The AAMFT Blog

Working Systemically with Nonbinary Clients

This webinar will provide a comprehensive overview of working with nonbinary clients. This will include an initial brief introduction to terminology, to the current WPATH Standards of Care, and to dominant treatment protocols for nonbinary clients in the US. We will discuss the issues that nonbinary clients and their families might bring to therapy and how to address these competently and systemically. The role that family therapists might play in the care of nonbinary clients and their families will be addressed, including the role that LMFTs might play in supporting clients who may pursue medical or legal transition processes. The importance of liaising with other providers, such as medical providers, will also be addressed. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own gender histories, identities and expressions. The webinar will be highly participatory and participants are encouraged to bring their questions and curiosity. Ethical issues in relation to power, dominant discourses of gender and the historical oppression and marginalization of nonbinary people will be woven through the webinar and will be addressed from an intersectional perspective.

Date: October 30, 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern

CE: 1.5

Register Here

Presenter Alex Iantaffi, PhD, MS, SEP, CST, LMFT is a certified sex therapist, family therapist, Somatic ExperiencingⓇ practitioner, clinical supervisor, writer and independent scholar. They are adjunct faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and the chair elect for the Trans and Queer interest network of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. They were the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Sexual and Relationship Therapy for eleven years and have researched, presented and published extensively on gender, disability, sexuality, and relationships. Alex is passionate about healing justice and community-based and engaged scholarship. They are a trans masculine, non-binary, bi queer, disabled, Italian immigrant who has been living on Dakota and Anishinaabe territories, currently known as Minneapolis, MN (US) since 2008. Alex has co-authored the books "How to UnderstandYour Gender: a practical guide for exploring who you are" and "Life Isn't Binary" with Meg-John Barker (Jessica Kingsley Publishers). They host the podcast Gender Stories. You can find out more about them at www.alexiantaffi.com or follow them on Twitter @xtaffi

Free Webinar- Websites 101: Everything You Need to Know About Setting up a Site for Your Private Practice

If you are interested in setting up a website for your private practice, but feel overwhelmed by the amount of information out there, we have a perfect online event for you!

On Wednesday, October 2nd @ 12:00 noon EST, Brighter Vision will be hosting a free webinar exclusively for AAMFT members.

During this webinar, they will be walking through exactly what you need to build a website, web design philosophy, search engine optimization, and what you can do guarantee your online marketing is successful long-term.

The second half of the webinar will feature an open question format, so please come prepared with any questions you'd like answered.

To register for this webinar, please click here or visit the following link:

https://my.demio.com/ref/6EYNYKcT8tHISCzo

If you can't attend the event in real-time, don't worry. The webinar will be recorded so you can always view it later!

MFTs in Washington State see Reciprocity

(L to R): Kathy Opie, Margaret Reed, Anthony Pennant, Jennifer Sampson, joined by two members from the Mental Health Counselors Association.

The legislative year in Washington State was filled with many priorities being shifted around as the state needed to figure out how to continue to balance their budget. In all of these negotiations, the need to increase the presence of mental health clinicians in Washington was approaching crisis level.

Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (WAMFT) decided to work with their lobbyist, local representatives and senators to address a sustainable way to increase the amount of clinicians in the state. The work began during the yearly Day on the Hill where a few members from the WAMFT gathered to support this bill.

Day on the Hill

On the Day at the Hill, these WAMFT Board and clinical members along with their lobbyist Amber Lewis, met with two state representatives, include Senator O’Ban to discuss the current field of family therapy and mental health treatment as a whole. The state representatives heard from WAMFT members expressing their commitment to increasing the number of clinicians and encouraging future feedback as the shape and needs of mental health is changing. Afterward, WAMFT members were able to tour the State Capitol in Olympia.

Fast forward to April of 2019, the Washington State legislature passed Senate Bill 5054; increases the behavioral health workforce by establishing a reciprocity program to increase the portability of behavioral health licenses and certifications. Currently this passed bill has been handed off to the state agencies that govern the licensure process in the state. Historically, the licensure process for out of state and existing residents were all the same regardless of previously held credentials. With reciprocity, interstate compacts and probationary licenses may be issued to help clinicians practice sooner.

WAMFT created a video series that helps expands on what Senate Bill 5054 means for Washington State and the current environment that the reciprocity bill shapes the future of MFTs practicing there. The link to the first video is here.

Ultimately, WAMFT could not have done this without the support from the Practice Protection Fund. Please consider donating as we could not have accomplished this outside of the support from AAMFT.

 

Anthony Pennant, LMFT
WAMFT- Legislative Chair

Minority Fellowship Program Volunteer Applications Open for 2019-20 Year

Calling all Minority Fellowship Program Alumni and leaders in the Marriage and Family Therapy field! The AAMFT Research & Education Foundation is excited to announce that the Minority Fellowship Program Volunteer Applications for the 2019-20 year are now open. This is an opportunity for you to contribute to the efforts of the MFP in shaping the marriage and family therapy workforce and enhancing the field of mental health. You may apply to any of these positions listed below here!

Three significant ways that you can enhance the profession:

Ad- hoc Review Positions

• Ad-hoc reviewers serve as initial reviewers on eligible applications for the Doctoral (MFP-DF/DCF) and Master’s (MFP-Y) Fellowships offered by the MFP.
• No term limit

Mentor Positions

• MFP Mentors provide academic, professional and career development guidance to AAMFT MFP Fellows.
• MFP Mentors are marriage and family therapists or other behavioral health professional volunteers.
• No term limit

Advisory Committee Positions

• Professional Member Positions and Public Member Positions
• Advisory Committee members provide programmatic and professional
  guidance aid in the growth and development of the AAMFT Minority Fellowship Program.
• Attend all MFP Advisory Committee (AC) meetings. There are 1-2 Advisory Committee meetings annually in the DC Metro area.
• Committee members serves as reviewers and assist in the determination of Fellows.
• This position serves a 2-3-year term

To select the volunteer position you wish to apply for, please visit the MFP Volunteer Application Information Page.

If you have any questions or concerns email the AAMFT Minority Fellowship Program at [email protected]

Application deadline has been extended to September 23, 2019

How to Write an 'About Me' Page for Your Therapist Website

This content is provided by Brighter Vision, an affinity partner of AAMFT. 

Why Does My ‘About’ Page Even Matter?

When writing the content for your website, you may be wondering if you even need an ‘About Me’ page. However, your ‘About Me’ page is likely going to become one of the most useful and popular pages on your private practice website. It’s where potential clients will come to learn more about your practice; who you serve, what value you add to your clients’ lives, and why they should stick around and ultimately sign up for your services. 

Of course, creating a stellar ‘About Me’ page requires a bit more than just posting a list of your achievements and throwing up a headshot. In fact, writing your ‘About Me’ page is actually more about your potential client than it is about you… but we’ll circle back to this later.

Writing is hard. Even more so, writing content about yourself while also making it about your potential client is REALLY hard. And we get that. But the thought of writing your ‘About Me’ page shouldn’t make you run for the hills.

In this article, we’ll break down the process into easily manageable steps.

To start off, let’s take a look at some of our favorite ‘About Me’ pages:

• https://shanebirkel.com/about-me/
• https://affinitycounselinggroup.com/ciara-braun-lpc-ncc/
• https://denvermhc.com/staff/ian-palombo-ma-lpc/
• https://mindovermoodwellnesscenter.com/about/

Take a look at each one of these pages and try to come up with ideas as to why you think they’re great.

Defining Your Practice - Key Questions

At this point you may be wondering exactly why we think these ‘About’ pages are so great. The biggest reason is because they all answer key questions that help define the practice and they all give potential clients specific reasons to come see them. 

Before you just start writing, it’s best to begin by answering these key questions:

1. What value do you add to your clients’ lives?

In a time where therapists seem to be everywhere, making a good first impression is vital to building a thriving practice. But how do you ensure a good first impression?

By first and foremost writing your ‘About Me’ page with your ideal client in mind. What are they looking for? What do they want you to help them with? What can your services do for them?

If you really think about it, your ‘About Me’ page should be just as much about your potential clients as it is about you. Yes, your visitors do want to know about you as a person, but more importantly, they want to know how you are going to help them. Let them know how your approach is unique and why they should come to your practice.

If you want to really grab your visitors’ attention and get them to read your entire page then you need to keep your focus on explaining how you can help them. The way you share this information is key to keeping their attention and luring them in to finally contact you through your website.

2. Who is your ideal client?