FROM 2015-16 CAMFT PRESIDENT LAURA STROM

I voted for Tara as CAMFT Pres-Elect because real world wildfire experience matters

Dear Colleagues: 

Here’s why I voted for Tara D’Orazio, LMFT for CAMFT’s President Elect, a woman who has been a member of my chapter, Redwood Empire CAMFT, and whom I have known since 2015. I'm so thrilled the Nominating Committee talked her into running for President Elect (I know this because I helped her with her application for the Board as Director at Large). 

In 2017 Santa Rosa got hit with the NorCal wildfires which devastated our town and surrounding areas. Tara was part of our chapter board, and helped with our recovery efforts which involved bringing other organizations and a fundraiser together to raise over $1 million dollars to help restore the mental health of our traumatized community. 

• We created a bilingual website and app which was advertised on billboards, buses, etc. It directed people to NAMI’s warmline, which we set up for them. 

• Referrals were made to local clinicians who received payment to see traumatized folks.

• We provided training in Skills for Psychological Recovery to over 500 mental health professionals. 

• We worked with Stanford and the Palo Alto VA to provide research and a published paper as a road map for other communities who might suffer a large-scale disaster event. 

• Tara coordinated providing trauma-informed yoga for free to fire survivors, which included training of 50+ yoga instructors in the area in this modality, and created online presence and registration for these offerings. 

• Eight members lost homes in the fires, and Tara helped in our efforts to support these members over a three-year period. 

• Since 2017 we've had a massive evacuation of our county due to wildfire (2018), a Russian River flood (2019), and more wildfires which burnt down swathes of Santa Rosa and our county (2020). 

In 2020 Tara was our RECAMFT Chapter President as the pandemic unfolded. We could not possibly have had a better leader at the time. She was calm, steady, and always thinking of our safety. 

• She developed new touch-free methods of paying bills that we are still using. 

• Obtained training for online events which are now bigger than our in-person events in the past. 

• Very techno-savvy and innovative, she can operate all the technical aspects of our organization. 

• In response to George Floyd's murder formed our Racial and Social Justice Committee (RSJC). 

• Came up with a scholarship program for Prelicensed and newly licensed members. 

Here's what I think Tara brings to the CAMFT table: 

• A fresh set of eyes.

• Out-of-the-box, innovative thinking not constrained by “That’s how we’ve always done it” mentality.

• Real world understanding of how disasters impact Californians, and especially MFTs who are the healers for folks traumatized by these tragedies.

• More years of experience as a licensed clinician than her competitor who was licensed in 2017.

• Knowledge of how to facilitate consensus – our chapter prides itself on decisions by unanimous consent.

• A deep desire to amplify the voices and concerns of Prelicensed MFTs and those seeking to obtain our license.

• Understanding we must have parity with other types of clinicians including becoming Medicare providers, so we can obtain high-paying jobs in hospitals, at the VA, and other settings in which LMFTs should be the top clinicians, but instead are under the supervision of social workers and psychologists because Medicare doesn’t recognize us as providers. 

• An understanding that our chapters hold an important key to disaster recovery, and are a vital part of CAMFT’s strength as an organization. 

• Helping to facilitate portability of our license. 

Please check out Tara’s campaign website: https://www.taravdorazio.com/

Your electronic ballot arrived by email February 11th, and paper ballots dropped this week. Please vote ASAP as the election closes in mid-March. Don’t forget to sign the envelope of your paper ballot. 

We have an opportunity to elect someone extraordinary to lead our professional association. Tara brings the real-world experience that matters. Let’s elect Tara D’Orazio as CAMFT’s President Elect! 

Kind regards, 

Laura Strom, PsyD, LMFT

2015-16 CAMFT President