KAMFT newsletter - Kentucky Association for Marriage and Family

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Kentucky Association
For Marriage & Family Therapy
WHERE RELATIONSHIPS MATTER
Winter/Spring Newsletter, 2014
what’s inside:
President’s corner
*
Message for PreClinical Fellows
*
AAMFT conference
review
*
Practice Protection
Fund
*
Kentucky Medicaid
and LMFTs: A New
Frontier
*
Regional Updates:
What’s KAMFT
doing near YOU!
*
MFT Training
Spotlight: University
of Louisville
*
Legislative Updates
*
Meet the Board
I am honored to serve as KAMFT
slated for completion as of this
President for the next two years!
publication, & we have
The Kentucky division has much
welcomed newly elected board
to be proud of at the State &
members at the January board
National Level. A special thanks
meeting.
to Past-president Dr. Eli Karam for
all he has done for KAMFT &
subsequently AAMFT. His election
to the National Board as well as
his receipt of the Division
Contribution Award speaks to his
dedication to the professional
field & the state. His shoes will be
difficult to fill indeed!
As President, it’s my goal to
continue doing what we’ve
already been doing so well: our
Division Conference, Pre-clinical
Fellow support & training,
Membership promotion, Fund
Development, & CEU offerings.
We plan to expand our efforts in
marketing & brand
Our passionate & active KAMFT
development, as well as actively
board, along with our Division
ensuring LMFTs are recognized
Conference Planning Committee
providers as the details of the
is in full-force planning the 2014
Affordable Care Act unfold. It is
Division Conference, A Case for
my goal that anyone who works
Family Therapy featuring Dr.
with or serves families should
Scott Sells author of Parenting
know what it is to be an MFT &
Your Out of Control Teenager &
what makes us unique in the
Treating the Tough Adolescent.
marketplace, including the
Our 2014-2017 Strategic Plan is
public at large.
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As your Pre-Clinical Fellow
Board Representative, I
decided to make the most of
my voice for our place in the
profession. Working in
collaboration with other
board members, in particular
President Karam, KAMFT went
on a mission to meet the
needs of Pre-Clinical Fellows.
Through surveys & speaking
with individuals within the
community, we quickly
learned the financial
challenges of a Pre-Clinical
Fellow & professional
development. This alongside
a number of other challenges
including time management,
studying for the LMFT exam,
supervision, employment & all
the other life events we face
(WHAT? You mean we
actually have a life outside of
our careers?) created a
number of barriers for PreClinical Fellows to advance
professionally, especially in
terms of KAMFT membership,
attendance of the annual
KAMFT conference & finding
time to network with other
professionals.
Together, Dr Karam, myself, &
the other board members
have gone into action to
address the needs that were
brought to our attention. First,
when you become a Pre-
Clinical Fellow member of
AAMFT, you can now attend
the annual KAMFT conference
for FREE! Additionally, the
conference now holds a
workshop specifically for PreClinical Fellows; attendees of
this workshop also get a
“Golden Ticket” to our LMFT
Exam Prep Workshop. Those
with a Golden Ticket have free
admission into this all-day
workshop designed to review,
discuss, & enhance study skills
for the national licensure exam.
Lastly, we’ve also designed a
2-hour quarterly meeting for
Pre-Clinical Fellows. Half the
time is utilized to enhance
professional skills (like
navigating the licensure board,
marketing oneself, resume
enhancement, & decisionmaking skills regarding
supervision contracts &
interviews), with the other half
allotted for pre-clinical fellows
to network & find connections
within the professional
community.
As you can see, we are
working for you, Pre-Clinical
Fellows! And this is only the
beginning.
-Amanda Dishon Brown, Doctoral
Candidate, MSSW, CSW,
MFTAssociate | Pre-Clinical Fellow
Board Representative, KAMFT
Amanda Dishon Brown & Dr. Karam
@ AAMFT Conference
Upcoming Events for
KAMFT Louisville
KAMFT Annual Division
Conference: Making a
case for family therapy
featuring Scott Sells
When: February 20 & 21
Where: St. Mathews
Baptist Church
For more info:
www.kamft.org
1st annual
KAMFT Post-Conference
Social Event
When: Thursday,
February 20th
6pm-10pm
Where: Havana Rumba
(St. Mathews location)
10% Proceeds donated
to KAMFT!!
