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WWW.VC-CAMFT.ORGJUNE GENERAL MEETING 2017Mediation - Bob Beilinand Ester AgopianBy Ellyn Goldstein, LMFTAt the June general membershipmeeting, Ester Agopian, LMFT andBob Beilin, Ph.D. LMFT presentedon the topic of family mediation, addressingits roots in family therapy, the ways that mediators and therapists can collaborate, anddifferences and similarities between familymediation and family therapy.In Ventura County, Dr. Beilin explains,court mediators are called Child CustodyRecommending Counselors, and canmake recommendations to the court.However, not all mediators can makerecommendations, and therapists don’tmake child custody recommendations at all.A private mediator can be appointed if thelawyers agree, and this can substitute forcourt mediation. A fundamental differencebetween mediation and psychotherapyis in the holder of the privilege. Inpsychotherapy, the privilege resides withthe client, whereas in mediation privilegeresides with the mediator. Therapistshave a more general task, and treatmentgoals are broader and more personal innature. Mediator’s goals are to resolvedifferences in custody and to make custodyrecommendations. Therapists assist familiesin making changes in order to make moreappropriate boundaries, reduce conflict, andimprove family functioning. Mediationsconducted in a private practice setting canbe ”transformative”; court mediations arelikely to be “evaluative”.Ester explains that court mediationdiffers between counties. She was a court(Continued on Page 5)VOL. XXVIII NO. 5 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2017JULY PRE-LICENSE FORUM 2017The Road to LicensureBy Marlene Glenn, MFTI and Inajane Nicklas, MFTIThe Pre-license Forum, held at SpanishHills Country Club, Saturday, July 15,2017 was a buzz with appreciationfor the “Road to Licensure” presentationdelivered by Cathy Atkins, JD, CAMFTDeputy Executive Director. Supervisors,interns, and trainees applauded theextensive content along with the relevantexamples Cathy provided from her ownexperience. In her warm, humorous, andsupportive style she presented a PowerPointcovering everything from the role of Boardof Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to the WorkingPre-Licensee.CAMFT Deputy Executive Director,Cathy presented the major steps along thejourney to licensure as: Complete Master’s and pre-degree hoursas a “Trainee” Register as an “MFT Intern” with the BBS Take and pass the Law & Ethics Exam Finish 3,000 hours Take and pass the Clinical Exam Apply for and receive MFT license!Cathy along with CAMFT encouragesinterns to get their own psychotherapy,even though personal psychotherapy is nolonger included in MFT hours. She invitedinterns to use the CAMFT attorneys toanswer questions they may have about thelicensure process. She advised interns tofollow the legislative changes to AB 93 asthe bill stipulates new requirements for thelicensure.According to the Trainee/Pre-degreeexperience, Cathy defined a “Trainee”as an individual currently enrolled in amaster’s or doctoral degree program andhas completed 12 semester or 18-quarterunits of study. Cathy explained that 1,300hours of experience may be counted priorto graduation and that no more than 750hours of counseling and supervision contacthours may be gained prior to conference ofa qualifying degree.In terms of MFT hours, Cathyreminded the participants to file for anintern number with the BBS before 90days passes from the date the intern’s MS/MA degree has been conferred. One mustbe a registered intern in order to work.There is no offsite supervision in privatepractice. In private practice, an intern maybe a W-2 employeeor a volunteerbut must renewtheir registrationyearly in order tocontinue workingand receivingBBS hours. Anintern has six years to complete the hoursof experience with one intern registrationnumber. Hours gained within six yearsneed to be submitted to the BBS to “lock in”those hours. If the hours are not completedduring that time, the intern will need toapply for a second registration number andcan only work in an exempt setting, not inprivate practice.When submitting hours to the BBS,Cathy emphasized the importance ofputting all hours on log forms, not editingout any hours, and continuing to workwhile waiting for approval becausedeficiencies might be identified. Whendeficiencies occur while applying forClinical Exam, interns have one year toremedy the deficiencies. It is importantto work with supervision until receivinga letter that indicates clearance to takethe Clinical Exam. If deficiencies arenot remedied within a year, the licenseapplication is considered abandoned.Cathy explained that the Law & EthicsExam must be taken after the first yearof intern registration. She recommendedinterns sign up early to take the examand read all material sent from the PSItest administrators. She recommendedthat interns have their own malpracticeinsurance to cover BBS complaints andprovide support for legal expenses.In terms of the licensing exam, Cathyshared that the BBS is looking to switchover to a national examine. She informedthat the licensing exam can be taken every120 days and that the exam must be takenwithin 1 year of eligibility notification orthe application will be deemed abandoned.If an intern fails this examine, it must beretaken within 1 year of the failure date.Cathy advised, TAKE THE TEST NOMATTER WHAT!!!(Continued on Page 5)

