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Elections - November/December 2024 - Charting a Course for 2025
Each November-December the RECAMFT members elect a new Board of Directors for coming year (some years there are additional issues for the members to vote on, such as bylaws updates, etc.). The presidency is a three-year commitment as President Elect, President and Past President. The Secretary and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) are each two-year terms, as are the Director at Large (DAL) seats. You can view the current 2024 Board here. RECAMFT's board composition currently consists of
2025 Board of Directors Candidates Below are the slate of candidates running for each open position. There is one candidate each running for President Elect and Secretary. There is one candidate running for one of our DAL seats. We need additional people to run for our open DAL seats. |
2025 Director at Large candidate
2025 Director at Large candidate
2025 Director at Large candidate
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Patricia Hromalik, LMFT 
Dr. Laura Strom, PsyD, LMFT
Dr. Jean Hayes, PhD, LMFT
Gwendolyn Watson, LMFT
Candidate Statements Candidates were asked to respond to 3 questions.
Below are each candidate's answers. |
2025 President Elect candidate statement Why are you interested in serving on RECAMFT’s Board of Directors? RECAMFT has been such a positive addition to my professional life as a therapist and I am a believer in giving back to those that support you. I have served in several RECAMFT board roles since joining the organization in 2014 where I became the Pre-licensed Chair/Director-at-Larger. Due to my extensive business background, I moved on to the Chief Financial Officer position in 2016-18, then took a break from the board and returned in 2023 as a Director-At-Large. I have served on the Pre-licensed Committee, the Finance committee and the Scholarship committee, where I’ve organized several fun prize raffles that have raised over $1,600 toward this worthy cause of supporting our pre-licensed and newly licensed therapists with an emphasis on underrepresented groups. I also started the RECAMFT Compassion Fatigue Peer Group and continue to facilitate this monthly service to our members in recognition of the toll on mental health workers with the stress of climate change and local wild fires, the pandemic, along with world and political unrest and division. I believe these positions have prepared me well to step forward into a leadership role as President-elect, having severed under several different presidents and learned from each of them. My prior careers also have prepared me, being in management and leadership positions, as well as doing a 4-year stint in Human Resources as a Director of Management and Leadership Development. All of my prior careers drew me to the people side of the work and lead to me fulfilling a long-term dream of becoming a therapist. Being able to actively work with, help and serve others is where I have found my greatest fulfillment. I respectfully ask for your vote as RECAMFT President-Elect. What are your 1-year goals for RECAMFT? Since the Pandemic RECAMFT (as well as many other CAMFT chapters and non-profit organizations) have struggled with member engagement and participation. The attendance at CEU events is lower, including the few in-person events we offered and our ability to attract volunteers for committees has fallen off significantly, placing a higher burden of work on the few existing board and committee members. In the next year, I would like to do more outreach to our members to better understand their needs and interests, as well as barriers to participation. I want to work on solutions that will meet those needs and drive-up engagement to maintain the vibrancy and caliber of RECAMFT. What is your 5-year vision for RECAMFT? Long term I would like to continue to explore and find ways to better support our members to provide high quality service to clients in an ever-changing technical world with people who have diverse needs and expectations regarding mental service and its delivery. In addition, I fear our financial model for mental health practitioners is broken, especially in regard to insurance. I want to pursue appropriate legal ways that we can work with our government legislators, as well as CAMFT and other aligned organizations, to engage insurers to provide fair compensation and support viable treatment. 2025 Secretary candidate statement Why are you interested in serving on RECAMFT’s Board of Directors? I am passionate about supporting ongoing growth and progress within the mental health profession and our community. Much of this potential for sustainability relies heavily upon the engagement and creativity of those at our organization’s helm. I hope to be a collaborative and dynamic member of this team, to help RECAMFT continue to address our member’s ongoing needs, with our shared purpose of supporting the larger community we serve. What are your 1-year goals for RECAMFT? I hope to prioritize providing RECAMFT members trainings on up-to-date practices of the profession, to offer more opportunities for membership connection to strengthen our sense of community, and to engage in outreach to members, specifically those whose voices are often not heard, with the goal of addressing systemic issues to create a stronger, more inclusive association. Likewise, I hope to build relationships with up-and-coming