Christina “Tina” Cacho Sakai, LMFT
President, LA-CAMFT

In January 2023, LA-CAMFT Board of Directors launched its theme for the year: Leadership. We believe that leadership is the key to a successful organization. However, there is so much that goes into effective leadership. Each Board Member was asked to identify word/s that came to mind when they thought of LA-CAMFT Leadership and above are the results. Take time to review the wordcloud and explore which words resonate with you.  

On Saturday, February 4, 2023, the Board of Directors attended the CAMFT Leadership Conference (CLC) where we shared virtual space with other Chapters across the state of California. We learned from other CAMFT Chapters along with the Presentation Speakers how to become effective leaders. 

LA-CAMFT was honored to be presented with the following awards: 

• Outstanding Chapter Leader — Leanne Nettles, LMFT (Past President)
• Chapter Excellence First Place Awards
• • Best Cultural Awareness Program
  • Best Program & Events Marketing Practices
• Chapter Excellence Second Place Awards:
• • Best Board Management
  • Best Membership Recruitment and Development

During the February 2023 Board of Directors Meeting, LA-CAMFT set its goals for the year: 

1. Increase integration of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
2. Increase Engagement
3. Increase Membership

The intention to increase integration of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) across all aspects of LA-CAMFT is to have DEI woven into every decision that the organization makes and not just siloed under the Diversity Committee. So often, DEI is left to the BIPOC community to work double duty. The goal is that the work of DEI be shared amongst all. 

The intention to increase engagement with all facets of our community (students, associates, licensed, retired, affiliates, mentors, mentees, presenters, sponsors, social media, venues, vendors, other CAMFT Chapters, members, non-members, universities and training programs, hospitals, treatment centers, community agencies and individual and group practices, etc.) is to create a more robust and trusting relationship with the community at large in order to better service the LA-CAMFT Community.  

The intention to increase membership is for our therapeutic community to have a place where therapists can build relationships, network, have fun, learn from presenters, seek guidance through our support groups and mentorship program, engage in social justice advocacy and obtain the resources they may need; such as, mentors, supervisors, supervisees, grants, office space and more. 

On behalf of the LA-CAMFT Board of Directors and the Diversity Committee we would like to invite you all to our upcoming Anti-Racism Roundtable 3: Listen and Learn taking place on Sunday, April 30th from 1-4pm via zoom.

• Come listen and learn as therapists of color share their experiences navigating racism in the profession.
• Share the impact from listening and learning in thoughtful reflection with one another.
• Share and learn about local anti-racism resources available to you in our community.

If you are interested in growing and sharing your leadership skills with LA-CAMFT, please email me directly at President@lacamft.org. We have plenty of opportunities for you to get involved. 

Hope to connect with you soon! 

Christina “Tina” Cacho Sakai, LMFT 

Christina "Tina" Cacho Sakai, LMFT (she/her) is a Latinx (Mexican-American) psychotherapist in private practice and a former community based therapist, clinical supervisor, associate director, and adjunct faculty at CSULA. She provides psychotherapy in a culturally responsive, LGBTQIA+ affirming and social justice-oriented atmosphere. Treatment specializations include healing from trauma, processing grief and loss, exploring creativity, and honoring full intersectional identities. She is currently in the BIPOC Somatic Experiencing Training Certificate Program.

LA-CAMFT 2023
Spring Celebration

Sunday, April 2, 2023
1:00 pm-4:00 pm

at

Descanso Gardens

Sponsored by

LA-CAMFT's 2023 Spring Celebration is a community gathering that unifies colleagues and friends! It highlights professional development, career support, and community outreach. We connect professionals to potential resources for their clients, allowing for innovation and new enriching collaborative partnerships! 

Limited Capacity — Register Soon!
Once capacity is reached, you will be added to a wait list.
If space opens up, you will be notified.

For more information, contact Tiffani Sainz.

Event Details: 
Sunday, April 2, 2023, 1:00 pm-4:00 am (PT)

Where: Descanso Gardens

More information and register today by clicking the Register Here button below.

