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The Redwood Empire Therapist
RECAMFT's Online Newsletter
May 2024
Join us for Teresa Bertoncin's fascinating look at the Gen-Z (those born between 1995-2012) seen through the eyes of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey. Initiatory life and death imagery are explored through the lens of developmental significance and trauma, as well as the concept of metaphorical suicide as a transformational urge. |
No Shortcuts: Gen-Z and the Hero's Journey
population 
Featured member
Did you miss the BBS-MANDATED 3 CE Telehealth course?
Telehealth: Law & Ethics, Technology, and Best Practices for Connecting with Your Clients with Lisa Wenninger, BC-TMH Catch it on video here, and get your mandated 3 Telehealth CEs. Return to top RECAMFT's Mission Statement The purpose of RECAMFT is to promote and maintain professional competence and integrity with knowledge, innovation, compassion, humor and respect for human dignity and diversity. We do this by providing opportunities for networking, education and community outreach.
Are you creative? Join us for our Crafting Group. Bring any craft you like, get on Zoom with us and visit with your colleagues while we knit, sew, paint, draw, cook, create, etc.
Got a sticky problem? Come discuss it confidentially with your colleagues at our next Ethics Roundtable
Not consultation, just a great way to get some ideas about how to handle your sticky case. Friendly and open group. Learn more here.
| Dear RECAMFT Colleagues:
In Jungian psychology the mother archetype is part of all humans’ collective unconscious, representing qualities of nurturing, caring, compassion and protection, as well as “the power and wisdom of the divine feminine (Jungian Confrerie, n.d.).” In its purest form Jung says “This is the mother-love, which is one of the most moving and unforgettable memories of our lives, the mysterious root of , growth and change; the love that means homecoming, shelter, and the long silence from which everything begins and in which everything ends (Jung, 1969).”
Honoring the aspects of the mother archetype, is one way to expand the representation of mother beyond the standard and include all genders and relationship connections. Perhaps these qualities are found in our fathers or other relatives or in our friends as well. On May 11th our RECAMFT colleague and dear friend, Michelle Minero, will be doing a Soul Collage* workshop to honor a person who has nurtured you. She says this honoring can be in any form – physical, religious, animal, even Mother Earth. I will be attending and working on my card to honor my 83-year-old sister who I call my sister-mother-best friend. It is my wish for you that you will be able to connect with someone who represents these qualities that have also allowed you to experience the nurturing, caring and protection of mother-love. I also want to acknowledge and honor those of you and those in your lives who experienced a mother who did not or could not provide what their child needed and/or deserved; the celebration and stereotyping of what mothers should be can be difficult and painful for many. I hope you will offer yourself or those with that experience special care and compassion. My wish for you shouldering this burden is solace and comfort. I honor all of you in your role as therapists. We have the challenge and the honor to work with the motherless, those wounded by their mothers, and those estranged from their mothers, as well as those who are mothers and struggle with the enormity and challenges of that role, including the stereotyping and cultural pressure exerted on mothers. In providing a ‘corrective emotional experience’ to our clients we often use the qualities of the mother archetype, especially in our ability to mirror. I hope you will reflect on how profound and significant our ability to be present, to mirror, to care for and to nurture our clients can be for them. You and your work is vital and valued, and I am honored to be part of our community. With warmth and appreciation for our community, Patricia Hromalik, LMFT Director at Large, RECAMFT.org
* If you are interested in the Soul Collage workshops, contact Michelle Minero, LMFT at michelleelenaminero@gmail.com Jung, C. G.(1969). Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious. Princeton University Press Jungian Confrerie, n.d. Mother Archetype. https://www.jungian-confrerie.com/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/8209?opendocument&part=24
SAVE THE DATE - JUNE 7th!
Author and CBT Expert Jennifer Shannon, LMFT will present a 2 hour CE program, Fri., June 7th, 10 am to 12:15 pm, Zoom. "Three Underlying Beliefs That Cause Anxiety and How to Change Them, a CBT Approach" Jennifer Shannon is a licensed psychotherapist and a Certified Diplomat in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy specializing in anxiety. She co-founded the Santa Rosa Center For Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and has over forty years of experience treating children, teens, and adults. She is the author of numerous books, including Don’t Feed The Monkey Mind, The Anxiety Survival Guide for Teens, The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook for Teens, and A Teen’s Guide To Getting Stuff Done, all published by New Harbinger Press. Her books have been selected for the Reading Well Books on Prescription in the UK. She speaks regularly at national conferences and has been featured on radio programs, and in magazines and newspapers. Register here.
