to Vietnam a couple of times to look at the, the rehabilitation counseling landscape in Vietnam. Look, it's interesting. [00:13:00] It's, it's a little bit dichotomous in terms of what that looks like. depending on where in Vietnam you go and, and as you get closer to, you know, to, to Laos and Cambodia, and it tends to culturally shift and morph and look a little different.

But what struck me almost immediately in, in most of the times that I've traveled around the world is how much we have to learn from folks who traditionally don't have a voice in our professional literature. And, uh, and so I really appreciate that kind of work. It's, you see it really clearly when you travel.

But do you hear it in the literature? That's the question. 

Daniel Balva: Exactly. And one of the, I think that sounds like such an incredible experience and opportunity, um, that you had just shared. And I think, you know, whatever we could do to, to, to have similar types of experiences. And so, you know, if we're not able to travel or, you know, for students even, you know, where It seems like coursework sometimes drowns us, um, but in a good way, uh, you know, [00:14:00] looking at how can we at least engage in conversation with, with other mental health professionals or other people doing important work in other countries so that, you know, we can grow as well.

Um, and it, I think ultimately it helps our profession here in the U. S. when we can learn from others. And sometimes we could even share the knowledge as well. And so it allows for great opportunities for that personal and professional growth team. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah, and I think it's a great way to break out of some of that cultural encapsulation that can happen, especially in professions, right?

We, we fall in love with the same old ideas and the same old voices and, and that those are great ideas and they're great voices, but why not get more diverse voices and, and new ideas? 

Daniel Balva: Absolutely. And that was something within ARCA this past year, um, we tried to bring in some webinar speakers from outside the U.

S. And so what was really exciting is we had a speaker from the United Nations. 

Mike Walsh: Oh wow, cool. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, we had a disability rights lawyer and activist from South Africa as [00:15:00] well. Just kind of hearing these different perspectives, it also opened, I mean, it opened my eyes in terms of, wow, there are also other opportunities for us as rehab professionals and mental health professionals on a global scale, too, that I previously never even thought about.

And so the work that we can each do, it doesn't just extend to our local community. We could, we could really help impart change on a, on a global basis as well. 

Mike Walsh: Absolutely. And, and Daniel kind of, and you mentioned something, I want to circle back to it cause I think it really has direct implications. So what we're talking about here is, and that is that are you trying within ARCA to, um, uh, to, to amplify some of the voices that aren't heard as much.

And, and so I wonder to what, to what extent is does mentorship and, and fostering of voices have a role in that process? 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, I think mentorship is huge. It's such an important and sometimes overlooked component within our profession. And the reason why I [00:16:00] say sometimes overlooked is because I will say as a student, um, I didn't often find those emails from different divisions about mentorship opportunities and the mentorship programs.

And The reason I think in part was because I wasn't exactly looking for that and I didn't know, you know, I didn't know, hey, formal mentorship is something that really is a game changer within the profession. I thought it just meant, hey, let me go ask one of my professors for some advice, which was also very useful.

I think once you know that mentorship is out there within the profession and once you're actively seeking it, A lot of the different ACA divisions offer great mentorship programs. These opportunities, I mean, to really sit one on one with an individual who is a seasoned professional, who, who knows the ropes, who knows the landscape in the field, and who can help provide that guidance.

I mean, it, it just provides such wonderful information and insight that Sometimes we may otherwise spend years [00:17:00] looking for our own, so I think mentorship is just so incredible. Especially some of these developed programs that different divisions offer within ACA, too. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah, that's a great point. I think back to, you know, one of the first conferences I went to, professional conferences I went to, um, was ACA in Orlando, and I think it was my first, national presentation, um, and, and my first opportunity to really kind of like meet the people that wrote the textbooks and all of that cool stuff.

And I ran into, in the hallway, um, I ran into John Carlson, who was just sort of one of the fathers of family work, you know, and he was just such a friendly and engaging guy. He and Jeff Kotler had a story and they, they said, our favorite part of conferences is not the conference. It's the walking between engagements and talking to people on the way.

And, um, I just found people so open and I had the opportunity the very next year I went to Columbus to an ACES [00:18:00] conference. And I'm going to give a shout out here to two established leaders in the profession, Kelly Wester and Heather Treepall. I had a research idea that I, that I was just sort of wanted to run by somebody and they were sitting there having a conversation, probably just trying to enjoy themselves.

