If you are
in private practice, you have already taken a major step toward
financial independence, now and for your retirement – by
becoming the owner of a business. Most likely you have set up
some kind of retirement savings, perhaps a Simplified Employee
Pension Plan Individual Retirement Account (SEP IRA). Perhaps
you rolled over the 401-K plan from your former employer into an
IRA or Roth IRA and are making annual contributions to it. But
did you know that there is one other significant move you may be
able to make, outside your IRA or any other retirement fund,
that may significantly increase the wealth you accumulate toward
your retirement? No, it’s not a hot stock tip or a get rich
scheme. It’s an important business decision which you may want
to consider.
I am betting
that you now lease your office space. Most professionals –
doctors, attorneys, accountants, dentists, psychotherapists,
insurance agents, Realtors® –
lease. They, and probably you, in effect, are paying their
landlord’s mortgage – increasing their landlord’s ownership
interest in the building (wealth), giving their landlord an
income stream, and helping their landlord to realize the
incredible tax benefits of owning income-producing real
estate. Until recently, it was unlikely that even the most
high earning of these professionals owned their office space –
mostly because, in order to own, they would have had to buy an
entire office complex – and they, like you, even if they had it,
needed the money for the start-up costs of private practice and
didn’t want to be in the landlord business.
Now there is
an affordable way to turn your lease payments into
wealth-building payments and have most of your wealth-building
payments paid for by someone else. Here is how it works:
- Much
of the new office space is built as office condominiums.
Other existing office space is being converted to office
condominiums. That means that you can purchase as little as
800 sq. ft. or as much as 24,000 sq. ft. of office space,
depending on the needs of your practice.
- Office
condos, like houses or residential condos, can be purchased
with mortgages. Just like owning your home, you can
“leverage” your ownership (own the whole thing with a down
payment and monthly payments).
- The
office space you own, if large enough, could be shared with
others who pay you rent for the privilege. You are now the
landlord. Their rent covers a portion or even all of your
office mortgage, property taxes, insurance, maintenance,
condominium fees, and the cost of furniture, fixtures and
enhancements.
- Best
of all, you have just stepped into the wonderful world of
income property ownership:
a.
The
value of the office you own increases yearly. Your payments, if
correctly structured, remain the same – or increase as your
earnings increase. In either event, your tenants’ leases are
structured at inception to increase yearly, assuring you of cash
flow (your money to keep or invest) that will likely increase
over the years.
b.
If you
sell your office upon retirement, you will realize 100% of the
increase in its value, even if you initially paid only a
percentage of it (through your down payment). Think about it:
if you buy stock, you buy 100% of the value of the stock and any
increase is a percentage of the entire value of the stock. If
you buy income-producing real estate, any increase is a
percentage of the entire value of the property – but your rate
of return on your investment is multiplied because you have only
paid for a portion of it out of pocket. The rest of the
payments are covered wholly or partially by the rent you receive
from those who share your office.
c.
The
interest you pay on your mortgage is tax-deductible. Your
tenants are paying all or part of that interest (in their lease
payments) and you get to deduct it!
d.
A
portion of the entire initial purchase price of the property
must be depreciated each year. This is an income tax deduction
which may be more than you could deduct if you deducted the
amount of principal that you pay in your mortgage payments each
year. Even if you get an interest-only loan, you can still
deduct depreciation!
e.
Taxes,
insurance, maintenance, and condo fees are all tax deductible.
f.
FF&E
(furniture, fixtures and enhancements) are depreciable.
- Best
of all, when it comes time for you to retire, you can:
a.
Sell
the office condo (which your office tenants have paid for in
your behalf);
b.
Keep
the office condo, rent out the space you previously used, and
continue to receive income for as long as you like;
c.
Sell/Exchange the office for a property of equal or greater
value tax free which may provide you with even more income;
d.
Sell/Exchange the office for a property (or portion of a
property) held by a private-placement Real Estate Investment
Trust or in a Tenant in Common scheme, providing you with income
(and the continued benefits of owning real estate) from property
you do not have to manage – also tax free;
e.
Borrow
on the equity you have built up in the property to buy other
income-producing properties;
f.
Pledge
the equity you have built up in the property to buy other
income-producing properties.
-
Finally, should there come a time you need to get your money
out of the condo but don’t want to move your practice, you
can sell the office condo to an investor in the form of a
sale-leaseback. That is, a sale which guarantees you the
right to stay in the same place as a tenant, and to continue
to run your practice the same as before. It’s a double win
for you – you get your cash out of the building and you may
still have an income stream from your tenants. They become
your sub-tenants, and their sub-lease payments then help you
to pay all or part of your lease payments to the new owner.
