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The Redwood Empire Therapist
RECAMFT's Online Newsletter
February 2025
Coming Fri., Feb. 7th!
Imposter Syndrome"
Stevon Lewis' presentation will focus on helping clinicians identify Impostor Syndrome and effective ways to address the rigidly held beliefs sufferers hold about themselves that prevent them from connecting to the parts of themselves responsible for their success. Stevon's approach to treating Impostor Syndrome is simple and based on two core beliefs: (1) we cannot change others, but we can change ourselves, and (2) our past shapes us, but does not define us. He primarily uses two approaches to treatment; Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and Psychodynamic Therapy. REBT teaches what we think impacts how we feel, and how we feel impacts what we do. That is, our thoughts impact our emotions, and our emotions influence our behavior. Using Psychodynamic Therapy he helps clients focus on their pasts, specifically childhood, to see what was learned about the self and client's world, and then has clients analyze whether or not those lessons are accurate, appropriate, or useful today. MORE.... | Coming IN-PERSON March 7th! Law & Ethics, 6 CEs Dust off your skills!
"Refreshing Your Law & Ethics Closet of Knowledge" Kristin Roscoe, JD, CAMFT Staff Attorney
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Featured member
Did you miss the BBS-MANDATED 3 CE Telehealth course?
Telehealth: Law & Ethics, Technology, and Best Practices for Connecting with Your Clients with Lisa Wenninger, BC-TMH Catch it on video here, and get your mandated 3 Telehealth CEs. Return to top RECAMFT's Mission Statement The purpose of RECAMFT is to promote and maintain professional competence and integrity with knowledge, innovation, compassion, humor and respect for human dignity and diversity. We do this by providing opportunities for networking, education and community outreach.
Are you creative? Join us for our Crafting Group. Bring any craft you like, get on Zoom with us and visit with your colleagues while we knit, sew, paint, draw, cook, create, etc.
RECAMFT's Racial and Social Justice Pledge RECAMFT is committed to equity including addressing structural racism and systemic injustice. We endeavor to be inclusive and value individuals from all ethnicities, ages, races, sexual orientations, genders, languages, abilities, religions, citizenship statuses, and socioeconomic backgrounds into our chapter and into treatment. We strive to advocate, educate, collaborate, and strategize for positive racial and social justice change within our membership and our community.
| Dear RECAMFT Community and Firestorm Survivors: We are a community of healers, some of the most empathetic people on the planet. So the wildfires in LA have torn our hearts open, and we are re-experiencing the horror and pain we felt in October 2017. Some of us know the sorrow and gut-wrenching freedom of losing every single thing we own, including the walls we called home. All of us know someone who lost their home in those fires, or if not those, one of the many fires before or since then. No doubt our therapist brothers and sisters in SoCal are feeling the same helplessness we felt. And yet, we very quickly got into action then, even before the smoke had cleared and the fires were out. Wondering what to do, then RECAMFT President, Reyna Seminara, and myself spoke early the morning of October 9, 2017. We composed a very big survey. We wanted to know who lost their home, car, business, or a loved one (including a pet). We asked who had an extra bedroom to share, or an RV, a car, could take an animal (including large animals), an extra computer to lend, an office they could share and on which days and times it was available. Through this survey we learned 8 of our members had lost their homes. Eventually, the RECAMFT Board decided to support these members by paying both their CAMFT and RECAMFT dues for three years. Thanks to fund-raising by our members immediately, we were also able to provide them with some small cash gifts of a few hundred dollars. These things were not much in the big scheme of what those members had lost, but they were truly appreciated by those who received them.
