Even though it is the end of January, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and Happy Lunar New Year for those who celebrate it. The year of the water rabbit (or year of the cat) is bound to bring us all prosperity and longevity. I hope that we all have the opportunity to experience this all in our practices, families and communities.
Alongside the renewing of the year, another newness has occurred within WAMFT. As of January 2023, I have transitioned into the role of President, Billie Tyler has become our President-Elect, and Michelle Finley has become our Past-President. I am extremely grateful that I continue to work with both of these powerful individuals while collaborating with a new board who is extremely passionate and dedicated to creating more content focused in systemic work.
I would like to take a moment to share with you all the vision that the board and I have for WAMFT this year. Approximately two weeks ago, a strategic planning retreat occurred, and one thing was clear. We recognize that we do not offer enough clinical training for our membership. To that end, we will be offering a more robust offerings of training opportunities that are diverse, interesting and innovative to meet your educational needs. A sneak peak of these opportunities are below:
Affinity Groups- Networking and social groups to house clinicians who seek connection and/or expertise on certain clinical matters. Stay tuned!
Psychedelic Assisted Therapy- Learn about the history of psychedelics and how they are being complimented with psychotherapy.
Innovation Track @ Conference- This year we are offering unique workshops on how to support your practice while gaining important skills for your clinical work and private practice.
Mentor Day- For those who will be transitioning into associate status, this year’s Mentor Day will be full of opportunities to find supervisors, gain knowledge is creating a niche practice and other important skills.
Approved Supervisor Scholarship- Are you interested in becoming an approved supervisor but the cost of the class is too high? We are offering scholarships to cover the class cost!
This year, we will be focused on providing quality clinical programming, defending our license against threats (Look out for our information on Peers!), and expanding our ability to provide in Washington.
I am very much looking forward to supporting you all and forming relationships with everyone that I can during these two years as your President. If there things that I can do to support you all, please do not hesitate to ask. Likewise, if you are doing wonderful things in the field and want to share that, please email also! I can be reached at president@wamft.org.
Before I end, I would like to highlight a WAMFT members work. Dr. Peter Rivera, chair of the MFT program at Seattle Pacific University recently published alongside colleagues an article about Multicultural Training entitled, A comparison of classroom-based and online multicultural training course within a marriage and family therapy training program. When you have a chance, check out this great article!
Anthony Pennant, PhD, LMFT
WAMFT President