For more info:
Go to page 6
Pre-Clinical Cuddle
Group
When: TBA
Where: TBA
For more info:
www.kamft.org
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In October over 1,500 attendees joined AAMFT
in Portland, Oregon for AAMFT ‘13. Participants
traveled across the globe to network, learn and
engage with fellow marriage and family
therapists and other mental health
professionals. Keynote addresses, formerly
called plenary sessions, addressed a wide
range of topics including research into healthy
response systems in children, the adaptive
nature of families, important ingredients to a
healthy childhood, and the key techniques to
raising vibrant children. Over 100 sessions
provided a breadth of information related to all
aspects of marriage and family therapy.
Kentucky was well represented this year, as two
KAMFT members were recipients of prestigious
honors. Dr.Eli Karam received the 2013 Division
Contribution Award. This award was given by
division leaders from 54 divisions (all 50 states
within the USA plus four provinces in Canada) in
recognition of his efforts and contributions to
the Kentucky Association for Marriage and
Family Therapy. Eli is the youngest person ever
to receive this award. This marks the second
time in the past five years he has won a
national award from the AAMFT, as he was
honored for his scholarship in 2009 with the
AAMFT award based on his research around
MFT Common Factors and the therapeutic
alliance. He is one of only two individuals in the
history of the AAMFT to be the recipient of both
of these distinguished awards.
Brittany Lynch, AAMFT Student Member from
the University of Louisville, was a recipient of the
2013 Master’s Student Minority Scholarship. The
AAMFT Research and Education Foundation
and the AAMFT Awards Committee created this
scholarship in order to offer minorities of diverse
racial and ethnic backgrounds the
opportunity to pursue training for the
profession of marriage and family therapy.
AAMFT13 also welcomed several new and
exciting opportunities for attendees
geared toward enhancing the conference
experience. These additions include:
Orientation - First time attendees were
given a crash course in all things related to
AAMFT in the “First Time Attendee
Orientation.” On hand to personally
welcome and greet conference newbies
were AAMFT Executive Director Tracy Todd
and AAMFT President Michael Chafin.
Inspired by the KAMFT’s pioneering 2013
initiative to support the development of
Pre-Clinical Fellows, AAMFT launched
“Career Paths for New Professionals” track
at the conference this year. This special
interest focus was designed to help those
new to the profession learn navigational
and survival skills to maximize the potential
of success in becoming a marriage and
family therapist. These sessions were also
intended to promote networking and
professional support systems. KAMFT’s own
Eli Karam and Amanda Dishon contributed
to this effort with their popular offering
[Continued]
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Continued from pg.3
“Journey of the Pre-Clinical
Fellow.” They will be presenting
again on this topic to an
audience of students and PreClinical Fellows at the 2014
KAMFT Division Conference in
February.
New this year was the time and
format of the Business Meeting.
With a packed room, Michael
Chafin (AAMFT President),
Adrian Blow (AAMFT Secretary)
and Tracy Todd (Executive
Director) informed attendees
about AAMFT’s current situation
and future plans. The meeting
was conversational in nature,
allowing for questions and
comments.
One participant exclaimed that
this was the most energy she felt
at an AAMFT conference in
many years!
Contribution by: Dr. Eli Karam
SAVE THE DATE!
2014 AAMFT Annual
Conference
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
October 16 – 19, 2014
featuring a tribute to Solutionfocused Therapy on Friday,
October 17. The keynote line-up
for that day includes Michelle
Weiner-Davis, Frank Thomas,
Michael Durrant, and Cynthia
Hansen.
AAMFT, members, and
marriage and family
therapists continue to make
great strides in gaining
mainstream acceptance.
Marriage and family
therapists are gaining
increased recognition in the
global marketplace (Best
Jobs in America, CNN,
(article here) and in recent
years, AAMFT and members
have appeared in
numerous media outlets,
including the Wall Street
Journal, Brides Magazine,
and the New York Times.
