Los Angeles Chapter  California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists


Los Angeles Chapter — CAMFT

President's Message

05/20/2025 8:35 PM | Gina Balit (Administrator)

President's Message

Akiah Selwa, LMFT
LA-CAMFT President

Happy Spring! You may have noticed that the article published in March was repeated in the April Voices Newsletter. Some of you may relate to the following: all at the end of March. The current local, national, and global events hit me. I was overwhelmed with grief for my friends and the community of people impacted by the January fires; as a Black American woman, I was not sure if any state in the United States would be a safe place for me and my partner. I had no more space to grieve with my global community. It is not my intent to bring you down, but to invite anyone who needs an invitation to practice presence with our personal, local, and global pain. As a Somatic Experiencing therapist in training, I know that I went into total dorsal vagal shut down, for my IFS colleagues---my Self got lost in my Shadow. For my SoulCollage® practitioners, I ignored my Transpersonal, Council, Companion, Committee, and Community cards.

Well, I'm back! Who or what brought me back? When I realized that I was in a freeze state, I began reaching out to my communities. I started participating in community events and shared responses to what we have faced in 2025. I was reminded how important and influential it is to gather, listen, share, and be understood or acknowledged. I also slowed my pace by resuming my early morning coffee dates with the rising sun, morning watercolor warmups or painting circles on wet-strength tissue paper, and watching the plain wool skeins eco-dyeing in the sun on my back patio during my afternoon tea break. Slowing down is a great way to speed up!

As keen witnesses to how our clients are responding to the big things happening in our world, I encourage you to slow down and engage in meaningful fellowships with others. If you do not think any of these is necessary for you, please remember that it may be important to someone you know. In closing, I want to end this article with a quote from my current favorite author, Dr. Cindy S. Lee: "Each time you sense urgency, take a moment to pause…”. I encourage you to pause as many moments as needed; there is so much power in our communal and individual pauses.

Akiah T. R. Selwa, LMFT, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a great sense of humor, a heart full of hope, and twenty-three years of experience as a psychotherapist. Akiah is the owner of Sunrise Therapy Center (STC) a private practice corporation that services all of California via a telehealth platform. Akiah approaches her work with cultural humility and humor that promotes acceptance, empowerment, spirituality, and creativity. Akiah will complete Somatic Experiencing training in 2025 with Somatic Experiencing International, is a certified SoulCollage® Facilitator (2024), and a currently in a two-year Spiritual Direction program with Stillpoint. When Akiah is not working as a therapist, she is a mixed media artist, having fun with my next crochet project, singing, or exploring nature.

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