- Home
- News & Events
- Newsletter - Current
- 2025-11 Newsletter
The Redwood Empire Therapist
RECAMFT's Online Newsletter
November 2025
Please note: our new email address is info@recamft.org.
This month's event. Mark your calendars! Friday, Nov. 7th, 9 am "Treating Binge Eating with Self-Compassion: A Trauma Informed Approach" 
Presented by Erica Thomas, LMFT
|
"The Role of Family in the Recovery Process: Understanding How Family Involvement Can Impact Recovery" Presented by Jason A Wilson, PsyD, LPC 2 CEs, on Zoom 9 AM to 11:15 AM When discussing the treatment process for substance use addiction including dual-diagnosis, the focus is often on the individual who is suffering from addiction. However, it is important to understand how the family can play a part in the recovery process. More... This presentation is designed for clinicians who may have limited experience working with addiction and the dynamics that are involved when taking the family into consideration. Dr. Jason Wilson, PsyD, LPC is a 21 year Navy Veteran who has been focused on helping people in recovery for 10 years. He completed his Bachelor's at UCLA, Master’s at Capella University, became a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and continued on to finish his Doctorate in Psychology. He worked at VA hospitals as an addictions therapist before becoming a Clinical Supervisor for a private treatment facility. He left that position to become the Clinical Director with his current facility overseeing the clinical team of therapists and overall program functioning. |
Fri., Dec. 5th, 9 AMSAVE the DATE! Fri., Jan. 9th, in-person event in Petaluma!!
RECAMFT's 51st Annual Membership Meeting including lunch, networking, and
2-CE training:
"From Shame to Intimacy: Helping Clients Build Connections in a Burnt Out World"
Presented by
Author David Khalili, LMFT,
Board-Certified Sexologist
- Petaluma Community Center (in Lucchesi Park)
- Meeting Room 1, recently remodeled, and facing the lovely pond area with ducks
- 320 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, ample parking
- 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
- Training begins promptly at 9:30 AM. Please arrive by 9:00 to register.
- Box lunch provided. Please select from salad or sandwich options when you register (Greek salad option is vegetarian).
- Seating is limited. Please register now to save your space!
This event will not be live-streamed nor recorded. If you'd like to participate, please join us in Petaluma on January 9th! Open to RECAMFT members and non-member therapists.
Networking Activity - We will be engaging in a fun activity based on interests to make connections and build relationships. When you register, you'll choose from these topics:
- Trauma
- Kids and teens
- Couples
- IFS
- EMDR
- Neurodivergence
- LGBTQ
- Sex and intimacy
- Open Topic
"From Shame to Intimacy: Helping Clients Build Connections in a Burnt Out World"
with author David Khalili, LMFT, Board-Certified Sexologist
This 2-hour workshop will equip therapists with essential tools to guide their clients toward deeper connection. The training will explore strategies for identifying needs and pleasure, fostering comfort in discussing sex, and collaboratively creating new sexual expectations. This training integrates a biopsychosocial approach to assessing sexual concerns with relational interventions, empowering mental health professionals to effectively support clients navigating intimacy in today's demanding world. Participants will enhance their clinical skills and help clients move from shame to authentic intimacy.
David F Khalili, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist, board-certified sexologist, and founder of Rouse Relational Wellness, a boutique couples and sex therapy center in San Francisco. He’s authored Mental Health Workbook for Men and Sex Worriers: A Mindfully Queer Guide for Men’s Anxiety to Sex and Dating to enhance men's relationships with themselves and others.
Featured member
Did you miss the BBS-MANDATED 3 CE Telehealth course?
