Los Angeles Chapter — California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
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Middle Eastern North African (MENA) Therapists Community Group
First Monday of Every Month
Next Meeting: Monday, December 1, 2025 9:30am-10:30am
Online Via Zoom
Free Registration
The MENA Therapists Community Group is a safe place across the Middle Eastern and North African therapist diaspora to build community and a sense of belonging. We hold an inclusive space to process the impact of cultural biases experienced by people of MENA descent and the effect it may have on our work as mental health professionals. Within the process, we will strive to create healing, support, and empowerment. We will collaboratively exchange ideas, experiences and resources while acknowledging cultural differences and shared similarities. As the poet Khalil Gibran states — “The reality of the other person lies not in what he reveals to you, but what he cannot reveal to you.” — our community will create a place to be seen, heard, and understood.
Special Note: MENA Therapists Community Group meetings are intended as a place for MENA-identifying therapists to have a safe place amongst others in the same ethnic and cultural community to share and process their personal and professional experiences. Therapists from similar cultural backgrounds (e.g., South Asian, mixed identities that include MENA, etc.) are also welcome. If you are not MENA-identifying or from a similar cultural background and instead wish to join these meetings for the purpose of learning about the MENA population, we offer consultations separately. You are more than welcome to schedule a one-on-one consultation by emailing us.
Open to LA-CAMFT Members and Non-Members.
For more information, contact the facilitators at mena@lacamft.org.
Event Details:
For: Licensed Therapists, Associates, and Students
When: Monday, December 1, 2025 from 9:30am-10:30am
Where: Online Via Zoom (Upon registration for the presentation, you will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to our Zoom meeting.)
Cost: No charge
Facilitator(s): Perla and Susan
*Registration is open and available until the group begins.*
Come Celebrate the Season with Us!
Join LA-CAMFT for our ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY on December 7th from 12:00pm-3:00pm at the beautiful Clearview Treatment Programs facilities in Venice.
All are invited to come gather together in celebration of another year for our community!
Please join us for delicious food, laughter, and musical merriment with your LA-CAMFT friends and colleagues. If you want to bring something, let us know!
We will have our yearly rite of passage for our Newly Licensed MFTs. It is one of our most special LA-CAMFT rituals that welcome the newly licensed into the community. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE AN LA-CAMFT MEMBER TO PARTICIPATE!
If you received your license in 2025, and you would like to be a part of this ceremony, PLEASE let me know by emailing and registering for our Holiday Party. Many of us have been through that process, and we know what it takes to get through it. We want to celebrate and support you!
Come meet our current and newly elected LA-CAMFT Board of Directors, and community leaders!
Registration fee goes towards food, beverages, and health/safety considerations. If this fee is cost-prohibitive, we would still like to find a way for you to join us, please email me.
If you have an emergency/health issue on the day of the event and you’ve already registered, please email.
We are so excited and look forward to seeing you there!
Jennifer Stonefield, LMFT
LA-CAMFT Past President and Event Organizer
When: Sunday, December 7, 2025 from 12:00-3:00pm (check-in 11:30am)
Where: Clearview Treatment Programs (911 Coeur D'Alene Avenue, Venice, CA 90291)
Cost: $15 for LA-CAMFT Members $10 for Prelicensed Members $20 for Non-Members [$25 Late Registration (for all)]
*Registration closes Wednesday, December 3, 2025 for final headcount. Late registration available 12/4-12/6.*
Black Therapist Support Group
Second Monday of Every Month
Next Meeting: Monday, December 8, 2025 6:00 pm-7:30 pm (PT)
A safe place for healing, connection, support and building community. In this group, licensed clinicians, associates and students can come together and process experiences of racism (systemic, social, and internalized), discrimination, implicit bias, and micro-aggressions, along with additional experiences that therapists of African descent encounter in the field of mental health. As the late great Maya Angelou once said, “As soon as healing takes place, go out and heal someone else.” May this space, be the support needed to facilitate that journey.
For more information, contact the Diversity Committee.
When: Monday, December 8, 2025, 6:00 pm-7:30 pm (PT) Time of Check-In: 5:50 pm
Friday, December 12, 2025
8:30am-10:30am
LA-CAMFT is excited to introduce a therapist's members only dining series! This event is sponsored by and lunch hosted by Discovery Behavioral Health.
Each month there will be a new location in Los Angeles for therapists to gather & dine together. The dates for our fall/winter series are:
Space is limited per dining event. Please RSVP for the event that is closest to you and that you truly will attend to ensure who can attend has the opportunity to do so. If you RSVPed and plans change where you cannot attend, please notify us as soon as possible.
If you have questions, please contact Elizabeth G'Sell at egsell@discoverybh.com.
Thank you!