Doreen’s learning objectives stated: “In this two hour session, you will learn how to do the following:
By December the fires were out, and a group of us met with CAMFT President Dr. Bob Casanova (our 2024 RECAMFT President) to discuss how we could support our community in its recovery efforts. Dr. Casanova connected us with Debbie Mason, CEO at the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Sonoma County. Debbie was like a symphony conductor who pulled in all sorts of agencies who were wondering what we were – how to best support our community in healing from this enormous trauma with a big “T” (in bold, 108 pt. font!). Debbie had come from the south where she had helped people recover from devastating hurricanes. She once told me it would take a full ten years for our community to recover based on her prior experiences. She knew how to fundraise and to get all the big players in the community together to help create a program of recovery from a major disaster. Doreen and I wrote Debbie a proposal, and she responded, she was confident she could pull together the money for most, if not all of what we envisioned. We wound up with a bilingual website that funneled people who needed help to NAMI, where a warmline was created. NAMI then referred callers to a mental health care provider who would offer 3-5 free sessions of counseling. As more sessions were needed, there were monies available to pay therapists a reasonable fee. Over 500 mental health workers were trained in Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR). Trauma-informed yoga, forest bathing groups and bilingual grief groups were offered in many places around the county for months. Research was done that resulted in a White Paper to help guide future communities in a disaster like ours. Over 1.3 million dollars was raised to help our community recover from 2017 fires.
COPE stands for Communities Organized to Prepare for Emergencies. Their website states, “The mission of COPE is to help residents, families, visitors, and neighbors become and remain better prepared to respond to and recover from emergency situations.” Cynthia called her neighbors and invited them to a meeting at the Hollydale Clubhouse, where she set out a circle of chairs. On the day of the meeting, many more chairs had to be added to the circle. The Sonoma County Fire District was represented by Karen Hancock, Community Outreach Specialist (khancock@sonomacountyfd.org, 707-230-1339), A strong blue comforting presence was felt by the participation of the local fire department. “Who are you and what brought you here today?” Starting by answering these questions, anxiety fueled the goal to be empowered to handle the next crisis in our area. Cynthia’s next COPE meeting will be March 1st. You are welcome to reach out to her: cynthiamft@me.com. So how do we handle this crisis occurring in LA? We get into action. Collect clothing to donate. Give to the Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, and other charities. Call colleagues in SoCal and offer a listening ear. Form a neighborhood group. Pack a really thorough go-bag, and put it where you can immediately grab it. Take a disaster mental health course. The answer is in all the things we’ve already done, and know how to do. I am constantly in awe of this community of healers, and so proud to call myself a part of us. Very truly yours, Laura Strom Secretary, RECAMFT.org 2015-16 President, CAMFT.org 2014, 2021, 2022 President, RECAMFT.org
Save the date! Fri. Feb. 7th, 2025
Call for Submissions for the Mar. 2025 Issue of The RECAMFT Therapist! March is Women's History Month and March 8th is International Women's Day. See more here. We especially welcome submissions where awareness themes intersect with mental health. Please send your submission (500 word max) to therapy@recamft.org by the 15th. Questions? therapy@recamft.org. Return to top |
We were very fortunate to have Doreen Van Leeuwen, waiting in the wings of our Board as our 2019 President. Doreen had advanced training in Critical Incident response, and quickly created a 2 hour training, “
Cynthia Halliday, LMFT
Dr. Laura C. Strom, PsyD, LMFT is the Secretary of RECAMFT's 
FREE to Members - Check out our Multiple new ONLINE offerings! Find all the latest here (including 6 CEs Law & Ethics) Featured On-Demand CE Video of the Month FREE to RECAMFT members!
With Clients often present with chronic anxiety and stress that do not fall into a clear-cut diagnosis with a specific protocol. In these cases, the therapist must conceptualize what contributes to the client's problems and use this to formulate and guide the treatment plan. This can be confusing, and we often get lost in the content of what the client is bringing in week to week. In these cases, it is very helpful to focus on underlying assumptions. This helps clarify and better understand the common themes contributing to a wide variety of problems. There are three underlying assumptions that contribute to most, if not all, problems related to anxiety. The three assumptions are Intolerance of Uncertainty, "What I don't know might kill me," Over Responsibility, "If others are not okay, I am not okay," and Perfectionism, "I cannot make a mistake." In this CBT workshop, participants will be introduced to a simple worksheet that will help guide both conceptualization and treatment for a wide variety of problems. This worksheet will address underlying assumptions and the behaviors that reinforce them.