Nadina
Cole-Potter assists individuals, families, and business owners
to build wealth through real estate. She is a licensed Arizona
Realtor®
with
Keller Williams Legacy One Commercial Division in Mesa and has
over 15 years of experience in the commercial real estate
industry. Nadina invites your questions and challenges. You
can e-mail her at potterteam@kw.com or telephone 480-776-3280.
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KIDS CORNER - THE DOLLHOUSE
Marissa (4
years old) entered the therapy room with her mother. She
immediately spotted the dollhouse, began picking up and studying
the characters and furniture, and played out a story about a mom
and dad with their two children, getting up in the morning and
starting their day. This was the first meeting the therapist
had with this family, and although she could have joined Marissa
in her story, she used this time to converse with her mother
about how therapy can be most helpful to them. Marissa was
excited to return to the therapy office. The next several
sessions consisted of Marissa and the therapist playing a story
about the little girl character searching for lost toys.
Marissa
was in therapy because of her recent anger outbursts after the
loss of her grandparent.
James (10
years old) entered the therapy room and immediately began
rearranging the furniture of the dollhouse. Once he spotted
other games/toys, he left the dollhouse, only to return to it
later in the session, curiously beginning a storyline. Each time
James attended his therapy session, he would touch base with the
dollhouse and engage the therapist in a story consisting of a
little boy who was impulsive in actions, usually regretting his
mistakes and changing his mind about his decisions.
James was
in therapy because of his failing grades and misbehavior at
school.
Christy (8
years old) chose to play chess with the therapist. In fact, she
played chess for almost two months in a row during each session.
Christy was on a Chess club, and was extremely bright (she beat
the therapist at each and every game for two months!). During
their time together, Christy and her therapist would exchange a
few words, sometimes addressing how things were going at home
and at school. Finally, after two months of Chess, Christy
grabbed a doll figure from the dollhouse and placed it her on
the Chessboard. This was practically the first time she looked
at the therapist with a twinkle in her eye…. this was the
beginning of her next phase in therapy…the dollhouse.
Christy
was struggling with anger issues and her parents were very
concerned with her behavior toward her younger sister.
Joyce (45
year old mother) and Mary (7 year old daughter) came to therapy
to work on their relationship since Joyce remarried. After a few
sessions of arts and crafts and board games, Mary chose to play
with the dollhouse, and the room was full of giggles as she and
her mother began a humorous, light-hearted storyline. For the
next few months, Joyce and Mary used spent their therapy time
immersed in dollhouse play. Both the process of therapy and the
content of their storyline seemed to be helpful in strengthening
their relationship.
Mary was
experiencing extreme anxiety at school, and Joyce became worried
about Mary’s behavior toward her friends at school, her overall
school performance, and her behavior at home.
The dollhouse
promotes emotional expression, relationship-building and
understanding, creativity, and a fun atmosphere. Each child is
embedded in some form of familial relationships, and they are
with us to share what they experience within their family
context, sort through family conflicts, and create hope for
their future. Once you enter the dollhouse door, you will see
how magical it can be and how many exciting possibilities
await you and your clients.
- Eleni Paris, MS, LMFT
eplmft@att.net
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LET'S SAY WELCOME TO OUR NEW BOARD
MEMBERS
President Elect •
Steve LeGendre
A native Arizonan, I
graduated with a Master of Arts in Counseling and Guidance
from the University of Arizona in 1978 with an emphasis in
Family Therapy and Agency Counseling. I returned to the
University of Arizona to complete a Masters in Public
Administration with an emphasis on Non-Profit Finance in
2001. I have been an active member of AzAMFT and AAMFT
since 1977. I first became a student member while in my
graduate program. Through the years, I have worked with
other marriage and family therapy colleagues in planning
local educational conferences. During the 1990’s, I served
as Elections Chairperson for AzAMFT. Beginning in 1998 and
until this year, I served as a Board Member for the Arizona
Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. I am still currently
serving as a Committee Member for the Marriage and Family
Therapy Credentialing Committee. I had the privilege of
serving on the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners during
the implementation of state licensure. Since 1978, I have
worked as a clinician and administrator in both the private
and public mental health sectors. I have worked in
psychiatric hospitals and outpatient clinics providing
marriage and family therapy.
