Sunshine in a Box

As the days grow darker in the fall and winter, so do many people's moods. 10% or more of the population in northern climates may suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that is cyclical and affected by the time of year. Symptoms include feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem, poor concentration, low energy or fatigue, and problems with eating and/or sleeping.

SAD is most often treated the same way depression is: with medication. However, SAD sufferers looking for holistic options are in luck. Since research suggests that SAD is caused by the diminished light during the winter months, effective treatment has been developed using electrical light boxes that mimic the sun’s rays. “Light therapy is a way to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) by exposure to artificial light. It is safe and has few side effects,” states the Mayo Clinic (2010). A Canadian study (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2006) found light therapy and fluoxetine, better known as Prozac, to be equally effective.

I decided to use myself as a guinea pig so I ordered a light box online. The process was easy, with prices ranging from $120-150. When the light box arrived, I started my treatment, about 15 minutes a day of exposure. The light is supposed to shine indirectly into your eyes rather than directly, so I put the box, about the size of a coffee table book, on the side of my desk. It beamed the measured dose of light while I drank my morning coffee and perused Facebook. I noticed a positive effect on my mood right away. In fact, it felt so good I gave myself three more doses, an overdose which produced a headache.

Light box therapy should be done in the morning, as it may be too stimulating later in the day. It’s important to keep a consistent schedule during the winter months. If you stop too soon when you think you’re improving, you’ll miss the cumulative effect which helps bring positive results. Some people experience immediate relief as I did; for others, it may take a week of treatments or longer.

Light therapy is often not enough on its own to provide a cure for SAD. The treatment of any type of depression demands a well-rounded approach. Exercise, psychotherapy, meditation, increasing pleasurable activities, being around other people and not isolating yourself, and even medication: all these are important components of a holistic treatment plan. But if you’ve noticed a correlation between bad weather and bad moods, light box therapy can be a valuable tool for recovery. It’s certainly made a difference for me.

Catherine Auman, LMFT is a licensed therapist with advanced training in both traditional and spiritual psychology with over thirty years of successful professional experience helping thousands of clients. She has headed nationally based psychiatric programs as well as worked through alternative methodologies based on ancient traditions and wisdom teachings. Visit her online at catherineauman.com. 

How To Survive With High Sensitivity

Highly Sensitive Persons (or HSPs) are people who tend to be very empathic, intuitive, and hypersensitive to external sensory stimuli, and have a highly emotional reactivity.

If you have this kind of sensitivity, you are probably very good at accessing your own emotions and the emotions of others. This kind of connectivity can be an asset if you work with people.

However, because you are so in tune with your environment, and other people, when life moves quickly, it can wear you out.

You might catch yourself over-analyzing situations because you feel deeply about the outcomes. You’re probably very hard-working and well-organized.

Highly sensitive people tend to do well in their careers, especially when people and leadership skills, or insight and creativity are involved.

You’ll need to find time to decompress.

Noisy, busy environments, like crowded shopping malls, can wreak havoc on your nervous system.  Packed schedules and high-pressure situations, like interviews, presentations, or sales calls will also take their toll.

If you know you’re going to encounter a string of difficult situations, you will want to plan to decompress afterwards. Relax alone or with a friend.

Create meaningful relationships

You’re at your best when you’re deeply involved with another person who is able to relate to you at a deeper level. Lots of “lighter” relationships might not work. But a few meaningful relationships will be important.

You’re good at understanding what works for other people because of your empathy and intuitive abilities. You tend to feel happy when you’re helping others feel happy.

Develop healthy ways to manage conflict.

You might find yourself feeling extra anxious when you have to deal with conflicts. You’re going to look at every question from both sides, because of your high level of empathy.

You’ll feel an internal struggle between getting what you think is right and trying not to provoke an angry response.

In case the person you’re talking with isn’t all that empathic, be prepared to negotiate the best you can. You can set yourself up for a “lose-lose” scenario. Be careful.

Give yourself time to get things done.

Be careful not to rush through too many activities. Stay aware of the pace you’re keeping and slow it down if you feel it might overwhelm you.

Highly sensitive people will often have trouble in the mornings getting up, making coffee, breakfast, showering and getting out the door. Wake up early enough so you’ll have time to get to work—even if something goes wrong.

On the weekends, take full advantage of the days when you can sleep later and move at your own pace. Ask to work from home if you can. You need to take care of yourself.