However, imagine a
potential client learns about
the benefits of marriage
and family therapy through
an article and seeks your
services--only to discover
that as an MFT, you can no
longer practice
independently and they
must seek services
elsewhere. You lose the
opportunity to help a client
in need not because of
your qualifications, but
because a licensing board,
possibly with no MFTs, has
With success comes
perceived threat. While
we can enjoy the success
of increased recognition,
others perceive this
success as a threat to their
scope of practice,
livelihood, and position in
the behavioral healthcare
market.
Purpose of the Fund:
To help pay for items
related to serious threats
to the profession and for
major initiatives,
particularly concerning
threats to the MFT scope
of practice. It may also be
utilized for opportunities to
advance the practice
and scope of practice.
-Excerpt taken from
aamft.org Please visit this
site for more information or
to Donate to the Cause.
taken away your right to
practice independently.
YOUR NAME HERE
Want to advertise in our Newsletter?!
Please email kamft@twc.com for information on rates
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I am thankful for the opportunity to share
some exciting news that will positively
impact LMFTs and families in Kentucky. In
anticipation of the Affordable Care Act
being implemented in Kentucky, the
Medicaid Commissioner’s office set out to
review existing policies and procedures so
they could meet the new standards. This
situation presented a rare opportunity to
change existing rules so that LMFTs would
be eligible to become Medicaid providers.
to come into the Commissioner’s office
requesting the change in language. In
most cases, Dr. Michael Cornwall from the
Commissioner’s office and Commissioner
Kissner responded personally to their
emails. Toward the end of the process,
AAMFT central staff wrote letters on behalf
of all LMFTs in Kentucky to the Commissioner
and Governor. It is also important to note
that our sister organizations in the state also
were lobbying in favor of similar changes.
Prior to the Affordable Care Act, we were
only able to work with Medicaid clients who
were also qualified Medicare
beneficiaries. The only other opportunity to
work with individuals and families covered
by Medicaid was if we worked in
community health centers or in specialized
programs already contracted with
Medicaid, such as Impact
Plus. Interestingly, many of our sister
organizations were similarly constrained in
their work with Medicaid.
As of January 2014, Licensed Marriage and
Family Therapists, and therapy
groups/agencies headed by LMFTS, are
now eligible to become Medicaid
providers! This change will open doors for
LMFTs, our students, and most importantly,
give Kentuckians access to high quality
professionals that value family and
community.
I stumbled upon this information as I was
pursuing my research on the impact of
nutrition education on later healthcare
costs. Having been involved in legislative
work with the Utah division of AAMFT prior
to moving to Kentucky, I knew that if we did
not act on the opportunity to introduce
changes into Medicaid rules when it
presented itself, we would have had a
tremendous bureaucratic and legislative hill
to climb.
For more information, you can go to
http://chfs.ky.gov/dms/provEnr/
Contribution by: Dr. Nathan Wood
Nathan D. Wood is an LMFT, AAMFT Approved
Supervisor, and assistant professor in the
Department of Family Sciences, School of
Human and Environment Sciences, at the
University of Kentucky. Dr. Wood’s nutrition
program and healthcare research is sponsored
in part by Health Education through Extension
Leadership program.
Nate can be contacted via email at
nathan.wood@uky.edu.
Emails from our division leadership,
students, and AAMFT headquarters started
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CENTRAL REGION
***
The 2014 KAMFT Annual
Division Conference: Making
a case for family therapy
featuring Scott Sells will be
held on Thursday and Friday,
February 20 & 21st at St.
Mathews Baptist Church.
3515 Grandview Ave
Louisville, KY 40207
For more information, or to
register online, go to
www.kamft.org
***
We are excited to announce
our first annual PostConference Social event on
Thursday evening February
20th after the conference from
6pm-10pm at Havana Rumba
(St. Mathews location).
The restaurant has generously
agreed to donate 10% of
proceeds from the
evening to KAMFT! Come
profession and AAMFT.
out and mingle with other
members, grab some
fantastic food, and make
sure to mention you’re
there to support the
KAMFT!
4115 Oechsli Ave,
Louisville, KY
(502) 897-1959
Joe Bob is also interested in
holding a meeting in
Paducah or Bowling Green!
If you’re interested in
hosting, or for more
information about the
meetings, please contact,
Joe Pierce via email:
jpiercelmft@gmail.com.