Treasurer •
Bernadette Sayre
For the past three years, I
have been in private practice in Tucson. Previous
experience includes positions at Cottonwood de Tucson,
Jewish Family and Children Service, Tucson; Centers
for Women and Children (domestic violence shelter); and
Southern Arizona Correctional Release Center (women’s
prison) with Compass Health Care. I graduated from the
University of San Francisco with a Bachelor’s degree in
Professional Studies, 1995; and University of Phoenix,
Masters of Counseling, Marriage, Family and Child Therapy
Specialty, 1999. I have a general MFT practice, with a
special interest in individuals, couples and families facing
issues of addiction and other compulsive behaviors.
Director •
Dianne
Gottlieb
I am a licensed Marriage and
Family Therapist in private practice in Scottsdale where I
specialize in relational problems, pre-marital counseling,
divorce and step-parenting problems, parenting children with
ADHD, LGBT issues. A Clinical Member of AAMFT and a Full
Member of the World Professional Association for Transgender
Health (HBIGDA), I am also an Adjunct Professor in the
Psychology Department at Mesa Community College. I earned
my Masters of Science degree in Marriage and Family Therapy
at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, in 2002. In
1980, I received a Bachelors of Arts degree in Radio and
Television from California State University, Long Beach, and
worked for 20 years in the entertainment industry as a film
publicist for Warner Bros. and as a national television
producer.
Elections Committee Chair
• Jane Singer
I have been with Jewish
Family and Children Services of Southern Arizona for 11
years, and currently hold the position of Chief Operating
Officer. During my tenure, I acted as the Vice President of
Services for Older and Disabled People, and was the interim
President/CEO during the Board’s search for a new Chief
Executive Officer. I have a Master’s degree in Psychology
and Counseling from Norwich University, and is a licensed
Marriage and Family Therapist and Substance Abuse Counselor
in the state of Arizona. As Chief Operating Officer, I am
responsible for all agency programs involved in the delivery
of mental health, refugee services and have developed
several new innovative programs for older adults and
individuals with disabilities.
Student/Associate Representative
•
Patrick Gilliand
I am a student member of
AAMFT, as well as AzAMFT. For the past year, I served on
the Spring Conference Committee. What a great learning
experience that has been! I hope to become more involved in
the Marriage & Family community by serving in a more focused
role. I live in Chandler with my wife and daughter. Thanks
to their support, this internship year for my MFT program
has been a success. My experience at Prehab’s Helaman House
for adolescent boys has been a superior learning ground and
a valuable resource from which to work as I enter the
counseling field. One of my main goals is to be an
involved, informed, and resourceful asset to our discipline
in Arizona.
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OF CONTENTS
FOUR YEAR REFLECTION
By Alan Asher, Past
AzAMFT President
Torch
Passing and Strategies
On January
12th 2007 the torch got officially passed on when Frances
Bernfeld called to order her first board meeting as President of
AzAMFT.[ Frances; you are going to do super, we are in good
hands.] This board meeting was the finale to our association
retreat facilitated by Michael Bowers, Executive Director of
AAMFT. The retreat focused on our strategic planning process now
happily passed on to Frances’s administration. We launched the
strategic planning process in July of 2004. I bought into this
process “hook, line, and sinker” after AAMFT leadership training
focused on strategic planning in April 2004 in Arlington
Virginia. The essence of the process is how to use limited
resources in the best way possible to achieve the most important
association goals.
At the
retreat, Michael made the important distinction between
operational planning (what we do every year) and strategic
planning (taking on the most important emerging issues that
effect growth and maintenance). What emerged now is the issue
of the “pipe line” in to the profession in Arizona. Three
strategic planning task groups emerged to focus on 1) Agency
issues for LMFTS: how to provide enough training resources and
MFT recognition in agencies to grow our presence there and to
research the needs of LMFTS in these non-private practice
settings, 2) Statute and Rules issues that need adjustment or
change to better facilitate entry into the profession whether
for students or for journey persons seeking reciprocity. Most
of this focus will be with the BBHE, 3) Explore best structures
in private practice settings to provide student MFTS with
internships and field placements.
Mementos
of Transition
When I opened
my first board meeting in Januray of 2005, I had a compass given
to me by Renee Frost so I wouldn’t lose my way. At our retreat,
Frances Bernfeld gave me the book Buddhism and Psychotherapy,
Across Cultures. So now I’m in good shape for finding my
way without and within.
