Christina Castorena
President, LA-CAMFT

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The year is fast coming to an end and with the days getting darker and the temperatures getting cooler, I am confronted with the bitter-sweet reality that my presidency is almost complete. I am starting to wrap up loose ends and prepare for my transition to “Past President” and ushering in LA-CAMFT’s 2020 President, Matthew Evans, LMFT. For those of you who may not know, the presidency is a 3-year commitment. The first year I was “President-Elect” and I shadowed the President at the time, Shelley Pearce, LMFT and learned the business of the organization. The second year is “President” and this entails leading the organization and ensuring that LA-CAMFT follows through on its identified goals for the year. The third year is “Past President” and this position helps to maintain continuity of leadership and plays a support role to the incoming President. 

One of the most important parts of the transition that I’m working on now is identifying new leaders for our open board positions and providing the membership the opportunity to vote for these positions in November. This is always an exciting time for LA-CAMFT because we receive an injection of new energy and ideas for the upcoming year! If you are a member of LA-CAMFT you will be receiving an electronic ballot within the next couple of weeks. 

This time of the year is also a time of reflection on our accomplishments, growth and needs of our membership. As I look at what we have accomplished this year I am very proud and overwhelmed not only by the achieved goals but also by the people who made it all happen. 

This is why each November we have our appreciation dinner. We honor all those who helped to organize, staff and run events. We honor those who went above and beyond to help their community. “Celebration” was one of my presidential platforms this year. I wanted to celebrate the LA-CAMFT community of therapists and highlight the difficult and important work that we do as mental health professionals.

At this year’s event, we will highlight our growth and evolution. We have a strong foundation and structure and because of that we can continue to build and expand. LA-CAMFT will continue to evolve and grow with our profession and with the needs of our membership. If you’d like to join us at the appreciation event on November 11th, please visit our website at www.lacamft.org to register. I am looking forward to celebrating together!

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.