The next meeting is slated
to be held on: Friday, April
25, at 11:30 a.m
WESTERN REGION
Region representative, Joe
Bob Pierce has been
working to facilitate
regular meetings with
LMFTs in the region!
The meetings allow time
for members to network,
'talk shop,' and share news
about licensure issues and
developments in the
EASTERN REGION
Thank you to Brien Hill for his
time spent on the Board
representing the region.
Welcome to new Board
member, Tracy WernerWilson!
KAMFT is receiving encouraging feedback from both viewers and members alike for their
ongoing psychoeducational segment on Wave 3 Listens.
KAMFT.org & TherapistLocator.net are continually promoted
on the show, so be sure to update your profile to benefit
from this increased exposure from the show!
Click this link [http://youtu.be/vudBR-zD5us] to watch all
previous installments. Several segments have gone viral, with
one topic about correcting common MFT myths reaching over 78,000 views on Youtube. If
you have an idea for a segment or want to learn more about how to get involved with this
project, (and maybe even be on the show!) please visit www.kamft.org and click the link
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The Family Therapy Program (FTP) within the
Kent School of Social Work is dedicated to
developing professionals in marriage and
family therapy (MFT) to work with families
within their community contexts. This is
currently the only program of its kind in the
nation - the only officially recognized and
accredited AAMFT program housed in a
school of Social Work.
The University of Louisville has a long history
of involvement in this important area. The
Family Therapy Program began in 1983 in
the Division of Allied Health, School of
Medicine as a Post-Master’s Certificate.
Eleven years later, the Family Therapy
Program became a part of the Kent School
of Social Work, though the first MFT courses
were taught in the Kent School in the 1970's.
The Family Therapy Program was first
accredited at the post-master’s level in
1990, and at the masters level in 2002 by
the COAMFTE, and has since been
reaccredited in 1993, 1998, 2004, and then
again in 2008.
Kent's Family Therapy Program prepares
students to help families-at-risk by offering a
rigorous educational program that focuses
on strengthening individuals, families and
communities. The MSSW-MFT Specialization
curriculum meets course requirements for
Kentucky state licensure and clinical
membership in the American Association
for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
Coursework focuses on theoretical
foundations, practical application, ethics,
integration of research, theory and
practice, and supervised clinical practice.
The faculty of the MFT program are diverse
in their research and teaching interests.
Dana Christensen is currently focusing on
the practice model he developed for Child
Welfare called Solution Based Casework
(SBC). Several states have adopted the SBC
model and, along with his colleagues
Becky Antle, Anita Barbee, and Riaan Van
Zyl he has been studying the effects of
training and implementation of the model
on child welfare outcomes. The model was
recently adopted by New York City where it
is being tested in one of the most
challenging urban environments in the
world.
In addition to working on SBC research,
Becky Antle’s other interests center around
family relationships and include a number
of topics in the areas of child welfare, family
violence, relationship formation and the
impact of medical and health issues on the
family. In the areas of child welfare, she has
conducted a number of research studies
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on solution-based casework practice and
co-morbidities of child maltreatment (e.g.
domestic violence, substance abuse). Dr.
Antle has conducted research on
supervision for federal outcomes, training
reinforcement, specialization programs for
public child welfare workers, virtual office
configurations, and cultural competency.
Dr. Antle has authored and co-authored
articles, technical reports, and book
chapters in the fields of child welfare, family
therapy, training and supervision, cultural
competence, and mental health. In
addition, she has held leadership positions
and presented at child welfare, Family
Therapy.
Eli Karam, Past President for the Kentucky
Association for Marriage and Family
Therapy (KAMFT) is finishing his fifth year as
an Assistant Professor in the Family Therapy
Program in the Kent School of Social Work
at the University of Louisville. There he
conducts research on couple and family
relationships, teaches and supervises
therapists-in-training. Eli has been
recognized both locally and nationally by
AAMFT for his contributions to the profession
of marriage and family therapy. His
research interests have been stimulated by
his real-world interactions with underserved
client populations and the micro-practice
of social work and marriage and family
therapy (MFT). Currently, his research areas
center around healthy relationship
education for at-risk adults and youth,
marriage and family therapy common
factors, and the integration of research
and assessment instruments into clinical
training and practice.