Boxes
Now that the
torch has been passed, I still have to pass on the “Presidential
Boxes”. Every President gets a delivery of the Association’s
archives from the previous President: meeting minutes, official
letters, newsletters, and financial data. There are VHS tapes of
past conferences, as well as conference brochures and planning
documents from years gone by. When I received the boxes, I
paired them down a little; now I have 6 or 7 to give to Frances.
Little
Known Secret
The President
of a Board is responsible for coordinating, conferring with, and
leading the association’s officer group in reviewing broad
policy initiatives, programs, and generally providing good
fiduciary process for the organization. In large organizations,
the programs and initiatives are executed by staff. In small
associations like ours, the secret is that the Board President
also has an unwritten job description. The President is also,
in practice, the Executive Director. If an association wheel
becomes suddenly squeaky, it is the untitled Executive Director
or administrator within the President who must be ready to step
up 24/7. So my hat is off to all of Presidents past, present and
future who do this second job, critical to our association’s
functioning.
It’s About
The Passion of Our AzAMFT Members for Marriage and Family
Therapy and the Connections We Make With Each Other
So why is
that people run for and take office in our association, edit and
put out the newsletter, go to strategic planning meetings
between board meetings, put in endless planning hours for
conferences and breakfasts, volunteer coordinate, manage data
bases, do annual legislative advocacy planning and reporting,
support members scaling BBHE mountains, pitch in when
legislators need to be called, take minutes, and safe guard our
funds? It’s the passion for what we do: Marriage and
Family Therapy and the Connections we make with each other in
our process.
I thank all
of you so much for helping me in caring about: a unique,
connective, multiperspective way of understanding the
relationships we are born into, grow in, and die in. It’s our
unique body of knowledge that reveals the meanings or our
relational life cycles, and guides them with wisdom.
Board
Meetings
For those of
you, who have never been, plan to attend a Board meeting at some
point soon. You’ll get a good breakfast, but much much more.
It is an amazing group of people who share the table together
nearly every other month on the second Friday, from 9am to
noon. These are people like you, who are supportive of each
other, challenging of each other, and dedicated to our
association. These Officers have a fiduciary responsibility to
all members that they take very seriously: How to spend wisely;
How to support the provision of best MFT practices to the
communities we serve; How to apprehend and deal carefully with
challenges to our profession; How to create new paths for
growth; How to bring along new volunteer resources; How to
provide the best conferences possible; How to have good humor;
How to mourn losses and changes and celebrate the same; and How
to protect what we all hold so dear. Come visit with us.
Just RSVP the President.
My
Favorite No Cost MFT PR Mantra, We All Have With Us at All
Times. Let’s Assert Ourselves!
It costs
nothing, but remembering to express to all who will listen:
See a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. This
can be done everyday in or out of our offices with prospective
clients, professional colleagues, government officials, the
public at large we relate with, and of course our own family
networks. We know that seeing just any mental health
professional for issues that are primarily relational maybe
unwise and sometimes dangerous. Licensable, Professional
Systems/relational training, is different by statute, and
one or two MFT survey courses or technique workshops will a not
a licensed relationship professional make. I’ve preached this
mantra at every conference opening I have done. In this last
year, I received a lot more calls from clients shopping
specifically for relational work who are concerned that they
find a professional trained to do so. Perhaps I am hearing
inquiries about this because this is what I want to hear, or
perhaps it is because our 370 members statewide are saying this
everyday. We can message compete by expressing who we are in our
relationships of all kinds. If we don’t point out what we have
to uniquely offer, who will?
It’s fun to
sit in meetings and introduce myself as Alan Asher, LMFT. There
are often blank expressions, so I explain briefly. What a great
natural opportunity. If someone doesn’t understand your
credentials, help them get some sense of it.
The “One
Minute” MFT Pitch to Capitol Hill Staffers And Federal Advocacy
Struggles
When our
AzAMFT leadership visits our federal legislative offices each
cherry blossom time in Washington there is need to do a quick
effective sale to staffers who get innumerable visits from
promoters of causes of all kinds. So how do you differentiate
MFT from all the individual models of behavioral intervention
effectively and quickly?
My suggested
model that seems to make the differentiation point fairly well
is to do an anecdotal role play with the staffer. I first
present a scenario where the staffer is an individual therapist
working with me a kid whose family has sent me to “get fixed”.
So the individual therapist works with me on anger outlets and
self esteem building and some progress is made, but the family
periodically complains of my explosions, and the individual
therapist feels stuck. THEN WE CHANGE THE STAFFER INTO AN MFT.
