back to the Winter 2020 Newsletter
By Mary Van Riper, Director of Special Events
Our Annual Membership Celebration was held on November 7th over Zoom. After Jacqui Gerritsen welcomed members, we experienced a Mindful Eating meditation, then viewed contestants’ submissions for the breakfast contest, and learned about ingredients and recipes.
We met in small groups to connect with each other. Finally, we thanked SCV-CAMFT 2020 volunteers and introduced the SCV-CAMFT 2021 Board of Directors. Members reported it was a fun and productive meeting, and that they felt a sense of connection.
Mary Van Riper led the Mindful Eating mediation. Some members reported the Mindful Eating script helped them to eat with intentionality. Check-out the Mindful Eating script (written by Christine Milovani, LCSW).
Four attendees registered for the Breakfast Contest and had the opportunity to share about the recipes for their breakfast: Rowena Dodson, Jyoti Nadani, Elaine Gee-Wong, and Margot Minnium. The non-board member registrants won $25 Amazon gift certificates for their entries. Members enjoyed hearing tips to produce these delicious breakfasts. Thank you, Nancy Orr, for facilitating this contest.
In small groups, we had the opportunity to connect with each other. In addition to discussing the Mindful Eating experience, members processed the late-breaking Presidential Election results, shared about self-care during the pandemic, and introduced some of their cute pets.
Our 2020 SCV-CAMFT volunteers were honored for their many contributions with words of praise and with $25 Amazon Gift Certificates: Junko Yamauchi (Pre-licensed Support Group Leader and South Region Luncheon Committee Member), Della Fernandes (Newly Licensed Support Group Leader), Jim Arjani (Pre-licensed Support Group Leader), Barbara Pannoni (Newly Licensed Support Group Leader), Dominique Yarritu (Chair of the Editorial Committee), Tomilu Stuart (Chair of South Region Luncheon Committee) and Jayne Marsh (South Region Luncheon Committee member).
Jacqui Gerritsen, President, appreciated Junko Yamauchi in her volunteer role with the Lunch Program:
● Junko Yamauchi can always be counted on to help out at the registration table at our south region luncheons in Los Gatos. She’s such a dedicated volunteer on the committee and goes above and beyond what is asked of her. One example of this has to do with our pricing categories for walk-in fees. Junko took the initiative to create a flow chart for the volunteers to use at the table, and it has become essential for the team. Junko Yamauchi also facilitates her pre-licensed group on the 1st Fri, 11am-1pm since Feb 2019.
Junko Yamauchi, Director of Newly and Pre-Licensed Support Groups, appreciated the other Newly and Pre-Licensed Support Group leaders who have transitioned to leading online support groups during this COVID time:
● Della Fernandes has been a newly-licensed group leader since January 2019. She presents practice-building ideas and provides encouragement to support new therapists. She also brings in speakers on topics relevant to building a practice. Della's group meets on the 3rd Saturday of the month from 1pm-3pm.
● Jim Arjani has been leading his pre-licensed group since June 2018. He has been a constant support for trainees and associates on their long journey to become therapists. His group meets on the 1st Saturday of the month from 11am-1pm.
● Barbara Pannoni began facilitating her newly-licensed group in October 2019. Barbara facilitates the sharing of practice ideas and professional development strategies among her monthly group of new therapists. Her group meets on the 2nd Friday of the month from 11am-1pm.
Rowena Dodson, Director at Large, appreciated Dominique Yarritu (Chair of the Editorial Committee):
● Dominique Yarritu volunteered to work on the newsletter last February and already contributed significantly to the March edition. For the March edition, she solicited and edited the article on working with Transgender teens and contributed her own article about Uplift and supporting teens in crisis. She clearly had a passion for being part of the team and she and I quickly developed a strong relationship. Happily, Dominique agreed to be the Chair of the Editorial Committee and our June issue showed her significant imprint. She was ambitious about finding authors, she supported authors in writing their best pieces, she was/is a fastidious editor, and was full of new ideas about what the newsletter could be. She has continued to contribute articles and interview pieces. Dominique highly values collaboration. With the September issue, we worked with Nancy Orr, Chapter Coordinator, to upgrade the format and usability of the newsletter. Throughout this past year, Dominique has worked more hours than we can count. We so appreciate her hard work and the results have been outstanding for our chapter.
Jacqui Gerritsen, appreciated the Lunch Program volunteers for Elizabeth Basile, Director of Lunch Programs:
● Tomilu Stuart has been a volunteer for the South Region Luncheon Committee in Los Gatos for many years, and graciously took over the reins as chairperson three years ago when the previous co-chairs stepped down. She has done a phenomenal job selecting interesting and diverse topics given by superb presenters. The luncheons she has organized always have a huge turnout of attendees, confirming the chosen topics are of great interest to our members. She has kept the committee running so smoothly and continues to keep our luncheon volunteers enthused about being a part of this committee. She always makes sure they are well taken care of. It is because of Tomilu’s hard work that the south region luncheon committee has continued to thrive. I’ve enjoyed working with Tomilu over the years, and am so grateful to have been able to collaborate with her. Many a time we’ve had to trouble-shoot one issue or another the day of a luncheon, and thanks to her we’ve always resolved whatever problem has come our way.
● Jayne Marsh has also been such a dedicated and dependable volunteer on the south region luncheon committee for years, and I’m so grateful that she has also remained a part of the team. She organizes the registration table so well, and thanks to her we have a good system for minimizing any backups whenever we have a rush of attendees arriving. I know that the registration table is in good hands when I need to step away to tend to something else. I also always look forward to chatting with her at the registration table while we check people in. Thanks to her and the other volunteers we’ve become a close-knit team.
Jacqui Gerritsen introduced our 2021 SCV-CAMFT Board of Directors: Jacqui Gerritsen (President), Debra Rojas (Historian), Jia Rebecca Li (Chief Financial Officer), Elizabeth Basile (Director of Programs), Nancy Andersen (Secretary), Jyoti Nadhani (Director of Ethics), Junko Yamauchi (Director of Newly and Pre-Licensed Support Groups), and Rowena Dodson (Director at Large).
Overall, the Annual Membership Celebration was an enjoyable meeting with many positive comments from members such as: “I really enjoyed this meeting. It’s great to connect with people who are here and learn what everyone’s up to.” “I appreciate everyone’s advice and support. It was wonderful to meet everyone!”
back to the Winter 2020 Newsletter
