Seasons

 

Can you believe it’s almost Spring? Daylight savings time starts next week and we will again “spring forward.” Today as I sit in my office looking out the window the rain is gently hitting the window and sidewalk in front of my office. The trees and plants in the planting box below me look very happy with the drink that are receiving. In California, as many of you know our seasons do not change much and the rain is a welcome sight.  Our practices also have seasons and do change during the year. We have slow seasons, high seasons, just-about-right client loads season, tax season, planning seasons and somewhere during the year we should all be taking a vacation season. The ebbs and flows of our business can be quite satisfying but also at times quite harrowing.  I hope you are working at a diverse practice or if you’re an intern, developing skills in at least a couple of areas in order to have a multiple stream of clients and income. Its goes with that old saying “Do not put all your eggs in one basket.” Having that extra income when the clients finish their treatment or the referrals have slowed a bit will help cover your expenses in the long run.

This past month the 3000 club met again and a wonderful presentation was given by Robin Andersen, MFTI, owner and founder of “PaidMFTInternships.com.” Robin explained that as an intern she felt she should be paid for her work. I would agree. It always astonishes me that we the helping profession take advantage of other learning therapists by not valuing their work and thus not paying them. Robin and her company have changed some of that by creating this FREE service. Paid MFT Internships provides the following services:

• A free job listing service for MFT registered interns
• All job listings are paid opportunities
• Most also provide free supervision for BBS hours
• Serves Southern California and large portions of Central and Northern California (continues to expand)
• Most job listings are for large companies, agencies, schools, hospitals, etc.; however, she also has job listings for private practices.

I would encourage you to check this out for paid opportunities or if you are wanting to expand your practice and have interns, which I think you should.  This is also a free listing for you.  I also want to remind you that the 3000 club meets the fourth Friday of the month @11:00-1:00 PM, 6840 Indiana Ave. Ste. 275, Riverside, CA 92506 (951)778-0230.

Last month was the yearly law and ethics seminar presented by Dave Jensen.  What a great day to see all you wonderful local clinicians and finally put a face and name together. This type of an event is exciting and I love hearing about all the fantastic healing that each one of you are doing in your own unique way.  I want to thank the board for putting this event on: specifically Annette Compton, Martha Wethey, Carol Bouldin, Garry Raley, Janetta Peltz, Heather Seguin, Jeanne Joslin, Janine Murray and Randall Walker (liaison from Loma Linda). Great job all.

Until next time,

Sherry

Share Your Expert Knowledge and Commitment

Have you ever considered sharing your expert knowledge with others? Yes, you! I know that sometimes self-doubt and our continued need to learn and grow actually keeps us from sharing what we do know. We all have specialties, niche markets, tricks of the trade that work well with our clients and may not be listed on the pages of therapy books.  I would like to encourage you to share that information with others. Have you heard of HARO? It stands for “Help a Reporter Out” (www.helpareporter.com). All you need to do is sign up and each day they send you two emails with inquiries about topics.  Some of the subjects will not be of interest but usually there are two to three possible inquires that would be perfect for a therapist to share knowledge. If you respond, make the process as easy as possible for the reporter. Do not say I have knowledge about marriage counseling for example, but actually respond to the questions thoroughly in your email to the reporter and be sure to give your contact information. This is a great way for a therapist to develop a voice and social credentials and increase your client caseloads. It can take a while for your information to appear in print or for you to “be selected”. I personally know of a therapist that responded for one article and the reporter used her information 6 months later in a different article. Even if you do not get selected right away the exercise of finding your voice in writing is so valuable for all therapists, including you interns, yes you too, are experts and have great value for the public. Let’s hear from you too!

I am delighted to share that this chapter now has a 3000 club. We kicked off the first meeting Saturday January 30th at Dr. Catherine Wheeler’s office with 14 attendees. The group detailed their wants and needs; speaker topics were requested, small group discussions were had, networking was initiated, and a private Facebook page was developed. These interns are a wonderful, smart and enthusiastic group of up-and-coming therapists and I was so impressed with their passion and commitment within the field. This group will be meeting monthly (the last Saturday of each month)   and the next one will be held in my office in Riverside on February 27^th from 11:00 AM-12:30 PM. Address: Central Counseling Services: 6840 Indiana Ave. Ste. 275, Riverside 92506.  All interns and associates are welcome. Please call (951) 778-0230 if you have any questions.

Lastly, I wanted to let you know that I have received two phone calls from people in the community that are continuing to deal the aftermath of the San Bernardino shootings. These people have already gone through 4 days of crisis intervention groups with therapists but are they are still having difficulties. I was able to connect them with wonderful and caring therapists for 3 free sessions. I am still gathering a list of therapists for this service to our community. If you haven’t submitted your information please do so directly to me @ Sherry@CentralCounselingServices.net. Be sure to include your name, address, phone number, and your specialty please. Or email me if you have any questions or concerns.  

Hope to see you all at this month’s Law and Ethic’s Seminar with Dave Jensen.

Until next time,

 

Sherry

 

Crisis Responsiveness

 

Many of us became therapists because we were called to help others who are feeling emotional pain, sorrow, or some other life altering experienced that was terrifying. We are trained to jump in and assess the situation, hold space, listen intently without judgment, and write treatment plans. No one is ever prepared for a traumatic event. By definition most traumatic events are sudden, unplanned, and overwhelm a person’s ability to cope. I was not prepared for the catastrophic events that happened on December 2, 2015.  In fact, I was in the middle of seeing clients when my business partner said there had been a shooting at Inland Regional Center (IRC). Having been a social worker for many years I had worked with many children that were “dual” clients of IRC and CPS programs. It was often my job to find these little ones an adoptive home. My brain said, when hearing the news and confusion took over, “There must be a mistake…. there are children, precious babies served there.” “What is happening?”  I know many of you were also thinking the same things and were also feeling the same disbelief as I as the events unfolded.  I was not sure what I should do to help. I knew I wanted to do something, anything, but what? I started to hear from many of you; yes, you too wanted to do something, but what? This tragedy occurred right here in our backyard and we were compelled to reach out. The board and I called out for your help and you responded and responded fast. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It turned out that so far the crisis teams in place at the various work sites are working well and people are being helped by therapists on these teams. I am affiliated with Crisis Care Network and I have spent a few days at various sites providing crisis counseling. I would encourage you to look into specific additional training in crisis response if you have an interest in getting on a (paid) referral list to be called for crisis in our community.

As a chapter, we want to create a list of people that have experience with Critical Incident Response, Psychological First Aid, PTSD or other traumatic event training.  If you have an interest, please provide me with the following information:

1. Name and license number
2. Office address
3. Phone number
4. Email
5. Experience with crisis
6. Number of clients you are willing to provide services for.

If you do not have an office or you work for the Counties and can't see private clients at your work site. I am willing for you to use my office to provide this service. Just let me know if this applies to you. Please send the above information to me directly:  Sherry@CentralCounselingServices.net

I am so proud to be part of such a great caring and compassionate community. Thank you for your dedication to this field.

Looking forward to a prosperous, successful and peaceful 2016.

Happy New Year!

 

Sherry

We want to thank all of you who volunteered to provide critical care to the survivors of the recent Inland Regional Center Incident.  We so appreciate the outpouring of support from our membership.  We want to also apologize for any confusion as the original press release and bulletin that went out had the incorrect phone number listed (please see the correct phone and email contact information below). 

Possibly due to this typo, we have had little response from the public so far, so no additional volunteers are required at this time.  We would appreciate those of you who have already volunteered to help on Saturday continuing to reserve the time for which you said you were available, if possible, so that we can be prepared should this situation change.  We are re-sending/re-posting the press release with the correct contact information: IE-CAMFT President Sherry Shockey-Pope at sherry@centralcounselingservices.net or 951-778-0230.  Please contact her if you have any questions or changes.  Sherry will be sending a final update on Friday.

A heartfelt thank you!

Carol A. Bouldin, LMFT

Webmistress/Membership Chair

Our hearts go out to everyone in San Bernardino, the US, and the world following the horrific events on December 2, 2015 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California.  As therapists we know the emotional and psychological devastation that follows such violent incidents and we would like to offer some words of comfort and support in the wake of this tragedy. 

We need to recognize that the aftermath of such events often brings a multiplicity of feelings not only of sorrow, grief, loss, self-recrimination, and regret, but anger, rage, vengeful thoughts, and helplessness which can be both overwhelming and disorienting. These feelings are normal in this context, and it is vital at times like this that we acknowledge our understandable rage at the injustice of such acts of violence and that we express it by communicating openly and honestly with one another without judgment or condemnation, rather than acting it out in destructive behavior.  We must respond with gentle understanding, both to ourselves as well is to others, by acknowledging the deep sorrow such loss evokes and by allowing ourselves and others to express the grief and confusion we feel in order to process it. This allows us to reach out to one another with love and compassion, feel connected to the web of humanity beyond our individual, cultural, and ethnic differences, know that we are not alone, and receive and give the emotional support that allows us to begin the process of healing.

 

We, the inland Empire Chapter of CAMFT, want to offer our services free of charge to any of the people who have directly suffered loss of a loved one or coworker from the incident at the Inland Regional Center.  We will be providing both individual and group therapy to people affected by this tragedy. Please contact us at:  951-770-2030 to arrange an appointment.  We are scheduling now for December 12^th.

Peace and comfort to all at this time of sorrow and loss,

 

 

Inland Empire Chapter of CAMFT

Happy Holidays to all,

I hope you all were able to spend time with your family and friends over this past Thanksgiving weekend.  For myself and my family we enjoyed good food, time with friends, lots of laughter; reflection time and we even watched a little football. In my family we have a tradition not to start any Christmas decorating until after Thanksgiving. We feel that Thanksgiving gets shortchanged otherwise, so we wait until the Friday or Saturday after. This year I was able to convince my daughter to help me decorate my office for the holiday as well as go shopping together. I do love the festive lights and pretty displays this time of year. The weather even seemed to cooperate by still being a beautiful sunny day but with cool temperature by Southern California standards.

After all the outside lights were done, we sat down and watched the movie “Inside Out” by Pixar Animation Studios. I just maybe the only therapist in America that hasn’t seen the movie. I found it to be a wonderful movie full of fun and laughter. The premise is about a young girl named Riley that lives in Minnesota (talk about a cold place) with her family and all was wonderful. Within her mind we are introduced to the five personifications of her basic emotions:  Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger, as they come to life. The emotions live in “Headquarters”, which is Riley's conscious mind, where they influence Riley's actions and memories. Her new memories are housed in colored orbs, which are sent into long-term memory at the end of every waking period. (This orb thing is a great metaphor in illustrating what our brains do when we sleep.)  The most important memories, known as "core" memories, are housed in a hub in Headquarters and power five "islands", each of which reflects a different aspect of Riley's personality. Joy does everything in her power to keep Riley in a happy state, but since she and the other emotions do not understand Sadness's purpose, they try to keep her from controlling the console. The story continues with the five emotions working together to keep Riley safe. I won’t spoil the movie, but if you haven’t seen it, I think it has some wonderful images and insights into our brains aka “Headquarters” and how we therapist type people help our clients to learn to regulate those emotions better. I can see many uses this film could have within the therapeutic setting. I may even show clips to my students and interns.

A couple of reminders.  First, our chapter’s holiday party is on December 11, 2015 at 6:00 PM. Please register to receive the address. This party will replace our regularly-scheduled meeting. Secondly, we are starting a 3000 club and our first meeting will be held on January 30^th at Dr. Catherine Wheeler’s office on Saturday 11:00-12:30 at 1411 Rimpau Ave. Ste. 213 Corona, 92879. The purpose will be to help support our interns and students as they go through the licensing process. This meeting is open to all healers regardless of your professional designation. It is my hope that this group will provide support, specialized training, and new networking opportunities for pre-licensed and licensed members and will provide a safe place to exchange ideas and learn from each other.

I will leave you now with a quote from D.M. Dellinger:

“This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays!”   

Until next time

Sherry

Thanks Giving Season

 

As I sit down to write this it’s still 91 degrees outside and my daughter and I just finished removing our Halloween decorations at our home and so we have officially entered into the “holiday season.” Soon it will be Veteran’s day followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and then New Year’s. Wow! I’m tired just thinking about it. Have you thought about some self-care or some time off just for you?

As my daughter and I packed up our decorations on that warm day we started talking about being grateful for the lives we have and the ability we have to live as we want. We are grateful to all our veterans for their many sacrifices and their overall service.

As a business owner, I am grateful to be able to help others through their difficult times and have the freedom to set my own schedule, plus I get to work with a wonderful group of people every day. I am also very thankful for all of you, CAMFT members for your friendship, sharing of your ideas and knowledge so freely with me. Lastly, I am very grateful for the chapter’s board and all the hard work and energy that each of them put in each and every month. Plus they also seem to have new ideas brewing that continue to improve our chapter.

I hope you and your family and friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Until next time,

 

Sherry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self Care

Did you see the moon, the blood moon, and the eclipse other night? Wasn’t that such a grand sight?  It was absolutely beautiful!  Part of my self-care includes taking time to enjoy the nature around us.  I hope nature is in your self-care plan too.  Do you have a self-care plan? As we are in the last quarter of this year, are you starting to plan next year? Have you thought about scheduling some time off? I sure hope so; getting that precious time in your calendar now for next year will assure that you are fresh for your clients and your family. 

Fall is now here, despite being 95 degrees outside. I want to remind you of a few upcoming things from CAMFT. First of all CAMFT Connects are back: the next one is set for November 7, 2015 from 10am-3pm in Los Angeles and San Rafael. This is a great opportunity to share your feelings about CAMFT and help guide its direction as an association. The second item I wanted to make sure you knew about is the Fall Symposium scheduled to take place November 14-15 2015 @ the Hilton in Costa Mesa/Orange County.  This is another great opportunity to increase your knowledge.  Some of the topics include: “Marketing Your Practice” by my friend Ernesto Segismundo, Jr.  Ernesto helps therapists include video in their practices among other great marketing ideas. Other topics are “Legal and Ethical Issues in Supervision,” “Integration of Poetry in the Treatment of Trauma,” and lastly the topic of “Becoming Better at What We Do.”  Both days sound wonderful and it will be hard to pick which sessions to attend.

As always, please let me know if you have questions about your Chapter or ideas you would like to see implemented.  I would love to hear from you. My email is Sherry@CentralCounselingServices.net.    

Until next time,

 

Sherry

Help get AB 858 signed by the Governor! AB 858 will grant reimbursement rights to LMFTs for services rendered at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). This bill will create new job opportunities for LMFTs in community mental health while increasing vital access to services for Californians. This monumental piece of legislation is on the Governor’s desk and we need our members to write a letter to Governor Brown asking him to support and sign AB 858 by Wednesday, September 16th! CAMFT has created a letter with sample language voicing support for AB 858. Please feel free to edit the template to add your personal message. Thank you for your assistance to get LMFTs in Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics! Send your letter to Governor Brown with a few simple clicks!