NBCC’s Global Partnerships Continue to Grow

Since 2003, NBCC’s Global Capacity Building department has been at the forefront of expanding the counseling profession and access to mental health resources to countries worldwide. Today, we continue collaborating to address the ever-changing needs of various communities and reach more underserved and never-served populations through partnerships with organizations directly serving those communities.  

Each partnership caters to unique organizational or community needs. By maintaining respect for the social, cultural, political, and economic realities of the areas where we are invited, we can offer a range of programs. We collaborate with regional, national, and local organizations as they shape their credentialing policies, assessment methods, and training requirements to the needs of their populations.   

Two of these partnerships are in Mexico and Haiti.  

Since September 2008, NBCC has collaborated with the Asociación Mexicana de Orientación Psicológica y Psicoterapia (AMOPP, Mexican Association of Counseling and Psychotherapy). AMOPP works to improve the quality of mental health care provided to clients in Mexico. One of the ways that this has been achieved is through developing a certification in consultation with NBCC. AMOPP has also supported, through legislative efforts and initiatives, the promotion of the practice of counseling and psychotherapy in Mexico. In 2012, AMOPP launched a certification program to support the training and standards for counseling professionals. Likewise, AMOPP has sought to bring mental health knowledge and skills to populations in vulnerable situations, and more than 660 Mental Health Facilitators (MHF) have been trained nationwide. The MHF program is a foundational mental health training program that focuses on providing helping and referral skills to the general public to promote awareness and combat stigma.  

AMOPP is the only certifier of counselors in Mexico. Over the years, they have developed the AMOPP Certified Psychological Counselor (OPCA®) certification, which adapts counseling standards to the context of Mexican counselors and psychotherapists and complies with international standards for certification development. This guarantees that counseling professionals who obtain this distinction have the necessary academic credentials and that they work in accordance with the ethics, values, and scientific knowledge of the profession in Mexico. 

“I have had the pleasure of working with NBCC in our global programs since 2003, and the founders of AMOPP began collaborating with us even before AMOPP became a registered association in Mexico,” says Dr. Wendi Schweiger-Moore, NBCC’s Director of Global Capacity Building. “Through the creation of a certification to expand counseling professionalization in Mexico and their wide application of the MHF program, AMOPP continues to be one of our strongest partners and a great teacher to NBCC staff who work on global programs.” 

In Haiti, Dr. Vijonet Demero serves as Chancellor and Professor of Pastoral Theology, Creative Leadership, and Cognition at the Institut Universitaire de Formation des Cadres (INUFOCAD). Dr. Demero’s passion and work are to increase the professionalization of counseling and mental health training in his country.  

“Ultimately, my biggest goals are to mobilize and promote mental health awareness in Haiti,” says Dr. Demero.  

As early as 2004, Dr. Demero became aware of the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of children and women in Haitian communities. He immediately recognized how helpful mental health professionals could be. However, while education for counselors existed in the universities, there were no specializations for these issues. 

Therefore, Dr. Demero began meeting regularly with Haiti’s Ministry of Health, advocating specifically for mental health, which he continues to do today. Furthermore, through his work with a nongovernmental organization (NGO), he assisted in training a group of educators who would specialize in specific areas and began organizing training for social workers to be able to help these children and women.  

“I had finally found a way to address the abuse of these children and women,” says Dr. Demero. “There was a well-defined curriculum for counselors, but specific training was needed. This is where the MHF program could help.”  

“It has been a privilege to collaborate with Chancellor Demero since the beginning of INUFOCAD’s MHF partnership in 2014,” says Eugenie Yang, Manager of Global Capacity Building at NBCC. “His desire to help the communities of Haiti is evident not only through how passionately he speaks about their needs, but the number of trainings he has held over the years and all his efforts in making the MHF curriculum contextually relevant to community members by translating it to Haitian Creole.” 

Currently, while counselors can earn their master’s and doctoral degrees in Haiti, there are no officially recognized licensures or certifications as there are for medical doctors and nurses. Dr. Demero wants to change that.   

Dr. Demero cites increasing media exposure as a top initiative. Every Saturday, he hosts a radio show in which he interviews various individuals, including mental health professionals. In addition, he hosts an annual conference every October and hopes to increase its consistency, formality, and overall participation. 

“I salute the partnership with NBCC and encourage others to continue to support the capacity building efforts of NBCC in Haiti through INUFOCAD University,” says Dr. Demaro.

Dr. Vijonet Demero is an expert in child development with over 22 years of experience managing long-term contracts in development projects financed by various international cooperation agencies. He has built the technical capacity of national state and non-government actors to address protection issues, including trafficking and deinstitutionalization. He has extensive networks with key government institutions, including the Haitian government, NGOs, and faith groups. He is currently collaborating on programs with the Institut du Bien-Etre Social et de Recherches (IBESR) to promote family-based care, including foster care to prevent institutionalization, family reunification, and support to vulnerable families. 

Dr. Demero earned a PhD in Creative Leadership for Innovation and Change at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI). He also completed his PhD studies in Cognitive Psychology at the Université d’Etat d’Haiti (UEH). As a scholar, he has contributed to several articles and book chapters in the fields of theology, education, learning, leadership, and cognition.  

Dr. Demero has performed several academic, political, and leadership roles, including the Rector of the Université INUFOCAD, Professor of Master of Psychology Program at the Université d’Etat d’Haiti (State University of Haiti), member of the Commission Nationale de la Science, la Technologie et de l’Innovation (National Commission of Science, Technology and Innovation), former National Director of Bethany Global, former Secretary General of the Conseil Electoral Provisoire (Haiti Electoral Council), former Vice-President of the Fédération Protestante d’Haiti (Haiti Protestant Federation), and President of the Mission de l’Eglise de la Bonne Nouvelle (Church of the Good News).