President's Message — Gina Balit, LMFT, ATR

Thank You Members

We’ve sprung into May and now summer feels right around the corner. Before I get to the hot updates for the next couple months, I’d like to highlight our diversity committee, which hosted their first cultural awareness picnic in March. It generated great interest, so much that we’re already looking forward to the next one! Various types of food were served from different cultures such as Greek and Japanese, in addition to special activities such as yoga and spoken word. Members and volunteers of the diversity committee are going strong with presenting during our diversity segment at each membership meeting. This remains a unique opportunity to learn and grow together and allows chapter members to participate in a special way by sharing their diverse backgrounds.

Speaking of chapter members, in May we traditionally hold our Members Luncheon (we typically do not have membership meetings in May). This is a social event for all of our members, new and old, but in particular it welcomes our newer members into our community. We plan to offer drawing opportunities, light refreshments/food, and great company and networking. This year, it will be held at a members home on Saturday, May 13th.

On June 11th, we will return with our Sunday membership meetings. We will also be offering the annual Law and Ethics Workshop hosted by CAMFT on Friday, June 16th. This 6 hour workshop will be broken down into 3 topics related to private practice: 1) Starting a Private Practice, Solicitation of Testimonials/Yelp/Advertising & Professional Wills; 2) Reclaiming Your Reputation: Law and Ethics Tips for Promoting and Protecting Your Brand in the Age of Yelp and Google Reviews; 3) How a Professional Will Can Help Therapists Prepare Their Clients for the Unexpected.

I want to also mention we’ve made some changes to improve our hybrid meeting quality since March. We’ve gotten better feedback about the sound and engagement — thank you for being patient with us! While staying virtual during the pandemic was helpful in many ways, I do feel offering hybrid to the best of our ability, at least through this year, is important as it allows us to expand our reach and be available to other therapists, from aspiring students to seasoned therapists, from areas that may not otherwise allow for attendance with us in-person. That being said, I do need to acknowledge the conversations we’ve had surrounding the challenges in our transition back to in-person and offering hybrid meetings.

While we’ve had to make some changes, for example financial and being unable to offer the annual Law and Ethics Workshop for free to our members, becoming a member of our chapter still has many amazing benefits:

1. Reduced rates on meetings/events; Reciprocity with Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, Santa Clarita chapters
2. Reduced rates (50% off) on eblast and graphic advertising options
3. Access to Members-Only tab on website
4. Ability to volunteer and join committees [budget/finance, diversity, outreach, hospitality] and special interest groups (SIGs) [hiking, pre-licensed, experiential process, expressive arts]; as well as annual retreats for members in leadership positions
5. Opportunity to win drawing prizes during our meetings/events such as a member highlight, free ads, and opportunities to network with board members
6. Access to private Facebook group with ability to post
7. FREE: invitation to new-members luncheon in May annually, opportunity to publish an article(s) in the Connections! Newsletter, listing in the Therapist Search section on our website
8. SUMMARY: Surround yourself with a community of mental health professionals and be part of an amazing organization, engage with and expand your professional network, get support on your road to licensure, earn while you learn (CE credits required to renew your license), and more!

Thank you members for being a vital part of our community; it's you who helps us maintain our chapter. I want to specifically thank our members who are also volunteers (you’ll get to see the list in November). Currently, the chapter is in need of volunteers for:

1. CE coordinator
2. Sponsorship chair and committee members
3. Membership meeting write-ups for the newsletter
4. Tech support and set-up at meetings
5. Finance committee members

Please send me an email at sfvcamtpre@gmail.comshould you have any questions and/or are interested in volunteering with the chapter. Remember to visit our events page to sign up for any upcoming events. Thank you!

Warmly,

Gina

Gina Balit, LMFT, ATR, is a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist and Registered Art Therapist working in private practice in Woodland Hills, CA. She is passionate about working with young children of divorce and abuse as well as supporting her Armenian community.