Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I can’t believe that it’s June already. Hitting this midpoint of the year can have significance in so many ways. For those with young children, this may be a time for travel and adventure. For avid surfers, this is the perfect time to get those boards out and hit the sunny coastline. For my family, June always meant it was time for the county fair.

For LA-CAMFT, there is a specific day in June with great meaning. The Annual Leadership Retreat! It was two years ago at this time when I attended my first leadership retreat event. I had already been a member of LA-CAMFT for about a year, and I was so impressed with the community that I decided to get more involved. It was important for me to talk to the board members and understand their passion for supporting therapists.

As a witness to the advocacy that each member of the board engaged in, attending the retreat seemed like the perfect opportunity to collaborate in some way. Each retreat has a theme, and in 2017 the theme was “compassionate community.” The LA-CAMFT president-elect for the year chooses the theme, and it represents their platform for running the following year. This overall goal drives the decisions and messaging that the president consistently delivers.

Last year, I chose the theme of “Celebration.” We work so hard as therapists, and I wanted us to be able to appreciate each other as well as the incredible impact we have on our clients. Now that Matthew Evans is six months away from his upcoming presidency, he has chosen the theme of “Inclusion and Collaboration” for our June 8th event.

In the coming months, you’ll hear more about Matthew’s goals and initiatives. We’ll also share more about the outcome of this event after it concludes. The board can’t wait to invite leaders within the community to spend a fun day together sharing ideas and creating goals to expand on over the year.

Best Regards,
Christina Castorena, LMFT

Christina Castorena, MS, LMFT, worked in community mental health before starting her private practice, Castorena Therapeutic Services, in 2016. She passionately serves adults, couples, and members of the LGBTQ+ community who are dealing with life transitions, parenting, relational conflicts, and anxiety. She employs family systems and mindfulness-based CBT. As president of LA-CAMFT, Christina strongly advocates for her professional community and celebrates the hard-working clinicians that facilitate healing. Her website is castorenatherapeutic.com. Christina may be contacted at president@lacamft.org.