2 l Ventura County Chapter CAMFT l September - October 2017SEPTEMBER MEETINGFRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2017EXTENDED GENERAL MEETING LUNCH10:00am - 2:30pmPart 1:Stephen F. Grinstead, PhD, LMFT, ACRS:Addressing the Opioid Chronic Pain EpidemicPart 2: Mindy Werner-Crohn, MD:The History and Science of TMS 3 CEsSee back page for details.**Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 (See below)OCTOBER MEETINGFRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2017GENERAL MEETING LUNCH11:15am – 1:30pmCassie Walker, Patient Educator“What Clinical Mental Health ProfessionalsNeed to Know About Cannabis” 1 CE**Cost: 20 / 25 / 30 (See below)NOVEMBER MEETINGFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017GENERAL MEETING LUNCH11:15am to 1:30pmJerome Front, LMFTMindfulness and Psychotherapy 1 CE**Cost: 20 / 25 / 30 (See below)INFORMATION FOR MEETINGSLOCATION:Spanish Hills Country Club999 Crestview Ave., Camarillo, CA 93011RESERVATIONS/CANCELLATION:Pre-licensed Members: . ** 20 / * 50Clinical & Networking Members:. ** 25 / * 60Non-Members, Late Reservationsand Walk-Ins: . ** 30 / * 70Cash or check only.For reservations, pleasevisit www.VC-CAMFT.org oremail vc camft@yahoo.comYou can now register ONLINE for events! Please visitour new website at www.VC-CAMFT.org and go to theCalendar tab to register for any future event.Reservations/Cancellations must be made 7 days (Friday) prior to the meeting to qualify for MEMBER discounts. Cash or check only.Please request a specific meal at the time of reservation (Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free).If you have a special need, please allow us as muchadvance notice as is possible to ensure ample opportunity to meet your needs.Completion Certificates will be handed to attendeesat the end of the workshop, at which time course evaluations will be turned in. Continuation education creditdoes not include lunch, introductions, and announcements.If a grievance regarding CEUs is brought to the attention of the VC-CAMFT Board, the board will review it andwill vote on the validity of the grievance. If the grievanceis proven valid by the Board, a full or partial refund maybe given.Please visit the Ventura County Chapter’s website:www.vc-camft.orgMessage from the PresidentBy Denise Dalgarn, LMFTIlike keeping up on the latest news thataffects our profession. When writingmy letter, I often look to CAMFT to keepabreast of the latest legislative changes. Fora number of years they have been workingto pass legislation that would allow MFTsto work at the Veteran’s Administrationwithout having a degree from a COAMFTEaccredited university (important as thereare only about 8 in the state of California atthis time). About a year ago this legislationfinally passed and one might think theVA could be hiring much-needed MFTs,but that isn’t exactly how it works. Now,MFTs need VA job standards so they can behired to work at the VA. A Veteran’s Affairsappropriations committee recently madethe following recommendations:"Marriage and Family Therapistsand Licensed Professional Mental HealthCounselors.--The Committee remainsconcerned about the number of veteranscommitting suicide each day, and isparticularly concerned that of the 20 perday, 14 have not had contact with theDepartment. In an effort to increase thenumber of mental health providers atthe Department able to provide care, theCommittee encourages the Departmentto increase efforts to hire more LicensedProfessional Mental Health Counselors[LPMHCs] and Marriage and FamilyTherapists [MFTs]. TheCommittee recognizesthe Departmenthas attempted tocreate qualificationstandards to permitthe employmentof LPMHCs andMFTs, however, theCommittee is awareobstacles remain, giventhat there are stillthousands of vacancies in mental healthcaredelivery positions. The Committee stronglyurges VA to report on the number of currentvacancies that could be filled by MFTs andLPMHCs, as well as develop a strategicplan for hiring more MFTs and LPMHCsto both fill vacancies and also augmentcurrent mental healthcare teams withinthe Department. The Committee alsorecommends coordinating with the Officeof Management and Budget to create anOccupational Series for LPMHCs and MFTsto permit the Department to more easilyhire staff able to provide mental healthservices to veterans in a timely manner."CAMFT is hopeful that this will be theincentive that the VA needs to get thesecritical job standards completed so ourveterans can get the care they deserve.From the Editor’s DeskBy Inajane Nicklas, MFTIThe Communicator and its highlightedevents and networking opportunitiesare produced by the collaborativeefforts of our VC-CAMFT members andboard. I want to remind you, our members,that you can submit your own 30-wordpersonal or professional news on the form,VC-CAMFT Newsletter: What’s the latestNews? These forms are available at theresource table for you to complete andreturn to me or one of the other boardmembers at the monthly meetings. Interms of my own personal and professionalnews, my husband and I took an AlaskanCruise, which included a 12-hour Certificatein Mindfulness Based Interventions forChildren and Teens offered through PESIby the author of Growing Up Mindful,Christopher Willard,PSYD. We thoroughlyenjoyed the activitiesand related research.In closing, I wantto thank one of ourmembers, MarleneGlenn, MFTI, for hercontinued support withnewsletter editing. Ihope you enjoy ourefforts when reading this publication.We welcome your future contributions tomonthly meetings, events, and informationexchanges. If you have any suggestions orinformation for future newsletters, email meat Inajane@email.com. Thanks.The opinions expressed in this newsletter represent the authors of the individualarticles, not the Boards of either Ventura County or California State CAMFT.