Applying for Membership

TCA’s minimum requirements include:

1. Bachelor’s degree or higher (education or clinical fields preferred)

2. Currently working as a Therapeutic Consultant

3. Alternatively working as a Referring Professional at least 1/3 of the time (minimally serving 15 clients per year)

4. Having a minimum toured 40 unique programs within the last 12 months. 20% can be virtual, and 50% must be therapeutic in nature, no repeat visits per calendar year.

5. No Dual Relationships (working for a program and also being a referring professional)

It depends on the person. The two most common hang-ups in the application process is providing the list of programs, and also submitting a photo of your degree or official transcripts. As long as you have those easily accessible, it may be a really quick application process.

You will be able to save your application and return to complete it at a later time if needed. Do note that incomplete applications will be cleared from the system after 90 days.

Each section of the application must be completed before submitting.

You will need:

1. Full contact information for 3 references. One must be a referring professional not associated with your practice.

2. Picture of your highest degree. Or transcripts indicating completion of the program. If you can’t locate these items, you will need to contact your school. TCA Membership Committee members will not contact your school for you.

3. Your list of completed 40 tours in the past 12 months. The tours must fulfill the following requirements:

   1. Up to 20% (8) may be virtual.

   2. At least 50% must be therapeutic programs. This can include day schools, PHP/IOP programs, etc. in your own geographic area.

   3. No repeat visits in a calendar year. Revisiting programs every year does qualify as a new visit for that calendar year.

   4. You will need to provide a list of 40 programs visited with each renewal period.

Professional Members are defined as:

• Clinical or Educational background (referring experience, not degree)

• Therapeutic Consultant or Referring Professional with 2+ years of experience and be the primary consultant for a minimum of 15 clients per year

• Annual Renewal Requirements:

  • Program Visits*: Complete 25 program visits annually with no repeat visits in the year prior to renewal. 

  • Collaboration Calls, BOTB Calls, Check-in Calls, and Committee Participation Calls: Attend any combination of 8 calls annually (self-tracked). 

  • Virtual Tours: May apply up to 20% of virtual tours of their tour requirement. 

Associate Members are defined as:

• Clinical or Educational background (referring experience, not degree)

• Therapeutic Consultant or Referring Professional with less than 2 years of experience or the primary consultant for fewer than 15 clients per year

• Annual Renewal Requirements:

  • Program Visits*: Complete 30 program visits annually with no repeat visits in the year prior to renewal. 

  • Collaboration Calls, BOTB Calls, Check-in Calls, and Committee Participation Calls: Attend any combination of 12 calls annually (self-tracked). 

  • Virtual Tours: May apply up to 20% of virtual tours of their tour requirement. 

Emeritus Members are defined as:

• Clinical or Educational background.

• Therapeutic Consultant or Referring Professional actively working toward or in retirement.

• Previously active TCA member, willing to mentor Associate Members

• Annual Renewal Requirements:

  • Program Visits*: No program visit requirement. 

  • Collaboration Calls, BOTB Calls, Check-in Calls, and Committee Participation Calls: No call requirement. 

  • Virtual Tours: No virtual tour requirement. 

Referring Professional Members are defined as: Working as a Referring Professional at least 1/3 of the time (minimum 15 client placements per year, 2/3 of the time in a related mental health care field.

*Program Visits are defined as: Program visits include visits to wilderness programs, residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, supportive boarding schools, private or public, supportive day schools, specialty hospitals, assessment centers, local treatment hospitals, partial hospitalization programs, and intensive outpatient programs.

• Virtual tours may count for up to 20% of the total required program visits for renewals.

• Each member is entitled to a one-time exemption due to life circumstances, granted without questions.

  • Additional exemptions after the “one-time exemption” will require a review by the Membership Committee. 

• NOTE: Members can repeat program visits from prior years. Multiple visits to the same program within the same year will not count. 

You will hear from members of the Membership Committee. The final step before being approved for membership includes a phone or video call interview to ensure alignment with TCA values. If after this call your membership is approved, you will pay the remaining membership fee, sign the TCA TalkList Agreement, receive a Welcome Packet, and have access to the Member Portal of the TCA website. From there you will join a Consultation Group, attend events, and dive into taking full advantage of membership.

No. TCA is not the right organization for a lot of people. Through the application process, we will determine whether or not you will benefit from joining TCA, and if TCA, as a whole, will benefit from you being a member.