June is Pride, Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and June 19th is Juneteenth. There are numerous days and weeks of significance throughout the month including Gun Violence Awareness Day (June 3rd), World Oceans Day (June 8th), and World Refugee Day (June 20th). See more here. We especially welcome submissions where awareness themes intersect with mental health. Please send your submission (500 word max) to therapy@recamft.org by the 15th. Questions? therapy@recamft.org. Welcome back, RECAMFT community! We are so excited to share some of the upcoming monthly CE events coming this fall. RECAMFT Zoom presentations
CAMFT events to consider attending:
We are still reviewing applications for presentations to be scheduled for Fall 2024 and Spring 2025. Please submit an application if you have a presentation idea to therapy@recamft.org. Are you interested in seeing what we have coming up? Consider microvolunteering with the Programs & Conferences Committee! Microvolunteering opportunities: screening speaker applications; providing support at in person CE events; monitoring Q&A for speakers during monthly Zoom presentations. We are especially looking for a Programs Committee Chairperson.  RECAMFT plans to participate with Redwood Psychological Association in the Sonoma County Pride Parade, and have a booth at the Sat. June 1st day-long event. Want to participate as a RECAMFT member? Email therapy@recamft.org. 2024 Scholarship period EXTENDED until May 24th! Joe and Pamela Ward Memorial Scholarship
The funds that make these awards possible have been generously donated by members of our chapter and are doubled by matching funds authorized by our Board of Directors. Your donations will go twice as far! Please visit www.recamft.org/scholarship to apply or give a tax-free donation today! |
Members! Your SHORT DESCRIPTION is the most important thing on your profile. Why? Because that shows in our 
The Board assigned a Task Force to examine the best ways to engage and serve our prelicensed members. Now we are ready for new Students, Prelicensed and Newly Licensed Members to join our Prelicensed Committee. If you are interested in helping with the Prelicensed Committee, please let us know by emailing your interest to 
As a guest contributor, I was asked to share an article with a focus on May and celebrating Mother’s Day since I am both a mother of two and grandmother of one and 3/4ths (due in June). Those roles for me have been transformative and given my life great joy and meaning, along with some challenges and pain. Though I must say that I am totally enamored of being a grandmother and delight in the magic of being with my 3.5-year-old granddaughter! I am also one who did not have the best relationship with my own mother, due to her mental health challenges. And I am a therapist who works with trauma from an attachment focus and have witnessed and worked with the deep pain and wounds some people experienced from their mothers. So, this is my attempt to hold and acknowledge the complexity of what mothers and Mother’s Day can represent.
Patricia Hromalik LMFT is a Director at Large on RECAMFT's Board of Directors. She has a 
Call for Submissions for the June 2024 Issue of The RECAMFT Therapist! 
Save the Date! Fri., Sept. 6, 2024, 10 am to 12:15 pm "How Sexuality Influences The Clinical Picture For Female Clients" Dr. Jenn Kennedy, PhD, LMFT Board-certified Sex Therapist
Sexuality is layered and complex. It is also often all but ignored in the clinical sphere. In this highly interactive presentation, Jenn Kennedy, PhD, LMFT will discuss the most common issues that arise in the sexual realm and offer insight about how to discuss sex and intimacy with female clients. Using the Biopsychorelational model, Dr. Kennedy will describe how various factors influence client’s confidence, performance and interpersonal strategies to get their sexual needs met. She will also address unique diversity issues that arise for LGBT women around their sexuality. Registration coming soon!
| Upcoming events
Please send an email to therapy@recamft.org if you can help. Return to top |
We need help with
RECAMFT's Racial and Social Justice Pledge
RECAMFT is committed to equity including addressing structural racism and systemic injustice. We endeavor to be inclusive and value individuals from all ethnicities, ages, races, sexual orientations, genders, languages, abilities, religions, citizenship statuses, and socioeconomic backgrounds into our chapter and into treatment. We strive to advocate, educate, collaborate, and strategize for positive racial and social justice change within our membership and our community. Contact therapy@recamft.org to advertise a job. Featured member
If you are not currently enrolled in the listserv, please email therapy@recamft.org and ask to be added. You have the option of setting up your account to be
After you have been added to the listserv, you can change the way you receive the emails to any of the above choices. In Gmail the emails will appear under your Forums tab. To send an email to the listserv, simply address your email to recamft@groups.io If you do not want to be on our listserv, you can delete your account or write to therapy@recamft.org and ask to not be a part of the listserv. But we urge you to give it a try. You are missing out on a ton of meaningful collaboration with your colleagues. We hope you will enjoy being part of our online community! | News about the Racial & Social Justice Committee (RSJC) RSJC is excited about RECAMFT participating in the Sonoma County Pride Parade June 1st! The 2015 RECAMFT President, Kris Spangler, LMFT, attended the April 12, 2024 Board meeting and submitted a proposal for RECAMFT to participate in Sonoma County's Pride Parade, along with having a booth. Kris was working with Jennifer Silverman from Redwood Psychological Association (RPA), and suggested we share a booth with RPA. Excerpt from Kris' proposal. How will your proposal benefit RECAMFT, our membership, the mental health profession, or the mental health consumer? This proposal is designed to help the community more than RECAMFT. It's a way to show love and support for marginalized people and to let them know we are here to provide competent therapy for them. It's also a way to continue to de-stigmatize therapy and to let the LGBTQ+ community, which has been seriously harmed by therapists for generations, that we are a safe place to contact for help in a world that continues to reject them. We can also promote the practices of our queer and queer-competent therapists, if desired. Please explain how your idea is related to RECAMFT’s mission, values and strategic plan. "We strive to advocate, educate, collaborate, and strategize for positive racial and social justice change within our membership and our community." (RECAMFT's RSJC Mission Statement excerpt). LGBTQ+ people have been directly harmed by the mental health providers for decades. I believe (as does APA) that it's our responsibility to right that wrong and put a new welcome sign on the door. I think that participating in the Pride festivities sends a strong message to celebrants that there is hope and safety in the world. I know that the first several years that I started seeing Christian churches represented in the parades I was moved to tears and I know I was not alone. Our mere presence can make a huge difference in the mental health of LGBTQ+ people.
