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

Safe Spaces

Excited to introduce you to 2023 LA-CAMFT Board Member-At-Large, Diversity Committee Member and Therapist of Color Mentor, Stara Shakti, LMFT and Special Interest Group Chair, Sandi Bohle, AMFT. Stara and Sandi’s leadership involvement began at the 2017 Leadership Retreat and have evolved to the Board of Directors. They both have a unique set of skills and the desire to create “Safe Spaces” for therapists.  

Stara Shakti, LMFT has been a leader within LA-CAMFT since 2017 as one of the founding and current members of the Diversity Committee. Stara is a prominent leader within the Diversity Committee and helped create and facilitate the monthly support groups; such as, the Therapists of Color Support Group and the Asian American Pacific Islander+ Therapists Circle. In addition, Stara assisted with launching the Therapists of Color Mentorship Program and is a mentor to therapists of color. Stara has partaken in the growth of the Diversity Committee which has focused on race and culture and is passionate about the evolution of the Diversity Committee to include more intersectionality; such as, Race AND….LGBTQ+, Neurodivergent, Adult Children of Immigrants, etc. Stara believes that it is time to move into the future and “the future is intersectional where more young people are mixed race, gender queer, fluid and non-binary.” Stara believes in creating safe spaces to bring ALL of ourselves to the table. 

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

• Community, Fun, Family & Finding my people. It’s like the TV Show Cheers—“you wanna be where everyone knows your name.”
• Social justice work that is needed in the world right now.
• To help raise up marginalized people and give back to my community that has given me a safe space to be myself.
• Seeking to provide that liberating space where we can show up in the intersection of all our identities and be seen, heard, held and validated.

Stara’s “how” to being a LA-CAMFT Leader:

• Practice of self-care is essential.
• Importance of “Giving from the Overflow.” It becomes much easier to give when you have already given to yourself and have an abundance to then give to others.
• Filling a need that comes from identifying my own longings and desires.
• When I see a need, I typically need it, other people need it too and if it’s not already out there then I need to create it. 

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

• Build upon the success of the Diversity Committee and assist in redefining the future of the Diversity Committee.
• More welcoming and inclusive to people with multiple marginalizing identities.
• Creation of more spaces for intersectional identities: i.e. Race AND…LGBTQ+, Neurodivergent, Adult Children of Immigrants, etc.
• More representation of our community who can then rise up into leadership roles so it reflects the fullness of who we are. 

Sandi Bohle, AMFT joined LA-CAMFT while she was in graduate school for clinical psychology due to “always being highly involved with organizations that make things better for members and being an LA-CAMFT Board Member is just a piece of that.” 

Before Sandi pursued her passion for psychology, she worked in the entertainment industry for 30 years and learned the way to get involved and get jobs is to be part of a Union. Sandi was Head of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local in Santa Rosa, Member and Head of StageHands Union on the East Coast, Stage Managers Committee at Actors Equity and member and executive director of the Stage Managers Association. 

In Sandi’s early years with LA-CAMFT, she attended networking events and trainings where she met leaders who uplifted her to leadership. Sandi then became involved with the Special Interest Group and it was a natural progression to becoming the Somatic Psychotherapy Chair in 2019 and Special Interest Group Chair in 2021. Sandi feels “so much of our work is moving more into a somatic sense” where the focus is helping clients with releasing trauma from the body.   

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

• Sense of community.
• It is important to be involved with organizations that make things better for members.
• I want people to feel like they have somewhere to go.
• I want to make sure people can be in touch with others. 

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

• Putting workshops together on what I would like to see; such as Somatic, Meditation, Dissociative Identity Disorder, etc.
• Being on the Board of Directors and knowing that I am being heard.
• Being able to call out when I didn’t think things were right. 

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

• Continue to grow and get people involved.
• Get all the Special Interest Groups back up and running; such as, LGBTQ+, Expressive Arts, etc.
• Create new Special Interest Groups; such as, Members who work in Private Practice, Members who work in Agencies, etc.
• ore Diversity and expansion across all of Los Angeles County. 

Special thank you to Stara and Sandi for allowing me to interview you and share your uniqueness 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.