As an MFT the staffer asks the family to all come in together
for the first time even though it is understood that the parents
want this individual kid “fixed”. So the staffer now as an MFT
sees quickly that yes the “identified patient” kid is acting out
but is well assisted in this process by two older sibs who are
tormenters extraordinaire. So as an MFT, the staffer in the
first session does some structural negotiations with the parents
and older sibs, re boundaries and respectful communication. The
parents buy in and adjust their approach to focus on the
functioning of the family as whole. After another couple of
visits the sib group has, with the parents’ help, a better
operating process. And the “identified patient” is much
happier. Then it is underlined to the staffer that the
individual work would always be an uphill battle because 1) the
individual sessions have limited access to the context of the
problem, and 2) that one hour of work with an individual doesn’t
have a lot of reach outside the office in this situation versus
working with the whole family that sets up a relational
intervention that gets practiced every day in the family’s life.
Again this is
effective in underling the difference to staffers. But the
problem with hill visits is that although you generate some
positive “ah has” and ideas, the follow up required is daunting,
and generally gets lost as AzAMFT leaders come home and have
many other items to deal with. The hill staffers want more and
more research “to make your case”, “how does this affect this
group in AZ?” “Have you utilized this other program we funded
through ….?” Some of the research questions are legitimate and
some seem designed to tire the advocate out so they will go
away. If you’ve gone to six legislative offices on your visit
day, then the long term follow up is exponential.
So
here’s my best Federal advocacy practice suggestion for our
association. Make direct in state relationships with our
Federal legislator’s local office staffers. Meet with them
every other month or so. Then the MFT sign is in place in a
constant way with a person to connect it to. Then the research
that will still be asked for can be complied and maintained so
the wheel isn’t constantly being reinvented. Then the
leadership Hill visits would be a follow up, not a one day
attempt to move the mountain. We have 8 Federal Representatives
and Two Senators. So we would need 10 volunteers to cover
federally elected officials state wide. National AAMFT agrees
that this approach is best, but it takes a lot of focus to build
it in the Divisions. I’ve made some local visits. They are
not too hard, and local staffers seem a little more interested
that you are interested in them, and they are in touch with
their D.C. counterparts. So, do we have any volunteers for
this endeavor?
So What’s
Next For Me in Our Association?
I’m riding
into our new frontier: Supervision Education. Our Arizona
Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s Supervision
Education Community was formed with the training we provided
in May of 2005. We’ve posted the names of 25 BBHE qualified
supervisors state wide, on our web site. Now that there is some
time for me to do this, I’ll be focusing on building the Sup-Ed
web pages to provide the information needed to support
supervisors and students seeking clinical supervision. This is
a part of the MFT “in bound pipe line” we spoke of at the
retreat. For skilled MFT clinicians who like to teach, please
join our community. The initial anxiety most people have re
liability and responsibility for case loads they do not work
with directly is pretty easily overcome. One of the key reasons
I believe this to be true is the serious passionate nature of
MFT students in particular to” get it right” Dale Hansen
deserves huge credit for sounding the alarm regarding the
supervision needs of our students. Thank you Dale.
Again,
Thank You All So Much!!!
I want to
personally thank all the membership for all your interest,
passion and hard work which energized my work and made getting
my MFT lunch pail ready each day, easy.
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OF CONTENTS
THANK YOU!
Once again, we
come to that time when we want to recognize good friends who
have served on our Board and Committees. While we have elected
five new members this year, that also means that other members
will be moving on to other things. We owe a great “thank you”
for their time, talent, and energy over the last few years, and
want them to know how much we appreciate their dedication to our
professional community. Without them, we would not be where we
are today.
• Alan Asher
• Suzanne
Bloomfield
• Anne Serrano
• Dale Hansen
• Michelle
Blasnig
• Renee Frost
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OF CONTENTS
BULLETIN BOARD
Workshops for Youth & Families
(WYF)
Building Character. Inspiring Confidence.
WYF, now in its 28th year, is a non-profit
organization whose mission is to foster leadership skills in
youth and build resiliency so that they may become tomorrow’s
leaders. Make your summer matter! Sign up for a
weeklong
workshop that will focus on
skill-building, strengthening communication, and more!
Cost is $395 per session. All workshops are held at the
Homestead Community Center at DC Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ.
Summer Workshop
Dates:
Great Transitions,
ages 10-12, June 17-22
Essentials,
ages 13-15, June 24-29
Building Blocks,
ages 13-16, July 8-13
Finishing Touches,
ages 15-19, July 22-27
For more information, please go to
www.ORHO.org or call (480)
882-6011.