Register Here

Getting Paid: Creating A Positive
Professional Image Online & In Person

With so many online meetings, presentations, and events, therapists introduce themselves a lot. Here are 6 tips to make the most of your introductions online & in person and to create a positive, professional image. These tips reveal little details to include when introducing yourself—and will help you get known in the therapeutic community.

TIP 1

When introducing yourself VERBALLY, online or in person, be sure to include all the information a person needs to contact you.

If people don’t have the right information, they can’t contact you about a

• referral, job or training opportunity
• question or if they need more info
• speaking opportunity or something else

Make it easy & convenient for people to

1. Know your full name
2. Have your contact information

Include this information when introducing yourself:

1. Full Name: First & Last Name(s)
2. License Status or Professional Designation
3. Where You Work. Private Practice or FULL NAME of Business, Program, Agency, School, Organization, Counseling Center, School, Hospital. If you’re a student, full name where you attend.
4. City Where the Business, Program, Agency, School, Organization, Practice is located. Even if you only work virtually, include a location—it helps people remember you.
5. Who You Work With Or Specialties. If you don’t yet have specialties, say who you would like to work with.
6. Your Pronouns. If it fits for you or your community, the pronouns you use can be included—in English and or any other language you or clients, colleagues, community, others speak. Where you place your pronouns is up to you—after your full name, professional status, address, or anywhere else it fits best for you in this list.

 Samples

Hi, I’m Ana Chavez, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor. I’m based in West LA where I have a Private Practice working in person and remotely with clients. I work with individuals and couples and specialize in work-related stress, anxiety, and relationship issues.  

Michael Weinstein, LMFT, CAMFT Certified Supervisor. In my Pasadena Private Practice I provide remote therapy sessions to clients throughout the state of California and specialize in anger management, relationship issues, and couples in conflict.

Sandra Ho, LCSW. At the Gender Health Center in Los Angeles, I counsel, in person and virtually, children and adults who are exploring gender identity and/or sexual orientation issues and those who are Trans/gender diverse. My pronouns are she, her, ella. 

Derek Johnson, AMFT, at Angeles University Counseling Center in Culver City, under the supervision of Shanda Ramos, LMFT, I work with clients who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ and/or the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Community. I specialize in anxiety, trauma, and relationships.

Sometimes it may be possible to add a short sentence that personalizes your introduction: Tina Duvall, LMFT. At the Beverly Counseling Center I specialize in working with teens and young adults who have eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and anger management issues. Send me your angry teenagers, the angrier the better! They’re my favorite clients to work with.

TIP 2

Online, AFTER you introduce yourself VERBALLY in a group video call, always type your name & contact information in the chat.

Type in chat: full name, license status or professional designation, where you work, location, email, phone, website—and pronouns if that fits for you; and three or four words on who you work with or your specialties.

No more than 3 words or initials (EMDR, SE, TRM, etc.) about who you work with. Nothing else or people will ignore it.

Sample

Shuri Moore, LMFT, Santa Monica and Online, ShuriMoore@gmail.com, 310.123.4567,
ShuriMoore.com, GenZ & Millennial Women. Pronouns she, her, hers.

At the end of your contact info you can also add something about how to contact you—Contact by email or text is best.

Shuri Moore, LMFT, Santa Monica and Online, ShuriMore@gmail.com, 310.123.4567,
ShuriMoore.com, GenZ & Millennial Women. Pronouns she, her, hers.
Contact by email or text is best.

TIP 3

For online professional events, make sure your screen name is your full name not a first name or nickname. 

The more your full name is seen, the more people will remember it. If you don’t type your contact info in the chat then knowing your first & last name will be easy to Google. Take advantage of this opportunity.  

Type this info under your picture on video platforms.

1. Full Name; First & Last name(s)
2. Professional Status: AMFT, APCC, ACSW, Trainee, Student
3. Optional
   
   • Other Certifications
   • Pronouns (she, her, hers) (him his) (they, their)
4. For Students
   
   • Type university name after full name and or pronouns

Samples

Ana Chavez, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor. West LA
Michael Weinstein, LMFT, CAMFT Certified Supervisor. Pasadena
Sandra Ho, LCSW.  Pronouns: she, her, ella.
Derek Johnson, AMFT  Antioch Alum
Danika Jones, Trainee, Pepperdine Student

TIP 4

For in person events, STAND UP when you ask a question/make a comment—to the speaker or whole group—from your chair or seat at a table.