Get plenty of sleep.

If you have a high sensitivity, try to get at least seven hours of sleep at night. You’ll need to sleep deeply in order to get what’s called REM sleep. REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep is the dream state, during which you process what happens during the day.

You’ll want to give yourself a couple of hours to unwind before you go to sleep. Don’t try to work right up to your bedtime. Don’t try exercise right up to your bedtime, either.

Sensitive people need to find a relaxing activity before bedtime like reading, listening to music, or watching TV. Without plenty of sleep, every little stressor will feel ten times worse.

Create your own private workspace.

As a highly sensitive person your mood will vary depending on your environment. Generally, highly sensitive people like a fairly quiet space where they won’t be too distracted. 

You’ll probably want a workspace that is clean, organized, and uncluttered. 

Most likely you won’t want bright flickering lights overhead. You’ll want to be able to draw the blinds and turn on some desk lamps.

You might design the space so it overlooks a soothing environment. If you can’t do that, think about hanging up calming photos or paintings. You need to feel centered while working at home.

Remember to be compassionate to yourself

Don’t beat yourself up because you missed a meeting, got a rejection, or didn’t place in a competition. Find a way to manage your expectations, slow your pace, and avoid overwhelming scenarios. Go easy on yourself and challenge critical self-talk.

I also recommend you schedule events and activities you know you’ll enjoy. Go to concerts, go out to movies with friends, go to the gym, swim in the ocean, go surfing, read books, watch TV, or have sex.

Put some of these fun activities on your calendar where you’ll see them. Always have something to look forward to.

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.

Call for Volunteers: We Need You! 

Here at LA-CAMFT, we couldn’t function without the hard work, energy, and efforts of amazing people who volunteer their time to bring quality programming to the Los Angeles mental health therapeutic community. We’ve got a lot of incredible things in store, but we need more people who share our passion to help bring these things to fruition! 

Are you organized? Collaborative? Work well independently and within a team? Have a passion for social justice? Then WE NEED YOU! Here are some of the areas we’re looking for volunteers to assist, on large and small scales. Do you have interests or strengths in any of these areas?:

• Advertising and promotion of the chapter and our resources
• Recruiting and interacting with membership
• Tech-savvy organization managing calendars and email communications
• Social Media presence and content development
• Finance management and budgeting
• Coordinating and hosting presenters and CEU workshops
• Planning professional networking events
• Community feedback and creation of online surveys
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging initiatives
• Online Support Group Facilitation
• Special Interest Groups (e.g. Somatic therapy, LGBTQ+)
• Mentorship
• Community Mental Health connections and support
• College MFT programs outreach

JOIN US!! If you’re interested in getting more involved, even on a small or short-term scale, please reach out to me, Leanne Nettles, at pastpresident@lacamft.org. Looking forward to having you join us in making a difference serving the Los Angeles therapeutic community!

LA-CAMFT Diversity Committee
Presents:

Middle Eastern North African (MENA)
Therapists Community Group

Next Meeting:
Monday, February 6, 2023
6:30 pm-7:30 pm (PT)

Online Via Zoom

Free Registration

Middle Eastern North African (MENA)
Therapists Community Group

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.

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.

For:

Licensed Therapists, Associates, and Students

Event Details: 
Monday, February 6, 2023, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm (PT)Time of Check-In: 9:30 am

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

Registration is open and available until the group begins.

Questions about Registration? Contact Tyana Tavakol, Perla Hollow, & Tania Osipof at DiversityCommittee@lacamft.org.

Register Here

How Divorce Mediation Helps
Special Needs Families

A while back I read an article (Divorce and Autism) decrying the one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach that the family court system takes in working with families with special needs children. I couldn’t agree more that this approach does a serious disservice to families that already have a lot to deal with and I’m impressed by how much divorce mediation helps special needs families.

In divorce mediation we have the flexibility to address special needs issues in a much more specific and practical manner so that we set up the parenting schedule, as well as many other aspects of parenting, to minimize issues and keep the special needs of the child at the forefront of the discussions.

This can be especially true when working with children on the autism spectrum if they need additional structure and routine. In mediation, we explore creative ways to balance the special needs of the child with making sure that both parents can be actively involved.