And, uh, and I, I decided to annoy them and I said, Hey, you don't know me from a hole in the wall, but I, I got this idea. I was hoping, you know, and here is, Kelly's one of the most established researchers on our field. It was at the time. Heather's as, as, as cogent a clinical leader as, as can be. And they were like, absolutely sit down and cleared the table and spent an hour with me.

Listening to me yammer away about my research ideas gave me fantastic ideas. And I'll never forget that. That's mentorship on an interpersonal level. It was just fantastic. And, and I think that's the kind of thing, like, when somebody's late to a meeting and you go, hey, We need somebody, that's mentorship too, you know.

Daniel Balva: Like I'm so [00:19:00] glad to hear that example too, because you know a lot of times, you know, it's intimidating to speak to what we perceive as these giants within the profession, right? 

Mike Walsh: Sure. 

Daniel Balva: And so conferences, especially the ACA conference, I think you're, you're spot on. I remember my first conference, Um, and I went to the ACA opening reception and then I went to the, um, AMCD reception and just to see some of these authors, these, again, these giants in the profession dancing on the dance floor.

And I was like, wow, these people dance. Wow. These food, you know, they, 

they 

socialize. They don't just. 

Mike Walsh: They're totally human beings. This is, this is wild. 

Daniel Balva: That could be one of the biggest eye opening surprises I've had, you know, as a student, is, wow, these are real human beings. And, you know, they're open to conversations.

And I think, again, a lot of times we just get intimidated. It could really hinder us because To, to have an opportunity to speak [00:20:00] to someone and to learn from someone and to share our voice is so important in, in the profession to you. And so a lot of these great mentors and a lot of these great people who have paved the way within counseling, they're very open to speaking with us.

It's just, we got to take that first step. 

Mike Walsh: That's right. Yeah, that's right. And I, and I think there's, there's something powerful in sharing the social capital of. You know, having conversations and being introduced and, you know, they, then, you know, we're able to introduce me to other people and we're more than willing to do that.

And there's been leaders out there, um, that, that have been, that have done that certainly for me. Um, so what I try to do at each at each ACA conference is I hang around the conference, whatever the conference hall is, and I find new people like if they look new and I'll say, Hey, is it your first first conference?

And I'll say, Yeah, I'll say commit. Come on, let's go. Let's meet some people. And, um, and just to kind of make some of those connections because it's really intimidating to, [00:21:00] to approach these leaders, you know, And I think if we can do that, it's a good thing. 

Daniel Balva: Absolutely. And I think the field needs more people like you who, uh, who will take that initiative to help support these new people as well.

You know, maybe that's even an idea in and of itself is, uh, once you walk into the expo I'll just have some seasoned professionals who walk us around and say, hey, let me introduce you. So I think you started something great there. 

Mike Walsh: I don't know. It's it's just something I thought might be a cool idea once And I did it at one conference and now I try to make it a point to do it at least once a And of course, we tend to do it with our own students as a counselor educator, right?

We'll drag them around, we'll meet people, and the excitement in their eyes, like I remember that. I remember being introduced to people and like, wow, they're humans and they talked to me and it was awesome, you know, uh, but to be able to, to provide that to people who don't know you necessarily, I think can be powerful.

Daniel Balva: Absolutely. Yeah. And, uh, I think that's a great, you know, a great way of helping [00:22:00] branch out too, right? A lot of times we. Um, I say we, I still think of myself sometimes as a student, but a lot of times kind of starting within the profession, uh, like you said, our greatest supporters are our faculty, right?

And so we start to feel very comfortable with faculty and, and, uh, and which is wonderful as well. Right. And then our faculty, once they can help us meet other people in the profession, because you never know where you'll end up, right? Whether it's a different city, a different state, a different university.

So I think that's, that's just wonderful to hear that there are individuals like you who are helping, you know, support that movement of, of getting new professionals connected to you. 

Mike Walsh: Well, and you're, you're the next wave. You're the, you're, you're the wave of professional that's going to come in and, and really enhance the profession.

So I'm excited about that. 

Daniel Balva: Thank you. So I guess I'll stop talking about retirement. No, 

Mike Walsh: you're not allowed to retire. We've got plenty of work for you to do. 