• Standing up means people can see you, hear you, and take in you and your info better.
• If you’re not on a stage or platform people won’t be able to see you unless you’re standing up
• Don’t start talking until you are fully standing up.
• Not talking until you are standing gives people a moment to shift their attention to you so they don’t miss the beginning of what you say.

TIP 5

Each time you ask a question verbally in an online group of more than 5 or an in person event—BEFORE you ask your question—Say your full name & professional designation—Then ask your question             

Sample (Said Aloud)

Calvin Jordan, AMFT (slight pause), my question is…

State your name each time you ask a question. Repetition of this kind is good!

Optional: Include your location after your professional designation:

Sample (Said Aloud)

Tina Gonzalez, CSPP Student, Covina (slight pause), my question is…

Stating your FULL NAME before you speak makes it easy for the speaker, moderator or person monitoring the chat to quickly pair your name with your face.

Yes, video platforms have names below the screen view. However, when you state your name first, the speaker or person monitoring the chat doesn’t have to take their attention away from looking at or listening to you, to read and process your name—and neither do participants. Not only do people appreciate this, they tend to have a positive impression of you and they have a better chance of remembering your name the more times they hear it.

Stating your Full Name before you speak:

1. Allows the speaker to know you by name and to address you by name while answering your question
   
   • A speaker appreciates being able to interact with a participant by name
   • The speaker looks good without having to ask your name
   • If the speaker or participant wants to contact you after the presentation, knowing your full name makes that possible.
     
2. Audience members appreciate knowing your Full Name.
   For in person events, an audience member or the speaker may want to connect before leaving. When you say your name it makes it easier to find you at the venue or online.
   
   
3. Don’t hurry saying your name to get to your question. Take your time.
   We all need a moment, whether in person or online, to shift our focus from one person to the next when someone is asking a question. If you hurry through your intro, it doesn’t allow people the extra moment they need to be able to register your name, your presence, and the question you’re asking.
   
   As you state your name, this is the moment when everyone’s attention is on you. Utilize it. It’s a prime marketing moment for people to see you, hear you, and pair you with your name online and in person.
   
   A clear, focused, unhurried stating of your Full Name & professional designation before your question allows both the speaker and the audience members to experience you, hear your name and have the opportunity to remember it.

TIP 6

For in person events, on your nametag be sure to print your Full Name so it is easily readable.

That’s all on how to make the most of your introductions, get known in your community, and further your career. 

Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented, and Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping professionals develop even more successful careers and practices. To learn more about her in-person and online services, workshops or monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunch visit www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com.

LA-CAMFT April 2023
ONLINE Presentation
including Q&A

Friday, April 21, 2023
9:00 am-11:00 am

11:00-11:30 am (optional) —
Participant Announcements

Via Zoom

2 CE Credits

Identifying and Treating Impostor Syndrome

Stevon Lewis, LMFT

Individuals who suffer from Impostor Syndrome are usually high achievers in some facet of their life, whether it be in their career, in education, or in the arts. Often, they present to therapy expressing self-doubt, feelings of not living up to their potential, or reporting a history of self-sabotage resulting in diagnosable disorders of depression or anxiety. This presentation will focus on helping clinicians identify Impostor Syndrome and effective ways to address the rigidly held beliefs sufferers hold that prevent them from connecting to the parts of themselves responsible for their success.

Event Details: 
Sunday, April 21, 2023, 9:00 am-11:00 am (PT)

Where: Online Via Zoom
After you register you will be emailed a Zoom link the Saturday before the presentation.

More information and register today by clicking the Register Here button below.