One of my favorite approaches is to replace midweek “overnights” with midweek “evenings”. Instead of having the children change where they sleep every couple of nights, we have the other parent spend an evening (often from 5-8pm) with the children. This way, both parent and the child get to spend the majority of the active afterschool time together having a meal, doing some homework and enjoying some playtime without the stressors of moving back and forth between homes for the child. This is just one example of the helpful approaches that can be utilized when parents sit down together to discuss how best to meet their children’s needs.

Additionally, divorce mediation generally costs about 10% (Divorce Mediation FAQs) of the cost of a litigated divorce so the parents can conserve their resources for addressing the financial demands of raising a special needs child. If any of your clients could use more helpful divorce resources click on the link.

There is no doubt that parenting a special needs child can be stressful and can create tensions between the parents that can continue during the divorce process. However, the parents stand a much greater chance of being able to agree upon an appropriate schedule and then successfully implement the schedule when they have the opportunity to sit around the table and constructively at dress their children’s needs—as opposed to preparing for battle by getting attorneys in going to court.

Barry Davis, Divorce Mediator, Founder of Davis Mediation, has been helping clients get through the divorce process in the most amicable, affordable manner possible for 16 years. His passion is keeping children out of the middle of divorce so they can grow up healthy. As a divorce mediator, Barry holds Masters Degrees in Clinical Psychology and Conflict Management and has served on the Torrance Family Court and Second Appellate District mediation panels. For more information and resources, visit www.DavisMediation.com or Davis Divorce Mediation’s YouTube Channel.

LA-CAMFT Diversity Committee
Presents:

Black Therapist Support Group

First Saturday of this Month

Next Meeting:
Saturday, February 4, 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, February 4, 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

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. 

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

LA-CAMFT’s Declaration
of Inclusion, Diversity, and Anti-Racism

Psychotherapy can be transformative in a democratic society, and can open intellectual inquiry that, at its best, influences and results in lasting positive change. In recognition of our shared humanity and concern for our community and world, LA-CAMFT loudly and overtly disavows all racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, classism, ableism, ageism, and hate speech or actions that attempt to silence, threaten, and degrade others. We in LA-CAMFT leadership hereby affirm our solidarity with those individuals and groups most at risk and further declare that embracing diversity and fostering inclusivity are central to the mission of our organization.

As mental health professionals, we value critical reasoning, evidence-based arguments, self-reflection, and the imagination. We hope to inspire empathy, advocate for social and environmental justice, and provide an ethical framework for our clients, our community, and ourselves.

We in LA-CAMFT leadership are committed to:

(1) the recognition, respect, and affirmation of differences among peoples

(2) challenging oppression and structural and procedural inequities that exist in society, generally, and in local therapeutic, agency, and academic settings

(3) offering diverse programming content and presenters throughout our networking event calendar, as well as in our workshops, trainings, and special events

While we traverse the turbulent seas of the important and necessary changes taking place in our country, in order to form a “more perfect union.” we wish to convey our belief that within our community exists an immense capacity for hope. We believe in and have seen how psychotherapy, therapeutic relationships, and mental health professions can be agents of positive change, without ignoring or denying that the practice and business of psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy have historically been the cause of great harm, trauma, and emotional toll, particularly for people of color and other marginalized groups. We are committed to doing our part to help remedy that which we have the position, privilege, and/or resources to do so.

At LA-CAMFT events, all members are welcome regardless of race/ethnicity, gender identities, gender expressions, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, disabilities, religion, regional background, Veteran status, citizenship, status, nationality and other diverse identities that we each bring to our professions. We expect that leadership and members will promote an atmosphere of respect for all members of our community.

In a diverse community, the goal of inclusiveness encourages and appreciates expressions of different ideas, opinions, and beliefs, so that potentially divisive conversations and interactions become opportunities for intellectual and personal growth. LA-CAMFT leadership wants to embrace this opportunity to create and maintain inclusive and safe spaces for all of our members, free of bias, discrimination, and harassment, where people will be treated with respect and dignity and where all individuals are provided equitable opportunity to participate, contribute, and succeed.

We value your voice in this process. If you feel that our leadership or programming falls short of this commitment, we encourage you to get involved, and to begin a dialogue with those in leadership. It is undeniable that the success of LA-CAMFT relies on the participation, support, and understanding of all its members.

Wishing good health to you and yours, may you find yourself centered in feelings of abundance, safety, belonging, and peace.

Standing together,
The LA-CAMFT Board of Directors and Diversity Committee