Daniel Balva: I was afraid someone might say that . 

Mike Walsh: [00:23:00] Exactly. I have a feeling people are going to be saying that to you for a long time. So Daniel, what, what other, what other things in the profession are you, are you interested in?

Are you concerned about it? You see it. What things do you see on the horizon for counseling? 

Daniel Balva: I think counseling is in such a unique position. Um, and that I hate to phrase it like this. Um, but a lot of times as the world experiences greater crises, There are more opportunities within counseling. 

Mike Walsh: Sure. Find the helpers, right?

Daniel Balva: Exactly. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah. 

Daniel Balva: And, and so the helpers will always have, you know, an opportunity to shine and always have an opportunity to help support if nothing else. Right. 

Mike Walsh: Absolutely. 

Daniel Balva: Always have job security, um, which is nice as well. But, uh, you know, as the world is experiencing so many, you know, twists and turns on a daily basis.

I mean, whether you look at Elections, right? Um, and it doesn't matter kind of who's running for elections, just kind of every election cycle, [00:24:00] right? It can cause significant concern or it can cause significant stress for people. You know, as you look at war, strife, right? It causes concern. It causes, um, stress for people.

I mean, even the pandemic, right? Honestly, I don't think anybody has really recovered, you know, from the pandemic in and of itself. Just Because you think about, you know, the implications that it's had, how it's affected all of our lives, right? And so all of these different areas, then of course your day to day concerns like job stressors, family related stressors, right?

All of these different areas, turn on the news, that, that could be a stressor as well, right? And so there are a lot of great opportunities for counselors to flourish and shine and, and advocate as well, right? And it's just a matter of looking at, where do we want to put our, Attention, right? Where do we individually want to help contribute as well, right?

I know kind of within the realm of ARCA, um, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there are a [00:25:00] lot of concerns related to disability that are often overlooked. And I know I'm preaching to the choir here, so I apologize. 

Mike Walsh: No, please do. It's, it's great conversation to have because I think that there are issues probably that are known within the disability community, but don't get the exposure outside of that community.

And I think that's an important conversation to have. 

Daniel Balva: Appreciate that and the opportunity to share that here as well. I mean, within the larger counseling community, counseling has done a wonderful job in terms of really promoting the notion of intersectionality. And looking at different identities, right, looking at individuals not just having one identity, but of holding different types of identities, right, and that could be gender identity, it could be race, ethnicity, it could be age, um, you know, it could be cultural, socioeconomic status, there are just a host of different identities that we all as individuals hold.

What's often missing, though, is disability, right? And for some reason, disability isn't often viewed [00:26:00] as a factor of identity. 

Mike Walsh: Sure. But how could it not be? 

Daniel Balva: Exactly, right? When we look at all the other components of identity, we would be remiss to not consider disability as an important component of identity, too.

Right? And so that's something that I think, you know, I think the counseling field has evolved so wonderfully over time. Thanks. It's just for whatever reason, you know, disability unfortunately isn't viewed as the quote unquote kind of sexy topic, right? It's, it's not the topic like trauma, which piques a lot of people's attention, for example.

And so disability has often been overlooked, and so I think, If we talk about where the field needs to go, I think that's definitely an area that, that we have to do better. Um, our rehab programs, our rehab faculty, they're all doing a wonderful job. Our rehab students, as well, kind of going into the profession, making a difference.

But, you know, disability doesn't just end, doesn't start and end within the rehab sector of the field. It's something that the larger [00:27:00] counseling, population needs to be on board with as well in terms of becoming more competent in learning about, um, becoming more comfortable in learning about, talking about, and becoming more comfortable and interesting.

Because as the largest minority in the world, right, the disability population needs counselors to be more competent and more knowledgeable in terms of Being able to work with them, um, and, and help advocate for such concerns. And so is that necessarily an area that I think the counseling field will move towards?

I don't know exactly that it's on the horizon for the counseling field or that it's necessarily kind of. What they're all thinking about but I do think that there's a great opportunity for us to make that push To make that a priority within the larger counseling community, and I don't say that in a negative manner I just say that As as a great opportunity for us to engage in advocacy and leadership [00:28:00] here And at all different levels at the student level at the professional level at the retired level as well 

Mike Walsh: yeah, I would agree and I I think it's it's it's a matter of shifting perspective perhaps between You Disability being, well there's, there's, there's us and then there's them.