Register Here

LA-CAMFT 2023
Anti-Racism Round Table
Phase 3

Sunday, April 30, 2023
1:00 pm-4:00 pm

Free Registration

Online Via Zoom

LA-CAMFT Anti-Racism Round Table 3:
Listen and Learn

In the Summer of 2020, we came together as a therapy community for the first time to directly discuss and address racism and explore what LA-CAMFT could do to become an active and overt anti-racist community. We declared that we were committed to this endeavor as “A Movement not a Moment.”

Round Table 2 was held in the Spring of 2021 celebrating the progress made regarding the many bold initiatives that were set in motion the prior year and offering folks an opportunity to cultivate greater inclusion in the activism of our therapy community.

Round Table 3 calls us to come back to the table and for new folks to pull up a chair; for us all to continue to listen and learn from one another.

Event Details: 
Sunday, April 30, 2023, 1:00 pm-4:00 am (PT)

Where: Online Via Zoom
After you register you will be emailed a Zoom link the Saturday before the presentation.

More information and register today by clicking the Register Here button below.

Register Here

Binge Eating Healthy Food: Do I Have An Eating Disorder?

Desperate Hope
This question speaks of a desperate hope to find a way to be safe and healthy. You want to give yourself good nourishment. You want to take care of yourself. You want to live. Yet you know that a binge, even quality food, harms your body and your life.

Compulsion to Binge Eat
At the same time you can't stop bingeing. Since you are helpless to stop you try to make your binge and yourself as safe from negative consequences as possible.

You might try to binge on salad or steamed vegetables. You might try air popped corn with no oil. These kinds of attempts aren't satisfying for long because they lack the satisfying component of fat.

You might try to add sharp or even painful spices to your binge as an attempt to slow you down by making binge eating painful.

I wonder too, what you mean by "healthy foods." A fresh ripe organic peach could be considered a healthy food. But it's not a healthy food if you eat eight of them in one sitting. Any food, no matter how healthy it is purported to be, is not healthy for you if your portions skyrocket into the binge zone.

Diet Food As Set Up for a Binge
As an attempt to binge and not gain weight you might reach for artificial sweeteners and low fat or non-fat food items. This is a disastrous choice. Artificial sweeteners may trick your taste buds into believing you are taking in sugar. But your brain cells know better. You will crave and set yourself up for a sugar binge when you take in artificial sugar substitutes. 

The low fat and non-fat foods don't provide the satisfaction your body needs from adequate fat in your diet. You will crave more.

Setting yourself up for these intense cravings sets you up for more binge eating. If you continue to make these kinds of food choices you will binge more and feel more helpless and despairing. And you will gain weight while you are hoping that the no sugar and no fat foods you eat will help you to lose weight. Then you have horrible feelings in the morning when you stand on the scale, naked and before breakfast, and see your weight actually going up.

Danger of Ignorance
You may try and even succeed for a while in convincing yourself that if you are bingeing on healthy food, it’s not really a binge, and it's not a signal that you have an eating disorder. This belief will only prolong the duration of your eating disorder and prevent your reaching out for help so necessary for recovery to begin.

Living a life of confidence and willingness to learn new ways of being in the world as our world changes around us can lead you to much more happiness and satisfaction than any binge can bring, even one on healthy food. If you reach for what truly heals your heart and nourishes you soul, your binge eating episodes will fade away. You real life will begin. Food tricks and mind tricks will not resolve your situation. The only real answer to how to stop a binge is healing.

* Actual recovery work from an eating disorder takes time and requires commitment. Often, as an early stage before doing that work, people will try to convince themselves that they are behaving in healthy ways and perhaps, don't have an eating disorder at all. This is wishful thinking, understandable but not viable. Hope for the answer they want is this question and not getting it can be a major step toward getting into real recovery work.

Joanna Poppink, LMFT, psychotherapist, speaker, and author of Healing Your Hungry Heart: Recovering from Your Eating Disorder, is in private practice and specializes in Eating Disorder Recovery for adult women and with an emphasis on building a fulfilling life beyond recovery. She is licensed in California, Florida, Oregon, and Utah. All appointments are virtual. Website: EatingDisorderRecovery.net

LA-CAMFT Therapists of Color Mentorship Program: Call for Therapist of Color (TOC) Mentors

During our “Anti-Racism as a Movement, Not a Moment” Roundtable in August 2020, we came together as a therapeutic community to discuss and address racism and discrimination. We collaborated on what LA-CAMFT can do to be an actively and overtly anti-racist community. We specifically identified needed supports that we as therapists of color and as a therapeutic community wanted to see provided. One of the many needed supports identified was a Therapists of Color (TOC) Mentorship Program.