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"Three Underlying Beliefs That Cause Anxiety and How to Change Them, a CBT Approach" (on-demand video), 2 CEs
Jennifer Shannon is a licensed psychotherapist and a Certified Diplomat in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy specializing in anxiety. She co-founded the Santa Rosa Center For Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and has over forty years of experience treating children, teens, and adults. She is the author of numerous books, including Don’t Feed The Monkey Mind, The Anxiety Survival Guide for Teens, The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook for Teens, and A Teen’s Guide To Getting Stuff Done, all published by New Harbinger Press. Her books have been selected for the Reading Well Books on Prescription in the UK. She speaks regularly at national conferences and has been featured on radio programs, and in magazines and newspapers. Her website is https://jennifershannon.com/.
We are super grateful to our Sponsors for our March 7th, 2025 Law & Ethics! |
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Members - you can access recordings of our zoom events from 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021 in our new on-demand library which has been migrated over to Thinkific (https://recamft.thinkific.com/).
NEW! RECAMFT On-Demand Programs: https://recamft.thinkific.com
NEW! RECAMFT discount codes are posted for members only here: https://www.recamft.org/member-discount-codes (requires sign-in using your RECAMFT member email/password)
NEW! Affirmative Family Therapy with Gender Diverse People and Their Loved Ones, 2 CEs with Dr. Shawn Giammattei, PhD, LMFT https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2024-transgender-families
NEW! How Sexuality Influences the Clinical Picture for Female Clients, 2 CEs with Dr. Jenn Kennedy, PhD, LMFT https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2024-09-06-sexuality-female-clients
Law & Ethics: How to Write a 10-Minute Treatment Plan, 3 CEs, with Barbara Griswold, LMFT. https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2022-law-and-ethics-treatment-plan
Law & Ethics: What Should be in Your Notes, But Probably Isn't, 3 CEs, with Barbara Griswold, LMFT. https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2022-06-15-law-ethics-progress-notes
Three Underlying Beliefs That Cause Anxiety and How to Change Them, a CBT Approach, 2 CEs, with Jennifer Shannon, LMFT https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2024-06-3-Beliefs-Cause-Anxiety
Working with Dissociative Disorders & Plural Communities, 4 CEs, with Serenity Serseción, PhD, LMFT https://recamft.thinkific.com/courses/2023-12-DID
Members can watch the video, pass the test, fill out the evaluation, and download your certificate. It's that easy! You can earn CEs for any recorded event if you didn't already earn CEs from the live event.
2nd Annual Laura C. Strom Distinguished Board Member Award for 2024 goes to Reyna Seminara!
Quotes by Board peers: "Reyna is retiring from the board this year and I think this award honors her legacy at RECAMFT as an active and supportive board member." This photo left to right: 2025 President Emily Larkin, retiring Board Director at Large (and 2017 Past President) Reyna Seminara, and 2024 RECAMFT President (also 2017-18 CAMFT President) Dr. Bob Casanova, PsyD, LMFT. who presented this award to Reyna. | Congratulations to Reyna Seminara, LMFT who won the 2nd Annual Laura C. Strom Distinguished Board Member Award for 2024! Reyna was elected by her Board peers (presidential trio forbidden to vote). She received the award at RECAMFT's 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Celebration, held at Odd Fellows Hall, Santa Rosa on January 3, 2025. Quotes by Board peers: "Reyna has served on the board for over 10 years and been active member on the Ethics roundtable for years including chairing it for a number of years. .. I would love to see us recognize her deep commitment to the RECAMFT community as Reyna officially retires and steps down from board service." MORE HERE... |
We had a terrific time at the 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Celebration!
 President Emily Larkin introducing Joy Alafia, CAMFT Exec. Dir.  We had lovely decorated tables, with goodies on Jan. 3rd. Everyone received a pen that said, "This pen belongs to a Dedicated, Compassionate Hard-working Therapist".
Here is the fun pen attendees received.  The tables were lit with candles, and members were invited to write a message for therapists fifty years from now!  L-R Doreen Van Leeuwen (2019 RECAMFT President) and Cynthia Halliday (2010 President) greeting people. |  Dr. Robin Zasio spoke on treatment of hoarding disorder.
