Foundation Connections

The NBCC Professional Resources Department is excited to announce the results of the 2025 APEX Awards, in which the department and its open-access academic journal, The Professional Counselor (TPC), received two Awards for Excellence and one Grand Award.

The annual APEX Awards for Publication Excellence competition is open to writers, editors, graphic designers, and other communications professionals in corporate, nonprofit, and independent settings. 2025 marked the 37th year of the competition, which recognizes “excellence in graphic design, editorial content and the success of the entry—in the opinion of the judges—in achieving overall communications effectiveness and excellence.” Awards are conferred across 100 categories under 14 main headings, with the top 100 entries out of all submissions receiving Grand Awards.

TPC received a Grand Award in the Magazines, Journals, & Tabloids category for Volume 14, Issue 2 of the journal. Published comments from the judging panel highlighted the significance of TPC’s work:

"Volume 14, Issue 2 of The Professional Counselor offers a deeply researched, expert-level collection of scholarship. Covering topics from social justice in counselor education to an innovative analysis of school counselors’ own adverse childhood experiences and their connection to burnout and compassion satisfaction, each article demonstrates methodological rigor and extensive citation. The result is a thorough, authoritative resource that advances the knowledge base for practitioners and academics alike—emblematic of the quality that continues to distinguish the journal."

TPC also received an Award for Excellence in the One-of-a-Kind Publications—Electronic category for the Volume 14, Issue 2 edition of the TPC DIGEST, a collection of nontechnical summaries of each article in the journal paired with striking photography or art. This unique facet of TPC serves as an introduction to the journal that can be easily understood and enjoyed by the general public in addition to professional counselors and students.

Outside of TPC, the Professional Resources Department received an Award for Excellence in the Workplace Skills & Development—Accessibility & Compliance category for the Service Dog Flyer featured at the 2024 NBCC Foundation Symposium. The flyer served to educate conference attendees on the training, purpose, and safety of service dogs, and encourage awareness and responsibility in the presence of dogs and their handlers.

TPC has won at least one APEX Award every year since 2011, totaling more than 25 awards to date. “We are so incredibly proud of our constantly growing team of authors, editors, and designers for another year of important work,” says Catherine Clifton Hardman, Director of Professional Resources and Managing Editor of TPC. “It is a significant part of our department’s mission to increase access to high-quality research and educational materials, and recognition from other professionals means we are continuing to succeed in that mission.”

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