There's people with disabilities. Disability is us. And, and you don't have to, it's not a big leap to know that most of us are going to wind up in a position of needing and being able to benefit from accommodations at some point. And I wonder as the gerontological population grows. And it's growing and certainly in the United States and as life spans, you know, get longer, more and more folks are going to need accommodation.

And so will that foster this idea that, hey, universal accommodation is a great idea, you know, because that can benefit folks with disabilities, folks without disabilities, but it benefits everybody. And that's the part of disability is us. That I think [00:29:00] is the, is the horizon. I think that's the frontier.

Daniel Balva: Yeah, and I, I couldn't agree more. I mean, when we look at universal design, when we look at accessible practices as well, there are a lot of wonderful faculty who were engaged previously in such practices. You know, even when it comes to virtual learning, um, who had accessible online classes. And then kind of the pandemic hit.

And a lot of, I say, us, generally, at the time I was teaching an undergrad course, I'd never taught online before. And so, for a lot of the world, within academia, I think, it was a few 

Mike Walsh: It was voodoo. 

Daniel Balva: Right. 

Mike Walsh: Right. 

Daniel Balva: It was like, I've recently been watching a lot of Harry Potter, and it's like, he who must not be named.

Mike Walsh: That's right. We don't 

Daniel Balva: talk about virtual education, right? 

Mike Walsh: That's right. 

Daniel Balva: And now here it is where there's this whole new platform, but there were so many individuals who are already engaged in accessible teaching practices online. And so a lot of these accessible practices, [00:30:00] universal design as well, they were implemented previously, but we weren't always listening to the individuals who are implementing them, right?

We weren't always listening to the individuals who were requesting those services as well, right? Who were preaching about the importance of these services and This is as well. So now it's kind of like they were at the forefront of something that, you know, later on we all were trying to catch up with, right?

But I think it's just so important that we continue these discussions about universal design accessible practices as well, right? Within teaching, within counseling, within our clinical practices, right? Just if we could learn to make it a day to day practice, right? Think about how much more accessible that would be to so many more people.

How many more people could access counseling services? How many more people could access a really, truly, holistically inclusive education? How many more people could feel welcomed into the profession of counseling as well? It's really this benefit [00:31:00] on all ends, right? An inclusive practice could help grow the counseling profession, and ultimately, Help grow the helping field to meet the needs of the larger society as well.

Mike Walsh: Yeah, and and you talk about amplifying voices, right? That's a way to maximize the the diversity you have in the and the voices you have represented for sure. 

Daniel Balva: Absolutely, and and there are a lot of wonderful faculty and students and individuals within the counseling community who do have disabilities who have often felt silenced, right?

Whether it was an educational setting, whether it's kind of in the conference setting, Um, or in the clinical setting as well, just in terms of unfortunately inaccessible practices. And so if we talk about kind of areas that the field needs to move into, I think, you know, just trying to ensure accessibility for everyone, right?

And kind of tying that back to intersectionality, when we recognize that disability is in fact a huge component of identity. Right? And once we kind of accept that, and once we start opening [00:32:00] those conversations about it past just the side of rehabilitation, right? Then we can make sure all these different facets of our field are more accessible as well.

Mike Walsh: Yeah, universal design and enhanced accessibility, it helps everybody. And that's, that's the thing, it improves quality for everybody. So why not look at that as a standard practice? We, we had a situation many years ago where, um, as a faculty member, I was approached and said, well, the ex student has a disability, they need a note taker.

And the more I thought about that, I thought, well, everybody could probably use a note taker like that. That's probably not a bad idea. So instead of, Assigning a note taker for a specific person, which didn't feel like a, felt a little top down to me, didn't feel like a real justice driven solution. Um, I said, let's bring that to the learning community.

And I said, so. Let's talk about, it strikes me that we [00:33:00] could all use a note taking service. Would we be interested as a group to rotate that responsibility around and so that we could benefit, we could all benefit. And everybody's like, yes. I mean it's like an immediate yes. And we just sort of routinely do that now in that, in that particular class.

And so it's, it's a universal adaptation. It helps everybody. And it makes the experience better for everybody. And so if we can start to think that way, like, disability is us, right? Universal accommodations help everybody. 

Daniel Balva: Absolutely. And I think, again, what you've done there within that educational setting is so important, right?

If more, if more faculty were open to considering that, right? Again, how do we make these practices more accessible for everybody, right? Not just the one student requesting those services, but Then it, it'll just make teaching practices so much easier in the long run as well, right, and more accessible too.

And, and, and frankly more enjoyable because then we're not having, particularly students [00:34:00] with disabilities, aren't having to worry about, you know, just kind of meeting basic, basic accessibility needs. 

Mike Walsh: And we're also not singling somebody out and say, well, they need this. So, you know, uh, if, if, if everybody's benefiting from something and they're benefiting from it too, then, Everybody can be, it's a, it's a more equitable learning community, I think.

Um, and if we can get to that point societally, I think we'll be doing something. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, and I think you're spot on. I think these conversations, right, these opportunities to learn from, for example, the practices that you're doing, I think that could make a huge difference within the larger counseling community.

We just, we just have to be open to having these conversations and, and, and listening to the disabled voices within the field and looking at What could we do to make this more inclusive and accessible as well? 

Mike Walsh: Yeah. And ARCA's done some really interesting work in terms of amplifying those voices. I just really appreciate it.

I had an opportunity at the last conference to spend a little time with ARCA folks. [00:35:00] And I really have appreciated their willingness to collaborate to get voices amplified. 

Daniel Balva: Thank you. I know. Um, well, that's that's a thank you on behalf of ARCA. Um, is a collective. I think, you know, within ARCA, there are so many talented individuals, so many individuals who are engaged in just groundbreaking areas of the profession.

Um, that it's just, I can't say this lightly enough is, you know, it's so exciting to meet each individual ARCA member and kind of get to know them and learn about what they're doing, because just the work that they're doing is so fascinating. And so within that, I think, you know, whatever we could do to amplify voices in ARCA within the larger rehab profession is just so important.

I mean, we had a webinar recently with an ARCA for a member hosted it, and it was [00:36:00] focused on perinatal mental health and disability. And that was never something that I had ever learned about, um, a topic I had ever attended a presentation on and so kind of focusing on perinatal mental health and incorporating disability into that, you know, just as one of many examples.

It was just so fascinating. And so I think the more that we can do to amplify those voices within our, within the larger rehab field. I mean, it's We just had a recent meeting, um, with an ARCA member who has developed just wonderful content on accessible teaching practices. And so it just kind of came by happenstance that we just set up a meeting, and I said, you know, this is something that I think on our ARCA website we're missing, resources for educators, and he said, hey, I've already developed this.

So that's something we're excited to launch within ARCA. Hopefully within the next few months on our website, we'll have templates and recommendations [00:37:00] and resources for more accessible teaching practices. And the reason I'm blurting all of this out is, you know, I think it ties back to what we spoke about at first, you know, just being open to communication, just being open to meeting someone for the first time. And even if it's shooting out an email, right. Um, or striking up a conversation or as we spoke about, even if it's asking a faculty member for an introduction, there's so many talented people in this profession, students and seasoned professionals like just starting.

Mike Walsh: Our strength is our diversity, right? 

Daniel Balva: A hundred percent. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Well, Daniel, this has been great. 

Daniel Balva: Yeah, this has been super exciting. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah. What haven't we covered that we should have? Have we solved all of our problems yet? All the world problems yet? 

Daniel Balva: I Think so. We just, yeah, we'll send a list out of what our requests are.

We'll send it to the counseling community and [00:38:00] we'll go from there. 

Mike Walsh: There you go. Well, cool. Well, thanks so much for joining us on Counseling Today. And it was a pleasure talking with you. 

Daniel Balva: Likewise. Thanks so much for having me, Mike, and just for this wonderful platform and all the wonderful work that you and your colleagues and your students are doing.

I truly, I truly love the podcast and I'm always excited when there's a new opportunity to tune in. So thanks for amplifying voices here as well. 

Mike Walsh: Yeah, right back at you. I mean, you're doing some incredible work out there and you're, and you're really doing the work that's going to make, take the profession forward.

So, so thank you for all you do. 

Daniel Balva: Thank you. Likewise. 

Mike Walsh: Cool. That'll wrap us up. Thanks for joining us on Counseling Today, folks. Take care.