 Annette Seibel arranged so many pieces of our celebration including excellent food from Mi Pueblo. L-R Annette and Cynthia Psaila, Board Director at Large.
The food was catered by Mi Pueblo. We enjoyed tacos, enchiladas, rice, beans, and a large healthy garden salad (provided by Gail Van Buuren - thank you, Gail!). Tea and lemonade were available to drink along with bottled water. Later in the day we had cookies. |
CAMFT Secretary and RECAMFT member Barbara Young, Joy Alafia (CAMFT ED) and Past President Dr. Bob Casanova.
The room was filled with intense listening to Dr. Zasio. 
Welcome back, RECAMFT community! We are so excited to share some of the upcoming monthly CE events coming this fall. RECAMFT Zoom presentations
Are you interested in seeing what we have coming up? Consider microvolunteering with the Programs & Conferences Committee! Microvolunteering opportunities: screening speaker applications; providing support at in person CE events; monitoring Q&A for speakers during monthly Zoom presentations. We are especially looking for a Programs Committee Chairperson. Programs Chair Director at Large Programs & Conferences Committee
Please send an email to therapy@recamft.org if you can help. Return to top |
Hello to all RECAMFT clinicians, and a special welcome to all our Prelicensed members! My name is Nicolette Gottuso. I am an LMFT and a Substance Use Counselor. I have recently joined the Board as a Director at Large and the Prelicensed Chair, You are welcome to contact me with your questions and concerns about the road to licensure. Please send me an email via therapy@recamft.org. I look forward to connecting with you! Nicolette Gottuso, M.A., LMFT, SUDCC IV-CS February is Black History Month!
Here are lists of some events happening locally to celebrate Black History month throughout our area.
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Members! Your SHORT DESCRIPTION is the most important thing on your profile. Why? Because that shows in our 
We need help with
March 7th - Save the Date!
Our Annual Law & Ethics will be presented. 6 CEs, IN PERSON. Save the date - March 7th! REGISTER HERE
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Upcoming events
| Featured member
If you are not currently enrolled in the listserv, please email therapy@recamft.org and ask to be added. You have the option of setting up your account to be
After you have been added to the listserv, you can change the way you receive the emails to any of the above choices. In Gmail the emails will appear under your Forums tab. To send an email to the listserv, simply address your email to recamft@groups.io If you do not want to be on our listserv, you can delete your account or write to therapy@recamft.org and ask to not be a part of the listserv. But we urge you to give it a try. You are missing out on a ton of meaningful collaboration with your colleagues. We hope you will enjoy being part of our online community! |
Our listserv has around 400 members on it, and is active daily with great conversations, resources, offerings, in search of, books, movies, office rentals, jobs, internships, etc. You can view the home page of our listserv at
Contact therapy@recamft.org to advertise a job. Featured member | The Jan. Board meeting
 Above pic L-R: Top row: Gwen Watson (Director at Large [DAL]); Dr. Laura Strom (Secretary); Brian Crites, LMFT (visiting member) Second row: Emily Larkin (President); Pat Hromalik (President Elect); Tara D'Orazio (CFO) Third row: Cynthia Psaila (DAL) Photo of the Board meeting by Laura Strom. Scholarship Program seeking additional donation prizes for raffle to be held at Law & Ethics on March 7th
Please contact therapy@recamft.org to let us know about your donation. Cash donations are always appreciated for our Joe and Pam Memorial Scholarship. We have now provided three years of scholarships to seven deserving prelicensed and newly licensed scholarship winners. Please visit recamft.org/scholarship. to learn more about this worthy program. Your donations to our non-profit are tax deductible. Photo of Jessica Heaney, AMFT, RECAMFT Director at Large, at our Scholarship Fundraiser table on Jan. 3, 2025 taken by Annette Seibel, LMFT.
March 7th - Save the Date!
