Letter from the President – Happy Spring

 

 

 

 

 

 

CTAMFT President, Denise Parent, LMFT (president@ctamft.org)

I hope by the time this news gets to you we will have daffodils and tulips, as well as longer warmer and sunnier days!

Ethics Committee

CTAMFT has been working hard since we last talked. The Ethics Committee met for the first time in January, as a newly formed committee following our Fall Conference about Ethics. The committee set a goal to research and implement practical ways to connect and support supervisors, as well as clinical members with state level ethical practice information and legal consultation. Meetings will continue, and you will start to see information coming out of this committee within the coming months. If you are interested in joining this committee, you are encouraged to contact us at ethics@ctamft.org.

2014 CTAMFT Annual Conference

I’m looking forward to seeing you on April 24 and 25 at our 2014 Conference about neuroscience—to celebrate the evidence that our brains are shaped by relationships – not drugs! As a reminder, you can earn up to 11.5 CEUs if you attend the entirety of this year’s conference.

I encourage you to learn a little about our keynotes this year, as we are thrilled with the level of professionals we’ve recruited for this year’s conference. Dr. Kelly McGonigal, who will be speaking on Thursday recently spoke at TEDGlobal in Scotland. See this talk and get a taste of what’s to come at our conference.

On Friday, Dr. Lou Cozolino will present a keynote and run a workshop. Read here to learn a little more about Dr. Cozolino.

We have also carefully selected Connecticut-based speakers, who will cover topics from Neurofeedback to Mindfulness to EMDR and self care. In addition, we have a large poster session (12 posters!) planned with high-quality participation representing student research from all five of the State’s MFT programs. We’ve built in several opportunities to network, including a Thursday evening networking event, as well as a special event to connect students with potential employers, called “The Professional Showcase.” Time has been built in to Friday so you can meet and catch up with your peers, get a book signed by Dr. Cozolino and more.

Legislation & Advocacy

On the legislative and advocacy front, we continue to navigate the process of obtaining the LMFTA (Associate), a license for new graduates working under supervision. This year is a short legislative session, and we hope to press ahead even though our scope of practice request was not chosen for committee review by the Department of Public Health (in spite of a letter of support from NASW’s Connecticut Chapter).

We have also supported the Community Mental Health Centers Association regarding the ability for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to bill for services delivered by supervised students, as this could affect some of our student internship sites and post grad options.

Thank you to any of you who took the time to review and think about the new COAMFTE accreditation standards and post comments, or to those of you who asked the public health co-chairs to consider the LMFTA license. We depend greatly on the volunteer support of our members in any initiatives at the state level.

We have been conscious of the need to build relationships with other mental health system partners and understand the need to raise the profile of how MFT fits into the bigger interdisciplinary picture. I would like to talk with you about positive relationships you may have with specific legislators and members of the State Department of Education, School Social Workers, School Counselors, School Psychologists, DCF, DMHAS or DSS. Furthermore, I plan to invite a network of colleagues from these organizations to talk about how MFTs can partner and enhance the broad picture of the mental health delivery system in CT through collaboration.

And finally

In honor of Spring and you, from “What to Remember When Waking” by David Whyte:

“…What urgency calls you to your one love?
What shape awaits in the seed of you
to grow and spread its branches
Against a future sky?”