Dear Healing Arts Professional,
Welcome to The Colorado Association of Psychotherapists |
August 2008 President's Message
Dear Members and Colleagues,
The punch line of this month's article - the workshop is coming. How to Safeguard Your Practice. Member's Meeting. Great party! It'll be fun. You gotta do this!
How many of you engage in activities that expand your vision, challenge you as therapists, open you to new ways of thinking? Learning helps keep our minds sharp, entertains us, and from what I've read, there is evidence that continuing to learn new things can prolong our lives. Learning a language is supposed to be one of the best things we can do for our minds.
My adult life has been nearly constant learning, from learning to fly in the Air Force, graduate degrees, hypnotherapy, photography, computers, cooking classes. Why, I even took a class to learn to play winning blackjack and to count cards! And it continues. The organizations that have certified me have annual continuing education unit requirements to fulfill.
I go to a joint conference held by 2 of the organizations I belong to and always have a wonderful time. There are so many workshops and classes, so much to absorb, and not enough time to do all I'd like to do. And I've gone to the conference enough times that I now have friends I see each year. That's part of our community I belong to. One of those friends is from Mexico City and because she speaks English up here, I hope to find time to recover my lost Spanish so I can return the favor. More learning!
CAP members practice an enormous number of modalities. The variety has come about through learning something new. We hear about a technique that resonates with us so we find out about it, learn it, and make it part of our toolbox. It makes us better therapists, and it makes us better people.
It seems like I get a workshop announcement in the mail every week. Each is teaching something that benefits some therapy modality. It's wonderful that these companies bring their training
programs to Denver and it's a great way to learn something new. What I don't see are courses and workshops that help me understand the mental health environment in Colorado and be a
small business.
There is so much I need to know from the business and administrative side of being a therapist but no where to learn about it. I need to know how I, as a hypnotherapist, fit into the greater scheme of mental health, what I need to do on the paperwork side, how to be sure I'm doing the right things under the law, and what to do to protect myself. Let's face it, there are only 3 things in the world I don't know all there is to know about and running an alternative mental health business ain't one of them!
Our members are highly-skilled, best-of-breed. You do great work and you do whatever you need to to keep your skills sharp. You can take classes and workshops specific to your own particular specialty but learning about the business side of a practice isn't so easy. That's where CAP comes in. Our annual workshops focus on the business of being a therapist. We've had marketing, web essentials, and dual relationship workshops, all with the goal of giving you solid information you can use to enhance your practice.
This year's workshop, How to Safeguard Your Practice, will provide you with essential information you need to know to protect yourself in an ever-changing regulatory environment.
Our speakers, Bob Lees and Amos Martinez, are the best of the best and bring tremendous experience to the workshop. Both are warm, entertaining, incredibly knowledgeable and I believe you will find this workshop will not only be vital to your practice but a fun experience.
Following the workshop, we're having a member's meeting. A what? A Member's Meeting! We'll discuss what CAP's role is, where we are going, let you know what the finances are and
how they are used, and our Board members will introduce themselves and tell you about what their role is. We also want to hear from you! Ask questions, tell us what CAP does well, what it doesn't, what you'd like to know more about.
Finally, after the member's meeting, join us for a great party. See old friends, meet new friends, maybe win a door prize, and enjoy the most incredible food on the planet!
I invite you to join us Saturday, November 15 for a fun-filled learning experience and great time. The first announcement of the workshop was mailed to everyone last week, and reminders will follow periodically. You can register by snail mail, or read about our speakers, view the party menu, and register for the workshop using PayPal by clicking the link on the CAP web home page entitled, Spend a Fun Day Learning How to Safeguard Your Practice.
Please join us - we'd love to see you!
Ed
Ed Robb
President of the Colorado Association of Psychotherapists
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CAP Meeting with DORA on Dual Relationship Issue Goes Well
On August 6th representatives of CAP, Greg McHugh, CAP Legislative Chair and our lobbyist, Ellen Brilliant, met with Rose McCool, Department of Regulatory Agencies Director of the Division of Registrations, Richard Morales of the same division, and Chris Lines, Legislative Liaison for DoRA to discuss recent developments on the issue of conflict of the Mental Health Grievance Board's misinterpretation of the dual relationship clause in the statute.
In the past year CAP had been trying to address the disparity in the Grievance Board's misapplication of 12-43-222 (1) (i) as a categorical prohibition against all dual relationships between therapists and clients. CAP had encountered severe and often inappropriate and unprofessional resistance to our proposals to the Grievance Board to rectify this "policy" and to align it's use of paragraph (i) in accord with another provision in the law that, in effect, states that dual relationships may be beneficial and not necessarily bring a risk of impaired judgment on the part of therapists (12-43-222(1)(g) which references generally accepted standards or ethics such as CAP's code, NASW's code, the American Psychologists Association code of ethics, etc.).
Changes in DoRA administrative personnel in January had yielded significantly improved relations with DoRA on this matter but the invitation by DoRA staff to resubmit our rule proposal for clarification to the Mental Health Grievance Board was met again at the April Grievance Board with what one might call understatedly as extreme resistance by board members and the staff attorney. The board and staff attorney were practically explicit in their expression of a categorical prohibition of all dual relationships as a matter of policy. This expressed view was in spite of the language in the law being to the contrary.
Subsequent to the April Mental Health Grievance Board evidenced rejection of the CAP proposal, Richard Morales, who had become the new program director over the Mental Health Section acted as a breath of fresh air and continued the administration's efforts of outreach to CAP and all the members of the Mental Health Coalition (NASW, APA, CAMFT, CCA, AACC) on this matter.
At the meeting on August 6th Rose McCool, Division Director, apologized for the experience we have had and clarified that DORA takes their responsibility to serve seriously. She demonstrated a strong commitment to bring about a corrected understanding of the actual law by the Grievance Board and all the licensing boards and the staff attorneys. While DoRA administration does not have statutory authority to control and supervise the boards and staff attorneys in their application of the law on case by case basis, Director McCool indicated that DoRA will perform the following:
1. Staff will begin an open discussion with the staff attorneys and various boards' members on what is appropriate reading of the dual relationship clause in light of the clause referencing the generally accepted codes of ethics.
2. Staff will develop some mechanism so that DoRA can monitor cases over time to see if the statute is being applied correctly.
3. Staff will receive from CAP names of any known cases where such categorical prohibition of dual relationships had been misapplied.
4. Staff (and CAP) will monitor the discussion between Colorado NASW and the Social Work Licensing Board on September 5th regarding NASW's letter clarifying their interpretation of statute that dual relationships should be measured in light of their national code of ethics which allows that some are beneficial and others carry risk of impaired judgment. (CoNASW's letter to their licensing board for such discussion was prompted by CAP's continued networking effort through the Mental Health Coalition on this issue.)
5. Staff meet with CAP again in October to report back and share on developments on these various efforts.
While the CAP board has not indicated an intention of submitting legislation in the 2009 session to address this issue, CAP did make the suggestion at this meeting that DoRA may well want to consider submitting clarification language in the 2010 Sunset Review Report to the state legislature. This would be to assure that such an unofficial policy of categorical prohibition against all dual relationships were never to happen again.
Greg McHugh, Legislative Chair
gregmchughcht@earthlink.net
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Facing change from a place of strength!
Many people think of change and become uncomfortable. The future holds many uncertainties; this we CAN be sure of. There are a few simple actions you can take to feel more confident, excited and empowered when faced with the inevitability of change.
The subconscious is home to all of our feelings, memories, involuntary functions of the body and habitual conduct. Some people when faced with change have stress responses that show up as physical reactions such as high blood pressure, upset stomach, and insomnia. Some people fall into habitual behaviors like overeating. Stressed people may find themselves irritated, frustrated or angry for no apparent reason.
Intellect rules the conscious, or awake, part of our mind. Often we consciously recognize certain feelings or behaviors are not "logical". So how do we bridge the gap between the conscious and subconscious mind?
Here are some simple ways to begin to open the door of communication with our subconscious and resolve stressful reactions to change:
Practice deep breathing.
Breathe in for the count of 4, hold for the count of 4 and exhale to the count of 8. Deep breathing slows heart rate, reduces blood pressure and helps to normalize bodily functions. Practice deep breathing for 1-2 minutes 3 or 4 times a day. When you notice yourself feeling stressed, take a deep breath. Your attention automatically turns inward and we become more resilient to outside stress.
Check in with your body.
Doing a "mental body scan" helps to increase awareness of the physical discomforts in the body. This conscious awareness promotes communication between the body and the messages it is trying to send to the mind.
Notice your emotions.
Emotions are our roadmap to life. They let us know when we are acting in accord with our values. Inner conflict occurs when we perceive our values are being violated; by ourselves or others.
Prioritize your time.
Spend your time, money and energy on what is most important to you. Make a list of your most important values and goals and focus on achieving these. You will experience inner conflict when your energy is being spent in other areas.
Take baby steps toward change.
Your goal may initially feel like climbing Mt. Everest! Step back, take a deep breath and begin with the smallest of changes. Studies show effective and long lasting change begins with small, realistic steps. These steps over time add up to big strides in climbing that mountain and add to our feelings of self control and empowerment.
Change is an opportunity for you to learn something new about yourself. It can provide the chance to accomplish a wonderful goal. You can learn to use all the fantastic knowledge and experience you've acquired throughout your life to create the life you desire.
Hypnotherapy teaches you how to access the power of your subconscious mind. If you are interested in exploring your own untapped potential or creating quick, positive change, consider hypnotherapy as a short-cut to achieving success.
Suzy Walz, RN, BSN, CCHt.
Suzy's Website
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Save the Date
The CAP annual meeting and seminar will be Nov. 15, 2008. The topic will be: "Safeguarding Your Private Practice". Be smart. Learn the do's and don'ts to safely work as a non-licensed psychotherapist in Colorado. See you Nov. 15th. Click here to register. |
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Free Publicity for Your Practice
Can you write well about your area of expertise? Then spread the word about your practice by contributing an article of approximately 500 words to this CAP newsletter on a topic that would be of general interest to CAP membership, such as the article on Facing Change by Suzy Walz in this issue. Your email or website link will be included with the byline.
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CAP Board
of Directors
President
Edward Robb, CCHt.
(303)733-9962
ed@edwardcrobb.com
Vice-President
Suzy Walz, RN, BSN, CCHt.
Whole Health Hypnotherapy
1552 Bergen Parkway
Evergreen, CO 80439
(303) 674-1191
oohsusana@gmail.com
Treasurer
Greg McHugh
303.995.4276
Fax-303 733.2064
gregmchughcht@earthlink.net
General Board members
Steven Blakely
303-913-8370
Steven.Blakely@
Transformations.net
Jennifer Welch
303-393-1062
jensnote@gmail.com
Nancy Harris
303-692-9092
nancy.r.harris@gte.net
Kristin Henning, CCHt
5881 S. Nederland Circle
Centennial, CO 80015
720-979-6601
kristin@mindhypnotherapy.com |
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