Our Annual Law & Ethics will be presented. 6 CEs, IN PERSON. Save the date - March 7th! REGISTER HERE. |
Pat Hromalik, LMFT
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Find out more about advertising with RECAMFT here. | Got a sticky problem? Come discuss it confidentially with your colleagues at our next Ethics Roundtable
Not consultation, just a great way to get some ideas about how to handle your sticky case. Friendly and open group. Learn more here.
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The Power in Flowers
By Cynthia Psaila, LMFT, RECAMFT Director at Large
February is fast approaching along with the ‘lover’s holiday’, Valentines Day. Every year, on this day, people flock to purchase flowers for loved ones. As a mental health professional I wonder; is there power behind giving flowers to a loved one? Or, is Valentines Day just another marketing tool for consumers?
In my exploration of this question I came upon an article from the National Library of Medicine (1). This article reviewed a study completed during the Covid-19 pandemic which assessed the psychological and physiological impact of looking at different colored flowers. In this study, participants had improved mood and increased parasympathetic nervous system activity after looking at red and yellow flowers for just 3 minutes. This suggests that the mere sight of flowers can put the human body into a state of rest, repair, and calm. As therapists we know this is the body state we prize for optimum mental health.
Another article catching my attention reviewed behavioral research conducted at Rutgers (2). According to this research, flowers have an instant positive impact on happiness, they have a long term positive effect on mood, and they make intimate connections. Researcher, Dr. Haviland-Jones, concludes that science shows “flowers make us happier and improve our emotional wellbeing more than we originally knew. "Beyond common assumption, science shows flowers can improve mental health." Another point for the power in flowers!
One more article from Rutgers titled, Power of Giving Flowers Study (3), reveals that people who give flowers as gifts are viewed as “successful, caring and emotionally intelligent.” This suggests that flowers not only improve the mood of the recipient, they also improve social status of the giver! The quest to unmask the impact flowers have on mood has revealed proof that flowers, whether growing in your garden, blooming in a field, or cut and wrapped into a gift have the power to positively impact our sense of wellbeing and happiness. Furthermore, giving flowers not only improves mood for the recipient, it improves social perceptions of the giver. For this reason, its safe to say that although quite commercialized, a Valentine bouquet can make the recipient feel happier and more connected and the giver quite accomplished.
1. Xie J, Liu B, Elsadek M. How Can Flowers and Their Colors Promote Individuals' Physiological and Psychological States during the COVID-19 Lockdown? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 29;18(19):10258. doi: 10.3390/ijerph181910258. PMID: 34639557; PMCID: PMC8507779.
2. Rutgers: Flowers Improve Emotional Health. https://safnow.org/aboutflowers/quick-links/health-benefits-research/emotional-impact-of-flowers-study/
3. Rutgers: Power of Giving Flowers Study. https://safnow.org/aboutflowers/quick-links/health-benefits-research/power-of-giving-flowers-study/
Cynthia Psaila, LMFT, has a private practice in Petaluma. She currently serves on RECAMFT's Board of Directors as a Director at Large.
Link to our Therapy Groups page and a PDF of current offerings - RECAMFT.ORG/Therapy-Groups CLICK HERE to learn more about local group offerings, and payment to advertise your group.
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RECAMFT Resource List - January 2025 For our January 3rd 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Celebration, we invited members to help sponsor the event by placing an ad. Below is a copy of the Resource List, and you can find a PDF to print out here.
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Multiple RECAMFT Past Presidents Featured in our 50th Anniversary Video This is 35 minutes that will make you smile and feel proud of being part of RECAMFT! |
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Thank you for reading this month's newsletter! RECAMFT is great because of involved members like you!! |
Are you looking for help? Find therapists offering free natural disaster and crisis sessions here. Please check out MySonomaStrong.com. Visit the NAMI Warmline. Take a trauma-informed yoga class. We will recover together! ¿Buscas ayuda? Encuentre terapeutas que ofrezcan sesiones gratuitas de crisis y desastres naturales aquí. Visite MySonomaStrong.com. Visite la NAMI Warmline. Toma una clase de yoga informada sobre el trauma. ¡Nos recuperaremos juntos!
Redwood Empire Chapter of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists |
