CT LMFTs in the News

As the anniversary of the tragedy that took place in Sandy Hook comes upon us, “MFTs” have been in the news.

Our of our members, Nelba Marquez-Greene, was recently featured on WFSB-TV and in The Newtown Bee, remembering her daughter Ana Grace, as well as highlighting next week’s “Love Wins” conference, which launches the “Ana Grace Project.” View the clip below or read the Newtown Bee article.

WFSB 3 Connecticut

Learn more about and/or register for the “Love Wins Conference.”

Also, last night (11/25/13), Jeff Schutz, BOD Member and Treasurer-Elect, was featured on WVIT-TV as an LMFT.

We are proud of our Connecticut LMFTs!

Letter from the President – An Introduction

Denise Parent, LMFT, CTAMFT Board President

Dear Members;

You may have noticed a new picture at the top of the President’s message. The torch from former President Dorothy Timmermann has officially been passed to me as of July! It is an exciting challenge to be able to serve as your new President at this particular time in our profession’s evolution.

I am in the lucky position to be on the coat-tails of many past Presidents and Board members who have helped to achieve professional credibility for MFTs in Connecticut. In recent years, CTAMFT has supported creating pathways into schools and convened conferences that AAMFT views as competitive with national offerings. I have learned a little something from all of the excellent examples of leadership before me. And though I may never achieve my friend and colleague Dorothy Timmermann’s elegance, you can count on me to be direct, relatively calm, creative and only mildly silly as I proceed through the next two years!

We found ourselves busy over the summer for several reasons. First, we persist with our ongoing attempts to introduce a bill for a temporary license (LMFTA) for new graduates doing their 1,000 hours of supervised practice. Second, we are addressing “scope of practice” questions from the Department of Public Health. As of 2011, any new license proposal needs to be vetted through a formal committee and funded through the appropriations committee. We also met with the Association for School Psychologists to clarify some issues with the implementation of MFT in the Schools and discussed responding to concerns about state contracts with some friends in state program evaluation positions.

Sadly, our terrific Association Manager, Wendy Haggerty, has decided to devote more time to her successful sex therapy practice and spend time with her family (drat, the nerve of her!). She will be leaving the staff position, but not the membership, at the end of December. This resulted in contracting to fill Wendy’s position, for one year at the outset, with our current Marketing and Conference Manager, Shannon Eterginio. Shannon was instrumental in the smooth success of last year’s annual conference. The Board agreed that our positive experience with Shannon and her skills as a marketing, public relations entrepreneur and event planner lend themselves very nicely to doing member relations work, conference planning and public relations. Why public relations, you ask? At the end of last year the Board began to discuss the possibility of carving out a stronger niche for MFTs as expert in couple and family intervention, and we have decided that a public relations campaign may be a useful way to implement this. More to come on this after further discussion.

Last week, our Board had its first meeting after summer break. We welcomed new member MaryAnn Labella, Clinical Director at Fairfield University, as well as our new Student Representative, Jessica Floyd from CCSU. Our first meeting was to talk about last-minute details for our October 25, 2013 workshop on the new DSM-5 and ethics, (offered at low cost, $75 for early birds).

Trumbull Marriott

We also spent a great deal of time discussing the 2014 Annual Conference. Make sure to mark your calendars for The New Brain Science of Connection, which is scheduled for April 24 and 25, 2014 at the Trumbull Marriott. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Louis John Cozolino of Pepperdine University, and we have many other exciting workshops featuring neurofeedback and mindfulness interventions with families, as well as exploring how neuroscience impacts attachment across the lifespan. We have also agreed to “shake our souls” again with Jayne Deane and planned plenty of time for snacking and chatting with our members. Our Board is excited to learn more about the possibility of science supporting what we have always known – that everything happens in the context of relationship. We will be running a student poster session again, and have asked each of the five schools in the State to represent themselves at it – keep your eye out for the “Call for Posters” to be released shortly.

Speaking of the five schools, the Board also hosted the five university programs to discuss common issues, share best practices and discuss new offerings. Sebastian Perumbilly from Southern CT State University will serve for the next two years as CTAMFT’s Academic Liaison, a non-voting Board position designed to increase communication/collaboration with Program Directors and the CTAMFT.

In addition, this distinguished group of Program Directors also discussed accreditation procedures, new programs, specialties of each MFT training program and confirmed that Connecticut has rich and diverse marriage and family therapy academic traditions to draw from. We all hope to create a more seamless journey from student to clinical professional and to enrich employment possibilities for MFTs. Several of the faculty and students from the five programs will be in Portland, OR for the AAMFT Annual Conference, as will I. Please stop by the Division/Program showcase or touch base with any of us while you are there if you go!

Finally, CTAMFT welcomes your input, has plenty of work to do and is particularly interested in tracking employment trends this year. So beware (it’s almost Halloween, isn’t it?)… we may come knocking on your door for one reason or another. Trick or treat!

Wishing you candy apples, vibrant leaf peeping and crisp Sunday afternoons with family and friends.

~Denise

Promo for CTAMFT’s New Video Workshop Series!

CTAMFT is proud to introduce a new service to its memebrship!

We are developing 1-hour downloadable videos complete with CEU opportunities for you to enhance your learning from the comfort of your home.

Our first offering is from the October 12, 2012 Professional Development workshop on Social Media and HIPAA Compliance, presented by Katherine Allen, LMFT.

We hope you enjoy this promo of the workshop video. Please check ctamft.org soon as we hope to have the first full 1-hour video ready by the end of the year.

Social Media Workshop: Best Practices for Therapists & HIPAA Compliance

CTAMFT’s Professional Development Committee is proud to bring you their next workshop and CEU opportunity!

Social Media Workshop: Best Practices for Therapists & HIPAA Compliance

social networking

Presented by: Katherine Allen, LMFT, CTAMFT Board Member

WHEN: Friday, October 12, 2012 from 1-4
WHERE: Central Connecticut State University, Vance Room 105
ADDITIONAL INFO: Earn 3 CEUs – Discounted Fees for Students & Members – Snacks & Beverages Provided

The online world is a big, complicated place and involvement in it is not optional. With all the many and varied ways this medium presents itself—web sites, blogs, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and who-knows-what’s next—it’s easy for a therapist to make mistakes in its use. This workshop addresses many of these important issues, and explains how therapists can make informed and accurate decisions as they engage in this online world.

Learning objectives:

• Defines HIPAA compliancy in its relation to therapists’ use of their own web sites, their e-mail, and their presences of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter
• Demonstrates the privacy and other hazards of using so-called “free” e-mail systems such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, AOL, etc.
• Discusses core Internet terminology and explains why understanding this jargon is crucial to the proper use of online media
• Summarizes these and other topics with case studies of haphazard vs. secure approaches to using these forms of communication

Register online today at CTAMFT.org. Space is Limited.

In Remembrance – Jane Lobdell

Phyllis Gordon and Wendy Davenson

Jane Lobdell

Jane Lobdell, LMFT, unexpectedly passed away on Saturday, July 14, 2012 from complications related to lung cancer treatment.

As Director of Naugatuck Youth and Family Services, Jane supervised many Southern Connecticut State University MFT interns as well as interns from other MFT programs. Many students will remember her for her warm yet astute, supervision direction. Recently Jane had begun to teach the AAMFT Approved Supervisor course, continuing to show her dedication to the profession and therapist personal growth.

As CTAMFT’s President from 2005-2007, Jane directed the Association in the hiring of a dynamic lobbyist, whose presence ensured the progress of CTAMFT’s mission to improve the professional lives of Connecticut’s marriage and family therapists.

Jane’s CT license plate read “BAMBI”. That is what Jane’s grandchildren called her. When a grandmother puts her ‘grandmother’ moniker on her license plate, that speaks volumes about the love of her! Jane had many friends in many venues. She touched everyone with whom she worked, taught, volunteered, befriended. She will be sorely missed but remembered with many smiles!

Jane lived her life with honesty, integrity, and love. Jane’s legacy to all who crossed her path includes being enriched by her wisdom, spirit, humor and heart. Because she was teacher, mentor, friend, mother, and hero to hundreds of us, we will keep her memory alive and vibrant. As she lived in life, may she live in death.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to her mother and sister, son Sean and his fiancée Soraya, daughter Alicia and her husband RIck, grandchildren Libby and Jake and to those with whom she worked most closely at Naugatuck Youth and Family Services.