back to September 2024 newsletter  
We hope you had a wonderful summer! September can be a month of new beginnings with school starting, clients coming back, new clients coming in, and seasons changing.

During our production meeting for this month’s newsletter, we struggled to incorporate everything that we needed to recognize during the month of September – National Recovery Month, Suicide Prevention Month, and National Hispanic Month. You will find more articles than usual in this newsletter so that we could honor all of these special celebrations. We also included them in social media along with special days like International Literacy Day and International Day of Sign Language.

In this newsletter, you will find an interview with Mary Crocker Cook by Vidur Malik, Director at Large, to commemorate National Recovery Month, a DEI article from Kusum Punjabi in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, an article about suicide and the Hispanic community from me, and a beautiful poem by our poetess and clinician, Edna Wallace.

Three new highlights in this newsletter are the annual membership celebration, the Tzedakah Project scholarship program, and a new support group for therapists 55+ and older

You are now able to register for the annual membership celebration which is free to SCV-CAMFT members. We hope to see you at Michael’s on November 16th. Director of Membership, Rachel Costella, has arranged a day of fun-filled connecting with a delicious lunch buffet, snacks, prizes, recognition, and a sound healing experience.

Read the section on the wonderful opportunity to win a scholarship of $200, $300, or $500 credit. Ursula Jorgensen, President Elect, and Kusum Punjabi, DEI Director, have worked hard on bringing this to you

The support group for 55+ therapists is for therapists who are 55+, retired, thinking about retiring, or contemplating a mid-life transition. The mission of this support group is to provide an opportunity for personal and/or professional growth in our later years. Thanks to Alex MacKenzie, Director of Support Groups, for bringing this to our members.

Events: This month we had Kapala Asok present on mothers-in-law from the South Asian perspective. We also have Jaclyn Long coming back with a somatic IFS-Informed Yoga and Movement Mini Retreat. This is a perfect way for therapists to do some self-care in a manner that can make them better clinicians.

In October we have several big events. We have our treasurer, Amanda Cortez, and her colleague Hakikat Sahota presenting “The Intersection of Faith and Mental Health.” They presented this at the CAMFT conference and are now bringing it to us on October 11th at the Yes to Therapy facility. A special thank you to them for not charging the Chapter for the presentation or the facilities. In addition, we are bringing Dave Jensen back for the first in-person Law and Ethics workshop since the pandemic. We hope you can join us at Michael’s. We hope to see you at one or both events. Thanks to Marté Matthews, Director of Events, for bringing these rich events to our members.

Support Groups: Our support group leaders are doing a great job providing space and resources for our members. We added lots of new groups this year. The last group we added was the LGBTQ+ group. If you identify in this community or you’re an ally, please join them.

Membership: Coffee Talk was back in full swing in the northern part of our Chapter. Ursula Jorgensen hosted one in Redwood City last Saturday. It was very well attended. In October, I’ll be hosting one in San Jose. Rachel Costella, has been busy in the background making sure that these coffee talks are successful.

CAMFT: We have also been very involved with CAMFT. We are the hosting chapter for the Fall Symposium on Friday, November 1st, which will be located at the San Jose Marriott. Check the SCV-CAMFT event section to register through the CAMFT website. We also have been very active in getting members to sign up for the CAMFT Law and Ethics presentations. We have three more coming up this year; suicidal and dangerous patients in September, telehealth in October, and subpoenas in November.

Networking with other therapists is an important way to receive support. Please join us at our monthly Coffee Talks, Cinema Therapy Club, and support groups. These groups have grown in popularity.

Wishing you a peaceful and inspiring start to Fall, filled with new beginnings, growth, and warmth in every moment.

Liliana Ramos,
SCV-CAMFT President

back to September 2024 newsletter