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

Love Story

It is such a privilege to spotlight LA-CAMFT Leaders - Sponsorship Chair, Darlene Basch LCSW and Past President and Village Elder, Jonathan Flier LMFT! Not only are they prominent leaders of LA-CAMFT, they recently celebrated 7 years of marriage and have a love story intertwined with LA-CAMFT. They first met at a LA-CAMFT event, got to know each other by volunteering in leadership and both share a love for LA-CAMFT. 

Darlene Basch, LCSW attended her first LA-CAMFT event in 2013 and met the President at the time, Jonathan Flier, who unbeknownst to her would be her future husband. Darlene regularly attended the Psychology and Spirituality Group and at the 2013 Holiday Party was asked to run the LA-CAMFT Networking Events. Darlene officially joined the LA-CAMFT Board of Directors in 2014 as Networking Chair and held that role for 6 years and describes it being one of her highlights to being a LA-CAMFT Leader. Alongside getting to know, spending time with, and marrying her husband, Jonathan Flier. In 2020, Darlene became the Membership Chair and later the Sponsorship Chair. Darlene has dedicated 9 years as a LA-CAMFT Leader and even though will be stepping down from the Board of Directors the end of this year has offered to be in a supportive role as needed. LA-CAMFT thanks Darlene for her commitment to LA-CAMFT all these years. 

Darlene’s “why” to being a LA-CAMFT Leader:

• Community and settings to bring people together.
• Events like the first holiday party I attended where I met such a great group of people.
• Supporting therapists on all levels from trainees to old timers.

Darlene’s “highlights” to being a LA-CAMFT Leader:

• Fun I had organizing the Networking Events and getting people involved.
• Bringing in new people into leadership roles through the networking events.
• Meeting and spending time with my husband Jonathan Flier.

Darlene’s “hopes and dreams” for LA-CAMFT:

• Stay the course and continue to evolve diversity on every level: Race, culture, age, gender, etc.
• Continue and build upon the Diversity Committee Support Groups, Grant Program and Mentorship Program.

Jonathan Flier, LMFT attended his first LA-CAMFT meeting in 2006, became the Newsletter Editor and was struck by the lack of community feel. Looking for other options, he became a board member of Santa Monica-West LA AAMFT where he met Lynne Azpeitia and Karen Wilson, the SM-WLA Founders, who would later assist in revamping LA-CAMFT. In 2008, LA-CAMFT was on a decline due to not having a leader and it’s at this time Jonathan stepped in to be President on the condition that he would not do it alone. Jonathan sent out a notice to all therapists in the Los Angeles area who were CAMFT Members advertising that the Los Angeles Chapter is being reborn and invited them to a meeting to share their ideas of what they would like it to look like. Thirty people showed up, shared their ideas and they broke down seven things they needed to make happen. From there Jonathan and other leaders re-created a board of directors where they held meetings at people’s houses and Factor’s Deli. They found a location at the Beverly Hills Country Club where they held regular Networking Events that included breakfast, presentations, literature table and networking opportunities. Jonathan was LA-CAMFT President for 5 years and continues to be a prominent leader today.

Jonathan’s “why” to being a LA-CAMFT Leader:

• “I am a gatherer” and have a long history of organizing and bringing people together.
• “You don’t abandon your children” and LA-CAMFT is my baby in that sense. I nurtured it, I grew it and I want to be there for it. “You also have to launch your babies and watch them make their own babies”.
• I am the “Village Elder” and my role is to protect the culture of diversity, inclusion, equality and its sense of community.

Jonathan’s “highlights” to being a LA-CAMFT Leader:

• Under Randi Gottlieb’s presidency, I was designated the “village elder” and was celebrated for what I did to revamp LA-CAMFT and how I did it. During the celebration, I was given a stone by each attendee who shared how LA-CAMFT changed their life. I was also given a staff with a gandalf which symbolized my role. The celebration was one of the “highlights of my life”.   
• Watching everything grow, watching people come together and watching people come in as students, become licensed and become president.
• Attracting therapists of color into leadership and have LA-CAMFT be a place for them to flourish.

Jonathan’s “hopes and dreams” for LA-CAMFT:

• It continues and feels like it’s a thriving community where people can come together.
• Is a place for therapists to come together and stand up to fear and create hope and feel nourished and resourced with the work we do as health care workers.
• Generations working together and that “traditions have a voice but not a veto.”
• Continue to integrate diversity and gather all together.

Special thank you to Darlene and Jonathan for sharing your love for LA-CAMFT with the broader LA-CAMFT Community! If you would like to get in contact with either of them you could find them here: https://lacamft.org/Board-of-Directors-2023. If you are interested in leadership opportunities, please email me directly at President@lacamft.org

Hope to connect 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.