Call for Submissions for the Oct 2024 Issue of

The RECAMFT Therapist! 

October is ADHD, Breast Cancer and LGBTQ+ History Awareness Month and the continuation of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15). October 10th is World Homeless Day and the 11th is National Coming Out Day. 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.        

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Welcome back, RECAMFT community! We are so excited to share some of the upcoming monthly CE events coming this fall.

RECAMFT Zoom presentations

• Oct. 5th -  Phylis Wakefield, PhD, "Breaking Free: A Therapist's Guide to Moving Beyond Insurance Panels", 2 hrs, no CEs.
• Nov. 1st - Dr. Shawn Giammattei, PhD, "Affirmative Family Therapy with Gender Diverse People and Their Loved Ones".  
• Dec. 6th - Dr. Stephen Tsao, PhD, "OCD and Exposure Prevention Response", more information coming soon...
• Jan. 3rd - In-person Annual Members Meeting, speaker (TBD), and 50th Golden Jubilee Celebration Luncheon, Odd Fellows Hall, 545 Pacific Ave., Santa Rosa, 10 am to 2 pm.

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.

We look forward to another year of bringing you quality, enriching presentations which support your professional growth and development.

With gratitude,
The Programs & Conferences Committee

Members! Your SHORT DESCRIPTION is the most important thing on your profile. Why? Because that shows in our online directory. It matters! Please log in and complete yours today! 

Have you written a book? 

Be sure to let us know so we can include it on our Library page. Email therapy@recamft.org. 

Past President and Director at Large Reyna Seminara and her sidekick. ;-)

The June Board meeting and August day-long Board Retreat highlights... 

June 14, 2024

• Nicolette Gottuso, LMFT, was present, and was appointed to the Board as a Director at Large, in the Prelicensed Chair, since she is fairly newly licensed (2 years ago). Her term will last through 12/31/2025.  She is leaving a position as a clinical director in Petaluma, to start her private practice.
• Dr. Bob Casanova said he had a lot of fun at the Pride Parade on June 1st, and showed some pictures. He appreciated RECAMFT participated for the first time, and with the Redwood Psychological Association, thanks to Kris Spangler, past president.
• CFO Tara D'Orazio reported we filed for an income tax extension. No tax is due. Tara is working with Administrative Consultant Lisa Wenninger to work out how to target members in specific areas for marketing via Wild Apricot (our website membership software).
• A survey will be sent to prelicensed members soon. 

• Above pic L-R: Top row: Dr. Bob Casanova (President), Dr. Laura Strom (Secretary), Pat Hromalik, Director at Large (DAL); Second row: Gina Culver (Past President), Tara D'Orazio (CFO), Nick Prosch (student member/Prelicensed Committee), Third row: Reyna Seminara, DAL, Nicolette Gottuso, Prelicensed DAL, Cynthia Psaila, DAL, Fourth row:, Jessica Heaney, DAL. Photo of the May Board meeting by Laura Strom.
• The Board liked the adapted Land & People Acknowledgement Statement (to be read before our meetings), but is holding off on formally adopting it pending determining if the CAMFT Board decided to assign the Napa zip codes to RECAMFT. Note: They did assign them to us, but we learned after the Board meeting, so the formal adoption occurred in August. 
• Here is the statement under consideration: 

  “We are meeting today in the ancestral homes of the Coast Miwok, Wappo, Wintun and Pomo Nations of Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa and Lake counties.* RECAMFT acknowledges these Nations as the traditional caretakers of this land and water, and we are grateful for their strength and perseverance in the struggle to maintain their culture, language and traditions.

       Every voice is essential in protecting the sacredness of this space we hold together today. Please speak with love and care in your comments to others. At this time we are especially aware of the pain and suffering of our Jewish and Muslim members and friends. (This line was struck at the August meeting). We want our space to be safe and welcoming for all. We welcome feedback regarding our ongoing efforts to create inclusive, equitable safe spaces.”

  *Optional for a speaker who is in a county other than our four. “And our speaker is presenting from the home of the … Nation(s). 

• It was decided the Professional Wills training will wait until late Spring 2025. 

• The Board authorized Lisa Wenninger to add two Law & Ethics courses we had a couple of years ago with Barbara Griswold to be added to our On-Demand CE platform on Thinkific. 

• The Golden Jubilee Committee reported we will hold the celebration on Jan. 3rd from 10 am to 2 pm at Odd Fellows Hall. There will be a catered Mexican food lunch, and celebration of our 50th Anniversary, plus an in-person speaker (TBD).  

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Find out more about advertising with RECAMFT here. 

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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.

• Fri., Oct. 25th,  2024
• 12 to 1:30 pm
• Zoom
• Register here.

A career break is simply time away from your job. There is no “right” way to take a career break, but usually if it is less than a month it’s more of a vacation. The word sabbatical is often used and is the same concept. Others like to think of it as “incremental retirement”.

Maybe you have told yourself this narrative, i.e. I will work and work until I retire. But in our field, there usually isn’t a set age to retire, and if you are in private practice, no one is “retiring” you. Just like with any big change in your life, if you take all this in and tell yourself “I can’t do this”, you never will. There are many benefits to taking a career break and travelling. For a profession like ours, most reasons are obvious such as returning from travelling refreshed, replenished, gaining new perspectives and having time to not think about your clients. As noted in the research below, people who take career breaks often return with a more positive outlook on their job and life in general. 

There are other benefits as well that have been substantiated through research. Psychologist Lile Jia at Indiana University published an article in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology that says distance can make you more creative. The implications of his research show that travelling to faraway places and communicating with people dissimilar to us can help increase creativity and lead to considering novel alternatives.

A study from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago also supported the research that living abroad boosts creativity. This study showed that the experience of another culture endows us with valuable open-mindedness, making it easier to realize that a single experience can have multiple meanings. People who travel are more willing to realize that there are different ways of interpreting the world. Jia’s work and the study at Kellogg showed that travelling not only helps your creativity but also improves your problem-solving abilities, skills that are imperative in our field.

If you do decide to take a career break, be prepared for internal and external blocks that can often lead to anxiety and then inertia. Society’s norm is to work until you get old (or sick) before you can take your break, so when deciding to take a career break, encountering mental and social hurdles are common.

Below are a few simple tips on taking small manageable steps on how to get out of the “inertia zone”.

1. Read articles from people taking successful career breaks. You have already started; you are reading this article.
2. Start a CAREER BREAK folder. Include this article. Look up the studies referenced at the bottom of this article and include those. Add articles you find on places you may think of going, links that are interesting, etc.
3. Start dreaming of your ideal career break. Would it be slow travel, living in one place for an extended time? Or going to a few different places? Or both? Where would you go? What do you want to see and do? This is the dreaming stage, it doesn’t have to be exactly what you would do!
4. Then make the idea real by saying it out loud. Even if you don’t know when or how you will do it, talking about it makes it more likely to happen. You will have to explain yourself to family and friends because right now taking a break when you are healthy and younger than when you plan on stopping work is the exception. Sometimes using the word “sabbatical”, a term people know, will help explain what you are doing, but you will still find many family and friends doubting your decision.
5. Talk to people who have taken a career break. You’ll find friends of friends, people online, or of course I would be happy to schedule a time to talk to you about this at any point in your planning.

Once you decide you really can do this, here are some of the common business concerns that therapists bring up when I help them plan their career break.

What will happen to my clients?

Logistically, this is usually the main concern I hear from clinicians. Those in private practice might also be worried about what will happen to their business. You need to treat this the way you do other planned (or unplanned) absences such as maternity leave, caring for a sick family member or leaving your agency job.

Most importantly, make sure you give adequate notice to your clients. This will vary client by client based on the work you are doing with them. As with other absences, you share as much or as little as you want based on your theoretical perspective and the particular client’s needs. Plan what will happen when you are gone. Will you do Zoom type sessions with them? Will they take a break? Will they see your backup clinician?

What will happen to my business when I return?

Plan a schedule for when you get back including scheduling in clients. If in private practice it is often helpful to schedule some marketing activities to get you up and running: maybe have a workshop or a speaking engagement scheduled or an article timed to be published for when you return. Before leaving could be a good time to use a practice building consultant so you can return to a thriving practice.

How can I make money when I’m away?

If appropriate, you may be able to do sessions with clients by phone or Skype or Zoom. Maybe you want to teach a class or workshop while you are travelling. You can plan it on your own or contact a local university or counseling center.

What do I need to have in place before I leave?

Obviously, there are many things that need to be done before an extended absence, but here are the things related to the business of being a therapist. You need a trusted clinician to:

• Check your voicemail.
• See current clients who want to continue therapy while you are gone.
• See current clients if an emergency arises.
• See new potential clients.
• Pick up your mail and manage it.
• If you have a private practice office:
• Pay your office rent in full before you leave or have a system in place for paying your landlord.
• Work out how to pay for monthly expenses such as office gas/electricity when you are gone.
• If you are allowed to sublet your office, introduce your tenant to the landlord if possible.

The basics above will get you on the path to join thousands of people are now taking career breaks. It is possible. You will return with new motivation and renewed energy for the wonderful work we do. Consider taking a career break because you deserve it. And the best reason isn’t deep or clinical or psychological or particularly introspective; do it because it will add to your happiness.

References

• Jai, Lile, Hirt, Edward & Karpen, Samuel. Lessons from a Faraway land: The effect of spatial distance on creative cognition . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 45(5), September 2009, 1127-1131.
• Lehrer, Jonah. Why We Travel. The Observer. (3/14/10).
• Maddux, William W. & Galinsky, Adam D. Cultural borders and mental barriers: The relationship between living abroad and creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 96(5), May 2009, 1047-1061.
• Stellin, Susan. Practical Traveler: Making the Dream Trip a Reality. New York Times. (10/17/10).

Fran Wickner, PhD, LMFT, is a licensed MFT since 1983, is in private practice serving individuals, couples, families and teens remotely throughout California and in-person in Berkeley, CA. As a therapist who has taken five career breaks, she offers individual consultations by phone or in person on how to take a career break and not lose money or clients.  You can contact Dr. Wickner at franwickner@hotmail.com or 510-527-4011.