In January 2021 a group of students, associates and licensed therapists of color formed the Therapists of Color (TOC) Mentorship Program Committee and met on a monthly basis to discuss and begin the creation of this program. The committee spent quality time on the purpose statement, guidelines, interest form, marketing, launch date, and more. The development of the program are the contributions of the following committee participants: Akiah Selwa, Destiny Campron, Jenni Villegas Wilson, Leanne Nettles, Lucy Sladek, Maisha Gainer, Matthew Fernandez, Nehemiah Campbell, Perla Hollow, Rachell Alger, Raven Barrow, Stara Shakti, and Tina Cacho Sakai.

The LA-CAMFT Therapists of Color (TOC) Mentorship Program exists to help address inequities experienced by professional mental health therapists of color and intersections with other historically marginalized groups. The first of its kind amongst CAMFT chapters, LA-CAMFT is committed to ensuring quality mentorship for therapists of color by therapists of color. The mentorship program is intended to help bridge the gap of identifying and creating opportunities for growth and advancement in the field, guide clinicians across various stages of professional development, increase accessibility and sustainability in the field, and assist therapists of color to confidently provide services from their culturally authentic self.  

At this time, we are Calling for Therapists of Color (TOC) Mentors who are committed to this mission and more:

• Qualifications: Licensed in the State of CA (LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, PSYD, etc) 
• Commitment: 6 to 12 months with the option to continue independently.
• Frequency: 1x per month or mutually agreed-upon schedule of meetings, which may occur via phone, virtual platform, email exchanges, or face-to-face meetings.
• Types of Mentorship Relationships: 1-on-1 and/or group mentorship (your choice) .
• Mentors do not need to be LA-CAMFT Members. 

Interest Form Due Dates and Mentorship Start Dates: 

• Mentee Interest Form submissions will be accepted from April 1, 2023 to May 1, 2023.
• 6-month Mentorship duration is from June 1st — November 30, 2023. 

Interest forms submitted before or after the listed dates above will not be considered during the matching process. 

Here are some of the many rewards for being a Therapist of Color (TOC) Mentor:

• Guide, teach, and inspire the next generation of TOC mental health professionals.
• Establish and promote a culture of support within our profession.
• Build intergenerational relationships.
• Contribute to new developments in the field.
• Receive LA-CAMFT benefits for volunteering your time, knowledge and wisdom. 

If you are interested in becoming a Therapist of Color (TOC) Mentor, would like to receive more information and/or receive the Interest Form, reach out to us at tocmentorshipprogram@lacamft.org. 

With Gratitude and Solidarity, 

LA-CAMFT Therapists of Color (TOC) Mentorship Program Committee

Finding Your Writer's Voice

Finding your voice is a lot like looking deep inside yourself and trying to figure out what makes you a different person from everybody else.

Most writers don’t give it a lot of thought. They just keep writing until they develop a voice. It just comes with time and lots and lots of writing. What if writers made more of a purposeful effort to find their own voice? It could save them months and years of writing their way through to it.

Let’s say you wanted to try to find your own unique voice? How would you go about it? Here are some ideas.

Think about the experiences you’ve had, preferences and characteristics that set you apart from others. Think about the most extreme examples. It doesn’t help much to describe yourself in bland generalities. You have to skip over the “honest, loyal, like to read, like to play soccer, like to ride rollercoasters” stuff.

Look instead at what makes you different, and by different, I mean, strange, odd or even bizarre.

For example, I know I’m interested in stories about people’s weirdness. How did I discover this? For one thing, a good friend of mine pointed it out.

I was telling her stories about why heroin addicts would rather live on the streets, homeless, than stay in a shelter. I discovered it was because shelters had rules. You couldn’t bring food or drugs into the shelter. You couldn’t even bring a dog.

This same friend noticed that my humorous Facebook posts tended to point out weirdness or showcase odd or strange things about life. She’s right. I find those things interesting.

Keep in mind, I don’t just like pure weirdness in story and character, I like a funny take on it. Above all else, for me, my voice has got to be funny. So, odd, strange, funny, it’s a mix.

I also noticed that I like movies like Nightcrawler, A Clockwork Orange, and Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, no doubt because all three films were populated with people who 1) obsessively photographed accident scenes, or 2) who needed to wreak havoc on everybody, or 3) about people with no limits, especially when it came to getting high.

When I spent a summer reading every novel that appealed to me, I found myself reading Kafka, Camus, and James Joyce, writers who populate their novels with very odd, quirky and downright weird characters.

Add to all these influences, that of funny people. People like Lenny Bruce, Charlie Chaplin, Mark Twain, George Carlin, Groucho Marx, and especially, Woody Allen. I was obsessed with that group of people. Totally.

When you combine weird, quirky and funny, that’s what I like the best. Think of a movie like Fargo, where the array of bad guys included a funny, inept kidnapper (William Macy), and some very deeply disturbed killers who did things like put bodies through wood chippers.

Notice I discovered these aspects about myself, by examining what I liked to read or which movies I found the most interesting. I recommend you make lists of books you like, not the classics, but the ones that are way different. The ones you reread.

Since my partner and I wrote television comedies most of our career, we weren’t able to set the tone of every script we wrote. When you write for an existing show, you write from the voice of the show’s creator.

However, we tried to find work on shows that we liked, where the show runner shared our sensibilities. We were lucky to work with Larry Charles (Dilbert), Reno and Osborne (Duckman, Private Dick), David Richardson (Manhattan, AZ), and Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park). We were also able to create our own shows that showcased our unique voice.

All the screenplays we’ve written have a dark, quirky sense of humor. The half hour comedies we created (The Wild Thornberrys, Spacecats, Cleghorne) had offbeat sensibilities too.

After a while, producers found that we wrote edgy, dark comedy and asked to us to work on scripts with those traits, including the animated feature, National Lampoon’s Politenessman, and a Pee Wee Herman live-action, NBC television pilot.

Think about writers like Quentin Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin. You can sometimes tell, just hearing their dialogue, who wrote it. The Coen brothers are like that, too. And Diablo Cody has her unique sensibility.

Embrace what makes you different. Think about the way you say things, the language you use your unique visual sense. Give your characters strong attitudes and opinions that you can back up. Find your tone and genre, whether it’s dark, edgy, gross, light, family, comedic, acerbic, grandiose, tragic, bighearted, or a combination. Write from your strengths.

When producers are looking for something different, something original, your voice will be one of the most important factors that sets you apart from the pack.

David Silverman, LMFT, treats creative and highly sensitive individuals in private practice in LA. Having experienced the rejection, stress, creative blocks, and career reversals over a long career as a writer in Film and TV, he’s uniquely suited to work with gifted, creative and sensitive clients experiencing anxiety, addiction or depression. For more information, visit www.DavidSilvermanMFT.com.

LA-CAMFT Diversity Committee
Presents:

Black Therapist Support Group

First Saturday of this Month

Next Meeting:
Saturday, April 1, 2023
12:00 pm-1:30 pm (PT)

Online Via Zoom

Black Therapist Support Group

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.

Open to LA-CAMFT Members and Non-Members

First Saturday of Each Month

Location: Zoom Meeting

For more information contact Akiah Robinson Selwa, LMFT at aselwa@sunrisetherapycenter.org.

Event Details: 

For:
Licensed Therapists, Associates, and Students

Event Details: 
Saturday, April 1, 2023, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm (PT)Time of Check-In: 11:50 am

Where: 
Online Via Zoom

Once you have registered for the presentation, we will email you a link to Zoom a few days before the presentation.

Cost:

No Charge

Online Registration CLOSES on the date of the event.

(Registration is open and available until the group ends.)

Questions about Registration? Contact  Diversity Committee, diversitycommittee@lacamft.org.

Register Here