The Pride Parade event is available for registration at no charge. We have a donation button there to help cover the costs of stickers, giveaways, and other things needed for the booth. The parade registration fees and booth costs were covered by our President, Dr. Bob Casanova, PsyD, LMFT so participation would not need to come from the current budget. We encourage you to donate when you register, and appreciate whatever you are able to give. Statement of Acknowledgement from the RSJC While RECAMFT is proud of winning this CAMFT Chapter Excellence Award for DEI, we acknowledge that as an organization there is still work to be done. We are committed to carrying out this work as a community of healers, and humbly dedicate ourselves to leaning in towards the deeper work within the communities we serve, our membership, and ourselves. Every voice is essential and valuable in building RECAMFT into what we all hope it can and should be. We welcome feedback regarding our ongoing efforts to create inclusive, equitable safe spaces. Please help us as we continue to learn and grow together. RECAMFT Racial and Social Justice Committee March 15, 2024
NEW! RECAMFT On-Demand Programs: https://recamft.thinkific.com NEW! RECAMFT discount codes are posted for members only here: https://www.recamft.org/member-discount-codes (requires sign-in using your RECAMFT member email/password) NEW! Dissociative Identity Disorder training (DID). 4 CEs: https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2023-12-DID NEW! Ketamine training (May 2023), 2 CEs: https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2023-05-Ketamine Members can watch the video, pass the test, fill out the evaluation, and download your certificate. It's that easy! You can earn CEs for any recorded event if you didn't already earn CEs from the live event. Return to top |
Our listserv has over 400 members on it, and is active daily with great conversations, resources, offerings, in search of, books, movies, office rentals, jobs, internships, etc. You can view the home page of our listserv at 
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At our April RSJC meeting, it was decided to make this an event for which our members can register so we know approximately how many of us will be attending. Of course, members are welcome to come, spur of the moment, too. We plan to have special stickers to give our folks when we line up for the parade, identifying us as LGBTQ+ Affirming Care Therapists. If you register ahead of time, it will help us know how many stickers to pre-order. 
Would you like to be a part of RECAMFT's award-winning 
Members - you can access recordings of our zoom events from 2023, 2022, and 2021 in our new on-demand library which has been migrated over to Thinkific (
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In the life of any vibrant community organization, the active participation of its members is not just beneficial, but essential. Currently, our committees stand without volunteers, presenting a significant challenge to our continued operations and growth. This absence of volunteers weighs heavily on our existing Board, who have tirelessly shouldered the work. Their dedication is commendable, but the scale and scope of work require a broader base of support. We urgently call upon each member of our community to consider stepping forward and contributing to our committees. Whether your interest lies in supporting emerging professionals through the Prelicensed Committee, shaping engaging events with the Programs Committee, fostering membership growth and engagement, or advocating for justice and equity through the Racial and Social Justice Committee, your skills and enthusiasm are needed. Volunteering for any of these committees is more than a contribution of time and expertise; it's a vital act of service to our community and a direct way to influence the direction and effectiveness of our organization. The work of these committees is crucial. They ensure that we remain responsive to the needs of our members and stay aligned with our mission and values. Moreover, volunteering is a chance to meet like-minded colleagues, develop professional skills, and deepen connections within the field. Please do not underestimate the impact of your involvement. Every hand that comes to help strengthens us. We appeal to you to consider where your strengths can best be matched with our needs, and to reach out to us at therapy@recamft.org. Let us know how you can contribute to sustaining and growing this community that has given so much to each of us. Your Board thanks you in advance for your time, your energy, and your commitment. Warm Regards,
RECAMFT CFO | Pictures from some of our past committee meetings and events
Above: Ethics Roundtable Below: Racial and Social Justice Committee preparing a mailing.