Emma Sterrett, our newest faculty member,
has been building a program of research
related to her interests in family processes
and social support among under-served
populations, particularly ethnic minority and
LGBT populations. She is involved in several
research projects, including a study to
examine the effects of school-based
mentoring on the functioning of youth atrisk for delinquency (along with her
colleague Dr. Bibhuti Sar), a study on the
impacts of non-parental adult social
support on ethnic minority gay youth, and a
study on the implementation of evidencebased trauma treatments to treat trauma
symptoms among refugee children,
children in military families, and children
who have experienced complex trauma
(along with colleagues Drs. Sar, Antle, van
Zyl, Anita Barbee, and Adrian Archuleta). In
addition, related to her interests in
evidence-based treatments, she teaches
the Family Therapy Assessment and
Treatment in Diverse Populations course as
well as is currently completing requirements
to become an AAMFT-approved supervisor.
Contribution by: Dr. Dana Christensen
Eli Karam, Dana Christensen, Emma Sterrett
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I have heard it said many times, “The best
lobbyists are the constituents.” January 14,
2014 marks the beginning of the even
numbered year, long (60 day) legislative
session in Kentucky. The pre-filed bills have
been reviewed, and thus far there doesn’t
appear to be any controversial filings to raise
concerns for MFTs. However, we should always
be prepared for the eventuality of needing to
contact our legislative representatives. It is
good to have some friendly contact prior to
asking for support, so with that in mind, reach
out to him or her and get to know them!
For information on the Kentucky Legislative
Research Commission, visit:
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Legislators.htm
You can be virtually introduced to your
Senator and State!Representatives, and
access other interesting legislative information.
Click on over to explore.
****
The AAMFT is not going to approve
Supervision training as we know it now.
After 2014 all training will be given by
AAMFT, so if you are contemplating
taking the 30-hour supervision training
course or the 5-hour supervision refresher
course, I would consider doing it now
through 2014. It may be less expensive
than what lies in store after AAMFT takes
the!training back. According to AAMFT
the quality of the training was beginning
to suffer, so they want to reverse that
trend. I believe the training will improve,
however, there will be a transition
period and I do not want to lose my
certification because I waited too long
to get my refresher.
Contribution by: Dave Clapper
We want to know
what we missed!
Dr. Eli Karam was recently elected to the AAMFT Board of
Directors. He began serving a three year term beginning January
1, 2014. This contested election included members throughout
the United States as well as members
from up to 55 countries. AAMFT
Executive Director, Tracy Todd stated
that “this victory is a true testimony of
the national notoriety and respect Dr.
Karam has earned from members over
the period of just a few short years.
Serving on AAMFT’s Board of Directors
places him in a very small, select group
of leaders dedicated to the
stewardship of the Association.” Eli is
the first member from the state of
Kentucky to ever win this election.
Do you like our new and
improved Newsletter?
Do you have something, or
someone you think should
be featured in the next
Newsletter?
Want to advertise to our
membership?
We want to hear from you!
Email us:
kamft@twc.com
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Patricia Sheldon, President
Karen Miller, President Elect
Dawn Pendleton, Secretary
Sharon Shapanus, Treasurer
Bridget Morgan, Elections Chair
Michael Taylor, Membership Chair
KMFT Board 2013
Amanda Driggs, Central KY Regional Representative
Tracey Werner-Wilson, Eastern KY Regional Representative
Joe Bob Pierce, Western KY Regional Representative
Amanda (Dishon) Brown, Pre-Clinical Fellow Representative
Erin O'Sullivan, Student Representative
Eli Karam, Past President
Did we mention,
We want to hear from you!?
We hope you’ve enjoyed the new
and improved KAMFT newsletter. We
would love feedback on how often
you would like to receive this
publication and suggestions and
contributions from you, the members,
on what else we can include.
Amanda Driggs, Central Regional Representative
for design and editing of this publication.
Contributing authors:
Amanda (Dishon) Brown
Dana Christensen
Dave Clapper
Amanda Driggs
Eli Karam
Patricia Sheldon
Please! Email us:
kamft@twc.com
Nathan Wood