OCTOBER 2022 E-NEWSLETTER

Dear Members,

October is National Depression and Mental Healthcare Screening Month. Almost on cue, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force provided recommendations that doctors screen all patients under 65 for anxiety. There is recognition that we are in a state of crisis, and many people may not be aware that they need support. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year. This staggering statistic indicates that most of us either know someone or are directly struggling with mental illness. This figure is then compounded by the impact on other facets of a person’s life from work, school and family interactions to the quality of one’s overall health.   

The demand for Marriage and Family Therapists is great, and with it, many opportunities for CAMFT to strengthen the environment in which you practice. We have begun the ardent work of sharpening the pencil for our strategic plan to set our targets on specific and measurable goals. This initiative starts with you, our members. Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer our member survey which will help identify key issues for members and help define the association’s priorities moving forward. A draft of the strategic plan is expected to be presented in late November, with the goal to implement initiatives in 2023. We have an ambitious timeline, and what I suspect will be ambitious goals. We simply cannot afford to wait. I look forward to CAMFT’s ability to meet the moment.

We hope you take advantage of the CAMFT events this month. We just completed our virtual State of the Profession webinar this past Wednesday. It was wonderful to meet many of you virtually, and if you missed the event, you can watch the recording here. On October 8^th, CAMFT hosts our Pre-licensed Virtual Symposium: Road to Private Practice. Keynote Speaker Kelly Stevens, LMFT, will share the tools you need to build a thriving business, and then she’ll join our esteemed CAMFT president Lisa Cox Romain, PhD, LMFT, LPCC, as well as Anger Management specialist Anita Avedian, LMFT, for a supervision Q&A panel discussion.   

If you are interested in taking a greater role in visioning CAMFT’s future and in the MFT profession, consider applying for a position on CAMFT’s Board of Directors. Be sure to apply by the October 28, 2022 deadline. 

With care,

Joy Alafia
Executive Director