Below: Membership western picnic 2023 |
Highlights from RECAMFT's Board of Directors The April Board meeting highlights... Some of the key issues addressed:
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Find out more about advertising with RECAMFT here.
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Talking Horses and RECAMFT
An interview with Cynthia Psaila, LMFT, new RECAMFT Board Member
By Dr. Jean Hayes, PhD, LMFT
Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy
Admiration for my horse friends comes from knowing those who were exposed to horses very early in their childhood and rode all kinds of horses in the fields with "wild abandon" and joyful glee. This energetic activity, and extraordinary skill-building, most often was the foundation of success in award winning horseback riding championship.
This proved to be true for our newly chosen RECAMFT Board Member, Cynthia Psaila, LMFT. Cynthia started riding horses when she was 5 years old and won the title, "Series Champion for the Season", after her trainer let her ride horses for payment. “It was my happy place. Horses were healing for me,” exclaimed Cynthia, who then saved up $100.00 to buy her own horse and equipment. All at 9 years old!
Cynthia is “the real deal” of the Horsewomen world. She took to horses and built relationships with them back then as a child, as she now embraces her relationships with her clients in her professional work and private practice in Petaluma, California. A true Horsewoman is passionate about constant learning, relationship-building, and personal growth, because they believe there is something to be learned in every situation. Cynthia graduated from UC Berkeley in Sociology and then from the Counseling Psychology Department at Dominican University in San Rafael, and “loved every minute!” Clearly, Cynthia has transferred her uniquely attuned skills gained by building rapport and compassion with horses to establishing that same depth of connection and understanding with her current clients.
Another similarity between these two worlds that make up Cynthia’s present life-to-be on the RECAMFT Board, is that Horsewomen, as she is, are leaders who inspire others to think differently, “outside the box,” as Cynthia states. Cynthia believes learning and growing as a student of the Horse and of the Human are lifelong practices. As we sat together in the beautiful flower-filled backyard garden of her office in Petaluma, Cynthia reflected upon meeting our RECAMFT Board President, Dr. Bob Casanova, in 2011. They eventually worked together sharing a child and family case, and it was after getting to know each other that Bob encouraged Cynthia to join our Board. Cynthia stated, “Being on the Board is a newly welcomed expansion for me. I want to be more connected to my profession, form new relationships, and be open to thought-provoking ideas and stimulating opportunities.” Bob certainly saw the Horsewoman in the Psychotherapist!
Cynthia will be working, in part, on the Finance Committee with Tara D'Orazio, LMFT, our extremely talented CFO, excitedly proclaiming, “I love numbers because that's how my brain works!” Aren’t we fortunate to have such a skilled Horsewoman and talented Marriage and Family Therapist on our RECAMFT Board.? Thank you, Bob, for bringing Cynthia into the Herd!
Dr. Jean Hayes, PhD, LMFT
Couples and Family Recovery and Renewal
Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy
RECAMFT Board Director at Large
Photo of Cynthia Psaila, LMFT is by Dr. Jean Hayes, PhD, LMFT.
Read a good book lately? Send your review to therapy@recamft.org
Dr. Jean Hayes, PhD, LMFT, has a private practice in Novato, CA. She is currently serving as a RECAMFT Director at Large.
See more about Mental Health America's toolkits here.
LOTS MORE PAGES AND GROUPS - RECAMFT.ORG/Therapy-Groups CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LOCAL GROUP OFFERINGS, AND PAYMENT TO ADVERTISE YOUR GROUP.
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Gail Van Buuren (right) was RECAMFT's 2007 President, and after that became the Newsletter Editor until approximately 2 years ago. Gina Culver (left) was our 2023 President, and is currently serving on the RECAMFT Board of Directors as its Past President. Now, what are these two up to, out on the town?
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Thank you for reading this month's newsletter! RECAMFT is great because of involved members like you!!
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Are you looking for help? Find therapists offering free natural disaster and crisis sessions here. Please check out MySonomaStrong.com. Visit the NAMI Warmline. Take a trauma-informed yoga class. We will recover together! ¿Buscas ayuda? Encuentre terapeutas que ofrezcan sesiones gratuitas de crisis y desastres naturales aquí. Visite MySonomaStrong.com. Visite la NAMI Warmline. Toma una clase de yoga informada sobre el trauma. ¡Nos recuperaremos juntos!
Redwood Empire Chapter of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists |
