The AAMFT Blog

Mental Health Awareness Month: The AAMFT Research and Education Foundation

Mental Health Awareness Month is Here! (also referred to as "Mental Health Month") has been observed in May in the United States since 1949, reaching millions of people in the United States through the media, local events, and screenings. Its purpose is to raise awareness and educate the public about mental illnesses, the realities of living with these conditions; and strategies for attaining mental health and wellness. Additionally, Mental Health Awareness Month strives to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses.

The AAMFT Research and Education Foundation continues to work on projects and programs that need your support to provide systemic family therapists the best resources. We also serve to recognize those in the field who are going above and beyond in the profession and their communities.

Did you know:

• Close to 500 MFTs in training have received Foundation support in their vital work with underserved populations in the United States.
• Nearly 100 MFTs and those in training have received recognition from the Foundation for their research into advancing our profession and the practice of MFT.
• Vital trainings and initiatives focused on working with emergent issues such as treatment of immigrants and refugees and supporting families impacted by incarceration are being developed by the Foundation.
• The Foundation works with partners and programs such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Mental Health US, and Don’t Deny Me to bring needed attention to the crippling barriers to mental health services in an effort to increase access for all.

The AAMFT Foundation is funded entirely by contributions from MFTs from around the world who want to help influence positive change in our society. But without your support, these efforts won’t continue.

Join your fellow MFTs today by donating to the AAMFT Research and Education Foundation to support our commitment to building a better tomorrow for us all.

With a range of stimulating programs and activities, the Foundation is continuously pushing innovation and creativity in systemic family therapy. Donors can feel good that contributions are helping students learn and advance therapy knowledge and skills; that MFTs are benefiting from inspirational and educational speakers; and soon to be therapists are recognized for their diligence and ingenuity in research. The future of the Foundation is focused on developing the next generation of innovative ideas to advance the practice and profession of systemic family therapy!

The Foundation is committed to distinctiveness, innovation, and excellence for the advancement of the marriage and family therapy profession. Committed MFTs share and participate in our vision through academic, advisory, or financial contributions. The AAMFT Foundation presents an extraordinary opportunity for visionary individuals, companies and foundations to support critical initiatives that produce better outcomes and build stronger families.

We encourage you visit our website to learn more about our work and make a donation to the Foundation during Mental Health Awareness Month! 

Supporting Indians in the Diaspora

Compiled by Ulash Thakore-Dunlap with content provided by Kavita Pallod Sekhsaria, Jessica Joseph, and Sudha Nagarajan

The news and images coming in from India around the COVID crisis are alarming, saddening, and heartbreaking. While the news has caught the attention of many, for Indians in the diaspora, it has created a frustrating type of helplessness, as we navigate how to help family and friends living thousands of miles away while managing our own pandemic needs. To add to all of this, things seem to be "looking up" in some ways for certain communities in the US, as many are able to access vaccines and feel safer meeting with friends and family, the disease is still marking its presence in far too many homes.

Compiled here are support resources for MFTs working with South Asian clients who are either from India, have family in India, or part of the South Asian diaspora:

Connect

• Connect them with resources where you can, and,  if you are able, donate to mutual aid funds and organizations that you and your community trust.

Resist Misinformation

• Resist misinformation firmly and non-judgmentally. This is particularly important around vaccine hesitation. Use the CDC to ground your responses in what we know about the coronavirus. 

Listen

• You may go back and forth between having guidance and suggestions, and feeling overwhelmed by the lack of answers. For the first, let your loved ones guide you in what they need, whether it is a distraction or a chance to share their distress. For the second, remember that you don’t have to have all the answers, and that you may need support yourself

Affirm

• While fixing isn’t always an option, the power of listening and affirming is immense. Avoid minimizing or refuting in validating your loved one’s experience. 

 

As you’re working on finding ways to support clients and loved ones, remember that it’s important to support yourself, because you can’t pour from an empty cup:

Recognize Capacity

• Be honest and fair with yourself about what you can do. Beating yourself up, or putting yourself in position to develop resentment because you pushed yourself too hard fiscally or otherwise isn’t the solution. The balance between doing what you can, and accepting the limits of what you can do is really hard, but you owe it to yourself to try to find it.

Honor Feeling Out of Control

• Acknowledge what you can and cannot control. Go back to remembering your capacity, and address what you can control. Practice acceptance of what you can’t. 

Control Your Intake

• While the situation is upsetting, watching the news for several hours of the day isn’t going to add to what you can offer or control. Know your bounds so that you can be fair to yourself.

Recognize Feelings of Guilt

• Many of us may be experiencing a form of guilt around the safety we’re feeling ourselves, and helplessness about what we can do. Try to be kind to yourself through this, as your guilt won’t erase any one else’s suffering and may make it harder for you to take care of yourself. 

Adapt Coping Strategies

• Your regular supports for stress may be the ones that are unavailable. Recognize this, and that you can still develop other supports to take care of yourself - even if they are unfamiliar and even if they are not ideal.  This might mean reaching out to new friends; tending to your basic needs like feeding yourself, drinking water, and taking rest; or considering therapy or online support spaces.

This is a difficult time, but as we support each other and take care of ourselves, we’ll emerge stronger. Please see Resources Guide for India and COVID-19 Crisis for a list of resources, and infographics translated into Punjabi and Hindi.

 

Ulash Thakore-Dunlap (she/her), is a LMFT and is full-time faculty and Diversity of Equity and Inclusion at the Wright Institute, MA Counseling Psychology program and maintains a private practice in California supporting Asian clients.

5 Ways to Attract New Telehealth Clients

This content is provided by Brighter Vision, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the views of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy.

When the effects of COVID-19 began to reverberate through the country at the beginning of this year, private practices everywhere had to quickly pivot away from in-office appointments to utilizing Telehealth as their primary method of seeing clients. For some clinicians, this change’s swift and dramatic nature may have led it to feel temporary, but it’s clear now that Telehealth is here to stay. While this new way of running your practice may seem overwhelming at times, there are a number of surprising benefits you may not have considered.

Struggling to move your therapy practice online?

If you’re finding it difficult to move your practice entirely online, or just not sure where to start, sign up for this free email course to learn the 5 most important steps you should take when transitioning to Telehealth:

Sign Up Here 

One of the most significant advantages this new digital environment offers is even more ways to connect with potential clients online. With people spending more time online reading, doing research, and looking for mental health resources, there are several easy things you can do right now to stand out from the crowd and connect with your ideal client.

In today’s blog post, we’ll cover the top 5 things you can do right now to attract new Telehealth clients.

1. Determine who your ideal client is, and target your messaging to them

Before jumping into the advice offered later in this blog, it’s important to consider who your ideal client is.

Why, you may ask?

By first determining who your ideal client is and what issues they are facing, you’ll be much more successful in creating marketing initiatives that allow you to connect with them. When looking for a therapist online, people often ask questions such as “how can I overcome this?” or “who can help me deal with this?”. If you or your practice can be the one to provide answers to these questions upfront, it immediately builds trust and encourages someone looking for therapy to set up an initial consultation.

COVID-19 Vaccination FAQ

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound and long-lasting effect on mental health with alarmingly elevated numbers of cases for anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and increased substance abuse. While teletherapy has proven to be beneficial in complying with its ease and compliance with health guidelines, many therapists are considering when to resume in-person therapy and how to address particular questions related to the vaccine. To provide support in response to the ongoing pandemic, AAMFT has compiled a list of resources and an FAQ for marriage and family therapists. View the webpage for this resource, which is part of our full COVID-19 resource page. 

When can I begin to see my clients in-person?

Therapists are to exercise their professional judgment in considering reopening their practices. The decision to resume in-person therapy is unique to each therapist's situation. As you begin to consider reopening your practice, please review and update your policies under the most current CDC and state guidelines. The therapist is free to set their own standards on when to resume in-person therapy versus teletherapy.

Can I begin to see my clients without a mask?

Under the current CDC guidelines for face-to-face interactions, fully immunized individuals can meet with other immunized individuals indoors without facemasks or social distancing. Accordingly, facemasks and social distancing is not required for vaccinated therapist and vaccinated clients.

Therapists should still implement procedures for in-person therapy sessions with clients who are not vaccinated at this time. This may include but is not limited to facemasks and social distancing. In all cases, only the clients should enter the premises for in-person therapy.

Please see the current CDC guidelines for face-to-face interactions for fully vaccinated individuals.  

Can I see clients who refuse a vaccine?

There is still legal and ethical uncertainty with this question. First, it is important to address the reason for refusing the vaccine. There may be personal, religious, or medical conditions for refusing the vaccine. At this time, there is no legal guidance as to whether this would violate the Americans with Disability Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (Federal) or similar state religious exemptions. It is important to listen to your client’s reasons for refusing the vaccine. You may continue teletherapy with unvaccinated individuals if you feel uncomfortable resuming in-person therapy.

May I ask a client if they have been vaccinated?

Yes, a marriage and family therapist may ask a client if they have been vaccinated. A therapist should ask the client in a matter of fact and non-judgmental tone. An accusatory tone will likely result in a defensive answer. An organic and natural conversation will lead to more openness of the client on vaccination plans if the client is not already vaccinated. In most circumstances, therapists should trust their clients to answer honestly on their vaccination status. A therapist may assume that evasive or indirect answers means that a client is not vaccinated and should therefore plan accordingly.

How do I address vaccine hesitancy with my client?

Vaccine hesitancy is an outcome behavior influenced by a multitude of factors. Identifying the barriers and reasons for vaccine hesitancy is necessary to improve the vaccination rates of a given population. Misinformation is commonly spread throughout the internet despite documented empirical evidence. Such misinformation includes but is not limited to: lack of documented and empirical testing, changes to one’s DNA, severe and fatal side effects from the vaccine, and the insertion of microchips into the vaccine.

It is important to remember that every person has a right to question healthcare advice and to voice their own concerns. The essential goal for the therapist is to then identify the core cause for concerns. Listen actively to the client’s question and remember to provide non-judgmental answers. It is important to review answers to common questions for vaccine hesitancy such as: Will this hurt me? How bad are the side effects? Will this even be worth it for me since I am young?

Please remember to answer and address any concerns by the client truthfully and with candor.

Other questions?

Please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing your questions to [email protected]. Resources provided by the Health and Human Services Administration are provided here as well. 

• How to Talk About COVID-19 Vaccines With Friends and Family  
• What Fully Vaccinated People Need to Know  
• COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Your Community