Therapy Is Hard Work!

February 2014

 

Ever have one of those days? You know the kind, when at the end of it, you look back, and even though you were “busy” all day, it feels like just you didn’t get anything done! Whatever you did do, took two, even three times as long as you planned for. Perhaps you struggled through lingering paperwork, only to discover another stack you’d forgotten. Yuck.

 

Or you called that insurance company to follow up on that denied claim, and sure enough, after following all the prompts, your call was met with that infernal message, “This office is closed now. We are open Monday through Friday…”  Darn.

 

The clients you have been working with for months, nursing along baby steps of change, have a major setback, and you just feel so tired. Sigh.

 

Or you have a nice full schedule, then one person cancels, another no shows, another doesn’t have the insurance information figured out, so while there is always more paperwork to do in those empty spots, you’re frustrated with the sudden loss of income.

 

I get it. Those less than pleasant, maybe even unwelcome days that try your patience, and leave you feeling depleted, crabby and questioning why you are doing this after all?!

 

What do you do when you find yourself in one of those slumps? How do you care for yourself when your thoughts and mood head for the swamp? Are there some tools, techniques, activities, or thought patterns you have found useful and helpful to get yourself back on the rails?

 

I’d love to hear your methods of self-care and regeneration. Send your suggestions to me at Doreen@abetterwaycenter.com. I will compile them in next month’s President’s Message.

 

Doreen Van Leeuwen, LMFT

Happy New Year!

 

I want to wish all of you a 2014 filled with hope, growth, gratitude and commitment! 

In my view, 2013 was a very important year in the history of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. We had the opportunity to decide the future of our organization.  I want to thank each of you who took the time to make your views known, and most importantly, who voted on what direction you wished CAMFT to take. As I sat down to write this message and to reflect on the last year I thought of the following quote:

“…when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.”

                                                                                      Anonymous

 

As for our chapter, 2013 was a year of continued growth and membership involvement. I feel very fortunate to have worked with all of you, especially my fellow board members. Let us make 2014 even better!

 

Take Care,

 

Dan

 

 

 

Build referrals and network with your free personalized listing on www.ie-camft.org!

We now have a therapist directory on the new website!  The therapist directory will allow potential clients to find you by name, location, or specialty and will allow clients to contact you directly from the website!  It is now in the “member only” section so that everyone may adjust her/his privacy settings prior to it going public.  Log on and go to your profile in order to view the default privacy settings and adjust them as you like, add additional information, upload a photograph, even include a small classifed ad.

As a reminder, you may now conveniently join IE-CAMFT, renew your membership, register for events, and pay for membership and events online.

Hope you enjoy the new features!

 

Your Webmistress,

Carol A. Bouldin, LMFT

BYLAW UPDATE!

by Dan Totaro

 

As I stated in last month’s newsletter, the CAMFT Board of Directors met in Santa Barbara the weekend September 21^st and 22^nd for its quarterly meeting during which they approved the following motion:

 

“To approve the repeal of the current bylaws approved in July 2013 and reinstate the bylaws adopted in January 2009.  The Board’s approval is subject to voting members' approval by ballot.” 

 

An official ballot and booklet containing the July 2013 bylaws and the June 2009 bylaws was mailed to the Clinical membership on October 25, 2013.  In the booklet, the July 2013 bylaws appear with a “repeal” watermark across the pages to indicate repeal. The June 2009 bylaws appear with a “reinstate” watermark across the pages to indicate reinstatement. A “Yes” vote on the ballot means the June 2009 bylaws will be reinstated. A “No” vote on the ballot means the July 2013 bylaws will remain in effect.

 

To participate in the vote, a completed, signed ballot must be received at the CAMFT office no later than December 4, 2013. A postmark date will not sufficeundefineda completed/signed ballot must be received by this date for it to be counted. Please include any written comments on a separate sheet of paper as comments on the ballot will invalidate the ballot.

 

It is now up to the membership to make an informed decision as to the future direction of our association. I strongly encourage each of us to give this matter our full consideration and make a choice based on what we believe is the best direction for CAMFT. I also hope that the percentage of members who vote will be the highest ever!