CULTURAL COMPETENCE
TRAINING
Need credits
in a hurry for license renewal? The Homestead School offers
many different on-line, fax interactive, and home study courses
for social workers, counselors, and marriage and family
therapists which meet re-licensing requirements for cultural
competence. For example, 7 contact hours are available for
Cultural Competence (No. 7701) and Multicultural Aspects of
Counseling (No. 7702). For more information, call (800)
253-0088.
GIVE AN HOUR
Give an Hour is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to
develop a national network of volunteers capable of responding
to both acute and chronic conditions that arise in our society.
We are currently establishing a national network of mental
health professionals in order to reach out to the U.S. troops
and families affected by the current military conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq. If you are a licensed mental health
professional, please visit our Web site
www.giveanhour.org to sign up for our
national network and to learn more about our organization.
GESTALT DROP IN GROUP
St. Stephen's
Episcopal Church
2310 N. 56th
Street
Phoenix, AZ
The Institute
has a Drop-In Group each Thursday from 7:30-9:30 pm. This group
is open to everyone who would like to do some individual work in
Gestalt therapy or who is interested in some exposure to Gestalt
therapy. Individuals may attend once, sporadically, or as
frequently as they choose. The group is always under the direct
supervision of one of the Institute's training faculty members.
Fee: $10 per person. For
more information, call 602-955-9298.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
STRATEGIC PLANNING
AzAMFT
PHILOSOPHY
The AzAMFT
provides the community with a relational, contextual and
systemic understanding of human behavior. This approach
transcends historical models which view individuals as
separate from their context, like islands unto themselves.
This philosophy and body of knowledge respects and
recognizes multiple perspectives of human identity and
family structure. The work of Marriage and Family
Therapists fills a gap that is not addressed by other
disciplines.
MFT’s are
committed to the highest standards of ethics, education,
integrity and professional development.
The AzAMFT
values and promotes lifelong learning, innovative
professional practices and research.
MISSION
STATEMENT
Current Strategic Plan Goals
The
Mission Statement is the Strategic Plan of AzAMFT. It is
dynamic and adjusts to the Association’s needs. The
Strategic Planning Committee maintains a current working
version of the Mission Statement at all times. A current
version of the strategic planning goals will be published in
every newsletter.
Goal 1:
Re-establish a dedicated master’s level MFT practitioner
training program in Arizona, either within the State
university system, or in conjunction with private
institutions.
Goal 1a:
Provide Clinical Supervision Education to our licensed
clinical members in order to increase the number of clinical
supervisors available to supervise our MFT licensure
candidates.
Goal 2:
Increase public awareness of the profession of Marriage and
Family Therapy and what we have to offer, differentiated
from other behavioral health professions. This will be
accomplished for example by advocacy at the state and
federal levels and by direct education of the public in
Arizona.
Goal 3:
Increase the strength of our association’s infrastructure
(i.e. administrative support, and technical support for
committees and projects). This will be accomplished by
fundraising and some by increasing our membership volunteer
hours.
Proposal
to Add a Strategic Plan Goal No. 4
Focused on Membership Support
The Strategic
Planning Committee presented its first annual report to the
Board on July 14, 2006. We have learned a lot about the
strategic planning process. Our biggest success was our
Supervision Education, which graduated 25 new supervisors in May
to support our students. We still have a long way to go with
the following goals: * Re-establishing a dedicated MFT clinical
training program in Arizona; * Increasing professional
recognition of LMFTs in Arizona; * Strengthening and building
our Association’s administrative infrastructure.
As the Board
reflected upon our process and definition of goals to date, we
had a lot of comments on issues of membership support. We
currently have a Membership Resources Group that focuses on
helping students with the licensure process and encouraging
people to stay the course in the often frustrating reciprocity
process. As we spoke about what we have and what we could have,
the following draft of new goal #4 emerged:
Establish a
robust membership support program that helps members with a
broad spectrum of issues:
1)
Membership welcome, achievement recognition, and retention.
2)
Support in obtaining LMFT licensure at all levels: Student, out
of state newcomers, and other licensed disciplines who need
help getting through the hurdles.
3) Strong
engagement at the BBHE level to monitor rules, processes, and
advocate for change as necessary.
4) Maintain
robust membership support and reference materials on our web
site.
If you have any thoughts about
the draft of goal #4, please let me know.
- Alan
Asher for
The AzAMFT Strategic Planning Committee
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