Elizabeth G'Sell, LMFT
Board Member at Large
For: Licensed Therapists, Associate Therapists & Therapist Trainees (Chapter Members Only)
When: Friday, December 12, 2025 from 11:00am-12:30pm
Where: The Langham Terrace (1401 S Oak Knoll Ave Pasadena, CA 91106)
Cost: FREE for LA-CAMFT Members Only
LA-CAMFT Diversity Committee
presents
White Therapists Fighting Racism (WTFR)
Third Sunday of Every Month
Next Meeting: Sunday, December 21, 2025 3:00pm-5:00pm (PT)
The goal of White Therapists Fighting Racism (WTFR) is for white-identified therapists to become effective allies in support of decolonization and racial justice in our clinical practice, therapy association, and community. Recognizing that racism is maintained when whiteness is invisible to white people, WTFR provides a forum for white-identified therapists to explore what it means to be white. While this process includes learning about structural racism and deconstructing the false narrative about race, a primary focus in the group is on doing inner work.
How Do I Join? To join this group, please click here to complete our online submission form. Once submitted, a group facilitator will reach out to you for next steps.
For more information or if you have additional questions, please send all inquiries to the facilitators WTFR@lacamft.org.
When: Sunday, December 21, 2025 from 3:00pm-5:00pm (PT)
Where: Online Via Zoom (Once you complete the online submission process, you will be emailed a monthly Zoom link.)
Facilitator(s): Estelle, Randi, Hazel, and Stephen
Friday, January 16, 2026 9:00am-11:00am
2 CE Credits
Beyond the Rainbow – Supporting Clinicians with LGBTQI+ Cultural Competence and Creating Resilience in LGBTQI+ Communities
with Davina Kotulski, Ph.D.
This workshop familiarizes clinicians with the LGBTQI+ lexicon and explores the role resilience plays in supporting LGBTQI+ clients facing political scapegoating and social backlash. It will define resilience while exploring the mutable and non-mutable factors that strengthen it. Clinicians will examine the unique vulnerabilities LGBTQI+ individuals face, address the impact of shame and fear on coping, and identify ways to foster client strength and community connection. Participants will learn how to support clients navigating internalized oppression and social stigma.
Educational Goals/Learning Objectives:
Demonstrate cultural competence when working with LGBTQI+ clients and understand what factors and strategies contribute to resiliency in both the LGBTQI+-identified individual and LGBTQI+ communities.
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
Davina Kotulski, Ph.D. (she/her; they/them) is a licensed clinical psychologist and an award-winning self-help author. Dr. Kotulski is a widely sought-out speaker on LGBTQI+ topics and an internationally recognized LGBTQI+ rights leader. She received the Saints Alive award from the Metropolitan Community Church for her national leadership in the LGBTQ marriage equality movement and for her seminal book Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage (2004). She has a private therapy practice and is licensed in CA, OR, and WA. Her website is drdavinakotulski.com.
For more information, contact Course Organizer/CE Networking Chair Alexandra Levins-Trail.
For: Licensed Therapists, Associates, Students, & Related Professionals
When: Friday, January 16, 2026 from 9:00am-11:00am
8:30-9:00: Check-In 9:00: Meeting/Presentation Begins 11:00: Meeting/Presentation & Related Announcements End 11:00-11:30: Participant Announcements (optional)
If you are interested in expanding your professional networking, sign up for Participant Announcements when you register. This segment is from 11:00am-11:30am, and is an optional 1/2 hour after the presentation.
After the presentation we will provide you with a link to a simple online test and evaluation questionnaire. When the test questions and the evaluation are completed, you will be provided with an online CE Certificate that can be personalized with your name and license information and either printed or saved on your computer.
Where: Online Via Zoom (Your registration confirmation email will include the Zoom link and instructions for accessing the event. A reminder email will be sent prior to the event.)
Cost: $25 for LA-CAMFT MembersOther CAMFT Chapter Members CSCSW Members $15 for Prelicensed Members Other CAMFT Chapter Prelicensed Members $35 for Non-Members $20 for Prelicensed Non-Members
*Registration closes Thursday, January 15 at 10:00pm.*
(To be sure you receive any information we send prior to the event, please add networkingchair@lacamft.org to your known contacts or safe list and check your bulk, junk or promotions mailboxes for any emails from us about this event.)
Register online today! We look forward to seeing you on Zoom.
CAMFT Approved Continuing Education Provider 59450. LA-CAMFT is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for MFTs, LPCCs, and/or LCSWs. LA-CAMFT maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.
This course meets the qualifications for 2 continuing education credits for MFTs, LPCCs, and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
To receive CE certificate: Participants must sign in/sign out, and must complete an evaluation form upon course completion. For a Course Schedule, please contact Course Organizer at NetworkingChair@LACAMFT.org.
Refund policy: 48-hour notice required for refund of fee minus $5.00 administrative cost. Exceptions can be made for 48-hour notice in cases of emergency. Contact Course Organizer at NetworkingChair@LACAMFT.org.
Accommodations for Special Needs: Contact Course Organizer at NetworkingChair@LACAMFT.org.
Grievances: Program Administrator/CFO manages all grievances—and will acknowledge, investigate and remedy grievances. Response to grievances will be made in writing within 30 days. Contact them at cfo@lacamft.org.