clinicians to bolster the knowledge and networks of future generations. What is your 5-year vision for RECAMFT? Through the next five years, I envision a larger, more representative, and more diverse RECAMFT. I envision a deeper sense of community felt within our membership, with opportunities for more active participation, and a more expansive reach into our community. I hope to see RECAMFT known not only by members and organizations within our profession, but recognized by all as a chapter that prioritizes expanding equity, and is devoted to bringing fresh ideas that lead to action and increase access to mental health care. 2025 Director at Large candidate statement Why are you interested in serving on RECAMFT’s Board of Directors? As a RECAMFT Director-At-Large for the past four years, I realize what a difference being on the Board can make to our professional community. I would like to use my creative thinking being a regular contributor to the Newsletter by interviewing and high-lighting members who specialize in varied and unique counseling services. I believe this would expand the knowledge of who our members are, and shine a light on the services being offered by sharing stories about our many interesting and thoughtful therapists. I had the opportunity to interview for the Newsletter, our former technical consultant, the now deceased Joe Ward. Besides being a recipient of his generous assistance, I was truly inspired by his commitment to be available to every member. Interviewing Joe Ward gave me another inspiration to develop The Spirit of RECAMFT Award in Joe and his wife, Pam's, name. What are your 1-year goals for RECAMFT? I would like to regularly follow-up with members to explore their interest and in-put in programs to be offered, both in-person and on-line. I would like RECAMFT to suggest and provide opportunities for members to get together in meet-up groups thereby developing ways to become familiar with who our members are by engaging in some fun and interactive times together along with our invaluable, specialized trainings.
What is your 5-year vision for RECAMFT? I would like RECAMFT to continue to evolve equity and inclusion across, and to be embedded in, all programs that inspire human development and build enthusiasm for each and every member of our professional community. We are a collection of professionals that form a unique system that is RECAMFT, inspiring, strengthening, and empowering ourselves while also providing the best care to every client, every day. 2025 Director at Large candidate statement Why are you interested in serving on RECAMFT’s Board of Directors? I'm hopeful to have the opportunity to serve on RECAMFT's Board of Directors. I moved to Sonoma County during the pandemic and am eager to build meaningful connections within the thriving community of Marriage and Family Therapists here. I am passionate about this profession and committed to serving on the Board to engage in collaborative, creative discussions about balancing our roles as helping professionals and business owners (for those in private practice) or employees (for those working in mental health organizations). While living in the North Bay, I’ve worked as a clinician in non-profits, residential treatment facilities, and now in private practice. I’ve experienced firsthand how organizations like RECAMFT play a vital role in helping us grow as clinicians and connect with colleagues beyond our immediate workplaces. As a new Board member, I look forward to learning from my colleagues and listening with a beginner’s mind while also sharing insights from my previous career at Google to help RECAMFT and its members grow, expand, and thrive in their businesses.
What are your 1-year goals for RECAMFT? If elected to the RECAMFT Board of Directors, I would be excited to drive programming that ensures the training and CEs we offer reflect the diverse needs of our clients and the ever-expanding topics in our field. Beyond training, I believe members—especially pre-licensed clinicians—would benefit from resources and workshops focused on the business side of running a private practice. Additionally, I would love to evaluate ways to update the RECAMFT website to better organize and distribute the great resources and offerings that are already available.
What is your 5-year vision for RECAMFT? I believe our profession will undergo significant changes in the next five years—we’re already seeing the early signs. The rise of start-ups and AI tech companies entering the mental health space, combined with the many options clients now have to access therapy, is reshaping the landscape. My vision for RECAMFT is that the organization supports clinicians in navigating this evolving technology landscape. This includes understanding the ethics, concerns, and opportunities involved in using or integrating technology and AI services into client care. I imagine much of this work will involve collaboration with CAMFT, guiding clinicians statewide on how to use technology in ways that benefit both clients and ourselves while upholding the principle of doing no harm. Lastly, I hope to see more accessible training and courses on sexuality and intimacy offered as a core part of the Marriage and Family Therapy profession. These topics are integral to the human experience and deserve greater focus as a core subject, not a speciality, in our field. |
Redwood Empire Chapter of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists |
