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Sometimes we forget all of the ways we can share information. Attached is a simple form to keep you connected to us, and us to you!

Communication Tools (updated July 2014)

Letter from the President – Facing Organization Changes in the New Year

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

You may have seen, or will begin to see, a number of communications from AAMFT regarding its potential restructuring process, which will be raised for a membership vote in summer 2015. As the Board President, I am committed to sharing what we in Connecticut know, how we understand it, as well as share our opinions.

First, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to our Connecticut Division Survey this fall regarding your thoughts about a potential restructure. Your input was helpful and has been shared not only with our Board of Directors, but also with the national organization. I am pleased to confirm that the majority of our Connecticut members truly value this division and what we offer our members.

This October, our President-Elect, Heather Ehinger, as well as our Student Directors, Jessica Floyd and Michelle Triompo, attended AAMFT’s Annual Conference and Division Leaders meeting in Wisconsin, where a potential reorganization of AAMFT was discussed.

In short, AAMFT’s Board of Directors voted on the task force recommendation to eliminate the mandatory two-tier dues structure that requires members to pay state division dues in addition to AAMFT national dues. In the proposed restructure, members will pay national dues and then have the option to pay to join an array of special interest groups, which may include regional areas or states, a la carte. It is not clear how many geographic regions will (or won’t) be defined, but AAMFT has said that joining legislative special interest group(s) will be free.

As a Board, we continue to be concerned about what seems to be a lack of an operational plan. We have not received information about how transitions are envisioned, what a new national organization would look like, what special interest groups would be offered, and where and what criteria would be used to define special interest groups or geographic regions.

Most importantly, we don’t know what the strategies are for strong local and national advocacy for the MFT profession throughout the US and Canada – even as AAMFT adds goals for transnational and global outreach. There doesn’t appear to be any collection of data on the professional assets of each unique local division, or consideration of how those assets will be rolled into the larger picture.

One major gap I’d like to share is that a vote to change bylaws under the current regulations excludes student members who represent the millennial demographic (birth year from early 1980s to early 2000s) that AAMFT hopes to engage.

Because of these concerns, we have concluded as a Board that if a bylaw change vote is raised, we will all vote “no.”  This is not because we are against a progressive change that is essential for our professional organization to be innovative, competitive and relevant to the future of mental health services.   Rather, we cannot support change that lacks a plan that is able to provide explicit strategies as to how AAMFT will resource and sustain local attention to the inevitable opportunities and threats that arise and impact Connecticut MFTs.

We believe that all division leaders should be meaningfully utilized in building the future vision. We also believe that the whole membership, including students, should have the opportunity to dialogue and vote on the shape of an organization that has the power to impact their professional lives. As members and funders of the association, we have yet to see information concerning the actual budgeted cost of the proposed transition and how funds in the new organizational structure will be distributed. As such, we feel a lack of essential information in order to exercise our ability to vote on the new bylaws as informed members of our professional organization.

The CTAMFT Board believes strongly that our main focus must still remain on our profession, and we have continued to operate CTAMFT in its full capacity. We will continue to do so, while committing to helping AAMFT to fulfill their responsibilities to our profession, as our national organization.

We hope that the discussion thread taking place in the AAMFT Community will soon be available for all members, so that you may read a variety of Division Leaders perspectives about the restructure in addition to AAMFT’s communications. In the meantime, we will continue to keep our Connecticut members updated. And as always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/comments.

Enjoy the holiday season and I appreciate your time and attention always.

Legislative Update 12/2014

Contact at legislation@ctamft.org

Our legislative path for this year includes a grassroots lobbying campaign about a provisional license for new graduates as well as supporting MFTs in the schools, Medicaid/Medicare initiatives and advocating for MFTs in mental health settings.

Please keep an eye out for e-mails from our legislative Board representatives, Maryann LaBella or Roxanne Pomeroy, about contacting your legislators to make this happen. We are getting good feedback about the new options for Medicare reimbursement for private practitioners as well.

Please see the website for more ways to access this information.

Letter from the President – AAMFT Restructure Report

Denise Parent, LMFT, President of CTAMFT

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

Hello everybody, welcome back, after one of the most gorgeous summers I can remember!

Both AAMFT and CTAMFT have been busy! Stay tuned for our September E-News, which is coming out shortly. In the meantime, we feel it’s important to discuss the many changes underway at AAMFT, which will certainly impact us on a local/CT division level. I encourage you to please read this closely and share your thoughts with us, as well as AAMFT.

It is our understanding that next month, AAMFT’s restructuring task force (or DASC), is likely to recommend that AAMFT move toward centralizing services at AAMFT in order to create a more uniform MFT “brand.” We believe that AAMFT is heading toward creating a structure similar to the American Counseling Association (ACA) in which members will be invited to join the national organization and optional practice specialty groups – eliminating geographic divisions like CTAMFT.

AAMFT’s rationale is that in order to adapt to changing membership demographics, service inequities from state-to-state, and to address the needs of the future – structural change is necessary. Any changes will likely take four to six years to realize, and will depend on an AAMFT Board vote this October, followed up by a full membership vote in order to change the AAMFT bylaws.

The logistical process of any change has not yet been discussed. These decisions will create the organization that represents our profession in the coming years. The CTAMFT Board and the five MFT academic programs in Connecticut feel strongly that no matter what structure is decided upon, there needs to be a strong association presence locally for employment advocacy/legislation, as well as support for students, new professionals and clinical members as they navigate their careers.

On behalf of CTAMFT, I strongly encourage you to share your thoughts with the AAMFT task force (DASC) via their Community Forum.

Furthermore, we’d like you to share your opinions with us at CTAMFT. Please link here (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8FTCBTT) for a short (we promise!) survey. The intent is to learn from you the local services you count on and value as members of CTAMFT. Your opinion counts and we’re hopeful you will take a few minutes to respond.

In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us at CTAMFT. I can be reached at president@ctamft.org.

Introducing CTAMFT E-Classifieds

Hello CTAMFT Members and Listserv Subscribers,

We are pleased to share that CTAMFT’s “Listserv” has gone through a transformation!

Introducing: CTAMFT E-Classifieds. This new name is intended to better represent the type of information we are sharing with you. With the new title comes updated and clarified criteria.

Revised Criteria: We have updated our E-Classifieds criteria reflecting what this information source shares and what it doesn’t. Members can click on the link to view the new E-Classifieds criteria after logging-in to your account.

Otherwise, please look at the new criteria here: <http://files.mail-list.com/m/ctamft/CTAMFT_E-Classifieds_Criteria.pdf>

Electronic submitting: Please submit postings to manager@ctamft.org. This is the same CTAMFT e-mail address that many of you have become familiar with. We are now using this e-mail for all E-Classifieds communication. *Please note the ctamft@snet.net e-mail is no longer active.

If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact the CTAMFT Association Manager, Shannon Eterginio at manager@ctamft.org.

Staff Changes

As many of you are aware, Wendy Haggerty has served CTAMFT in a number of different roles over the past 3 years – most recently as our valued Association Manager. She has done a terrific job for us, including helping to generate public awareness about the credibility of MFT’s, growing our membership, streamlining communication, securing outstanding speakers for our programs and much, much more! Her contribution has been vital to the success of CTAMFT.

Effective October 1, Wendy will be stepping down to concentrate on her expanding practice, as well as teaching and spending more time with her family. She will continue to support CTAMFT as the role transitions to the new Association Manager.

We are thrilled to welcome Shannon Eterginio! Shannon joined CTAMFT last spring as the behind-the-scenes person helping to manage the 2013 Annual Conference. She comes to us from Crimson Communications – a boutique marketing agency she founded, where her breadth of expertise ranges from day-to-day operations management, client service, marketing, public relations, social networking, legal and accounting matters and much more. In her new role as CTAMFT’s Association Manager, Shannon will be responsible for all day-to-day activities, including handling incoming/outgoing communications, working with CTAMFT’s various committees, as well as spearheading this year’s Annual Conference, The New Brain Science of Connection. Please join us in welcoming Shannon to the team! She can be reached at the Association’s phone number (860-952-9MFT/9638) or via email.

Save the Date! 2014 CTAMFT Annual Conference

Trumbull Marriott

Mark your calendars for the 2014 CTAMFT Annual Conference titled The New Brain Science of Connection.

The upcoming conference is scheduled for April 24-25, 2014 at the Trumbull Marriott. We are thrilled to welcome our keynote speaker Dr. Louis John Cozolino of Pepperdine University.

More information to follow soon!

Legislative Update

AAMFT is working to push forward a Medicare MFT coverage bill (S-562) and needs your help.

Please visit http://www.congressweb.com/aamft/5 to easily contact members of our Congress and urge support for this bill.

And as always, please feel free to contact the CTAMFT Legislative Committee at legislation@ctamft.org with questions.

Letter from the President – Healing From Trauma

Dorothy Timmermann, LMFT, CTAMFT Board President

Dear Members,

We will never forget the tragedy that hit our home state of Connecticut just a few short weeks ago. To our friend and colleague Nelba Márquez-Greene and her family, there just are no words to adequately express our sympathies. We understand the trauma of losing your Ana will have an everlasting effect and we collectively hope for the strength and courage you need to heal. We wish to share with everyone that a contribution from our membership was made in honor of Ana Grace Márquez-Greene as a small act of giving from us all.

We are grateful that this year’s Annual Conference theme is Healing Through Family Therapy. We are honored to welcome Dr. Eliana Gil and Dr. Kenneth Hardy as keynote speakers for this event. The format has changed and we are excited to offer a broader program spanning two days which allows so much more time for our connections and relationships to grow. Please consider spending this time with us. Details and registration are now available online at ctamft.org.

Also included in this month’s news you will find information about the new CPT codes that are now in effect, CTAMFT Bylaw Updates, information about CTAMFT’s New Video Workshop Series, 2013 Call for Election Nominations, and the Final Call for Poster Submissions (for the Annual Conference). We appreciate your involvement and hope that you are finding what you are looking for from us. As always, please feel free to contact us with any of your individual needs or ideas.

All my best,
Dorothy

Our Hearts Are Broken

Ana Grace

We continue to share in the shock and sadness of the Newtown Tragedy. Our hearts are with all of the families of those affected. Unfortunately we must convey the news that our MFT community has been directly touched by the loss of Ana Grace Márquez-Greene, daughter of our beloved friend and colleague Nelba Márquez-Greene and her husband Jimmy Greene, and little sister to Isaiah who was also in the school at the time of the shooting.

We will be at their sides and do all we can to help them through this unfathomable tragedy. Funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.

In lieu of gifts and flowers, the family has established a fund to award scholarships in Ana’s name at Western Connecticut State University’s Department of Music and the Artist’s Collective in Hartford. Those wishing to send cards to Nelba and her family are asked to mail them c/o Wendy Davenson, 88 Church Hill Rd., Sandy Hook, CT 06482.