American Counseling Association prepares a revised Code of Ethics for adoption in 2026

The American Counseling Association (ACA) is revising its Code of Ethics, last issued in 2014. It plans a shorter core document with supplemental guidelines on fast-changing areas such as artificial intelligence and telehealth, and final adoption by its Board of Directors in 2026.

What happened

Writing on 30 January 2026, Lynn E. Linde, EdD, ACA’s Chief of Professional Practice, described the revision as a move towards a shorter, more succinct core document paired with supplemental guidelines. The guidelines are to cover areas that need frequent updating, including artificial intelligence, record keeping, gatekeeping, emerging technologies, and telehealth and the Counseling Compact.

The process began with a review phase in 2023 and 2024 and moved into revision in January 2025. An Ethics Revision Task Force organised the work through ten subgroups: one for the preamble and nine for the sections of the current code. ACA scheduled the public comment period on the draft for early March to mid-April 2026.

Dr Linde said the core professional values and ethical principles of the code remain unchanged. The Counseling Compact named in the plan is an interstate agreement in the United States that lets licensed counsellors practise across member states.

Why it matters

For counsellors who follow the ACA code, the revision changes how ethical guidance is organised: technology and AI move into supplemental guidelines that can be updated more often than the core code.

Supervisors, educators and students who teach or study from the 2014 code should expect section numbering and structure to change once the new version is adopted, even where the underlying principles do not.

What happens next

ACA’s ethics page states that final revisions are to be adopted by its Board of Directors in September 2026, and that the 2014 code remains current until the new version is formally adopted. At the time of this update, the 2014 code is still the version in force.

Sources

• American Counseling AssociationCounseling ethics and ACA Code of Ethics resources
• National Board for Certified CounselorsUnderstanding the upcoming changes to the ACA Code of Ethics