Telehealth: Law & Ethics, Technology, and Best Practices for Connecting with Your Clients with Dr. Lisa Wenninger, PhD, LPCC, BC-TMH Catch it on video here, and get your mandated 3 Telehealth CEs. Return to top
RECAMFT's Mission Statement The purpose of RECAMFT is to promote and maintain professional competence and integrity with knowledge, innovation, compassion, humor and respect for human dignity and diversity. We do this by providing opportunities for networking, education and community outreach for our members. (Note: "For our members" was added to the Mission Statement by the Bylaws Task Force on May 19, 2025). | Dear RECAMFT Community: Starting in 2013 I became involved with the “Save CAMFT” movement which transformed the CAMFT Board. I served our CAMFT Board as a Director at Large, Secretary, President Elect, President (2017-18) and Past President (twice because one Past President left the Board, and I was appointed). About five years ago my colleague, Dr. Laura Strom, LMFT, encouraged me to run as a Director at Large on our RECAMFT Board. That led to becoming our RECAMFT President in 2024 during our 50th Anniversary celebration. I’m now at the close of a very long chapter with just two short months left as part of our local Board serving as your Past President. Service to RECAMFT and CAMFT has led to one of the most influential periods of my life. I’ve met colleagues from all over California. I was able to travel to Washington, DC, and Sacramento to lobby for LMFTs. Attending CAMFT’s Annual Conferences and Fall Symposiums, I’ve had the privilege of hearing some of our field’s most outstanding speakers. My life has truly been enriched through my volunteering with both organizations, and especially by the relationships I’ve developed along the way. Our field attracts some of the most intelligent, empathetic, kind people Our organization has a multitude of ways to volunteer, from micro to macro, and everything in between. You can dip in one toe by just helping with one event. Or you can join a committee, and lend your voice and creative thinking. Lastly, you can take on a board position, knowing your decisions help guide our profession. But to get the benefits, you have to start somewhere. Email info@recamft.org and let us know if you can help for an hour, a day, or more. You’ll be so glad you did. I’d like to thank my colleagues at the RECAMFT Board for their support of me along the way. I have had a lot of fun, and we’ve done some great events and work on behalf of our members. I’m so proud of being part of RECAMFT which I can honestly say is one of the very best chapters of CAMFT. I know this to be true, speaking as a CAMFT Past President. Make 2026 the year you volunteer at RECAMFT. You won’t regret it. Kind regards, Dr. Bob Casanova, PsyD, LMFT 2024 President, RECAMFT.org 2017-18 President, CAMFT.org Photo: Tara D'Orazio, LMFT, RECAMFT's CFO with Bob Casanova, PsyD, LMFT, 2024 RECAMFT President at Sonoma County Pride, 2024.
Please note: our new email address is info@recamft.org.
 Are you creative? Please join us for our Crafting Group! Bring any craft you like, get on Zoom with us and visit with your colleagues while we knit, sew, paint, draw, cook, create, etc. (Note: No Crafting Circle in April.) Join us at our next meeting:
Dec. 2025 Issue of The RECAMFT Therapist! December is HIV/AIDS Awareness and Universal Human Rights Month. It is also National Drunk and Drugged (3D) Driving Awareness Month. See more here. We especially welcome submissions where awareness themes intersect with mental health. Please send your submission (500 word max) to info@recamft.org by the 15th. Questions? info@recamft.org. Return to top |
Click 
imaginable. Becoming involved with our associations broadens your life as you interact with colleagues, many of whom will become friends. If you’ve felt stuck at home since the pandemic, volunteering to serve our profession will enrich your life. 
Dr. Bob Casanova, PsyD, LMFT is the Past President of RECAMFT's 
Call for Submissions for the 
|
FREE to Members - Visit our On-Demand CE Video Library!
Multiple new ONLINE offerings! Find all the latest here (including 6 CEs Law & Ethics)
Check it out! RECAMFT's On-Demand CE Library link: https://recamft.thinkific.com/
Catch "Mental Wellness in the Digital Age with Julie Frumin, LMFT" (on-demand)
This 1.5 hour, 1.5-CE training with Julie Frumin offers mental health interventions around the impact of technology, devices, and social media use on mental health.
- To see a preview of Mental Wellness in the Digital Age with Julie Frumin, LMFT... click here.
Members - you can access recordings of our zoom events from 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021 in our new on-demand library which has been migrated over to Thinkific (https://recamft.thinkific.com/).
- NEW! RECAMFT On-Demand Programs: https://recamft.thinkific.com
- NEW! RECAMFT discount codes are posted for members only here: https://www.recamft.org/member-discount-codes (requires sign-in using your RECAMFT member email/password)
Topic List
Addiction
- Attachment Infused Addiction Treatment Theory 2 CEs with Dr. Mary Crocker Cook, PhD, LMFT
Anxiety & Depression
- Identifying and Treating Imposter Syndrome 2 CEs with Stevon Lewis, LMFT
- Mental Wellness in the Digital Age 1.5 CEs with Julie Frumin, LMFT
-
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Evidence-Based Treatment Strategies That Work! 3 CEs with Dr. Robin Zasio, PsyD, LCSW
- Three Underlying Beliefs That Cause Anxiety and How to Change Them, A CBT Approach 2 CEs with Jennifer Shannon, LMFT
- Understanding Hoarding Disorder 1.5 CEs with Dr. Robin Zasio, PsyD, LCSW
Couples
- Part 1: Intro to PACT – Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy 2 CEs with Dr. Hans Stahlschmidt, PhD
Ketamine
- Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy: Update on a Transformative Treatment Option 2 CEs with Evolve Mind Wellness Staff
- Telehealth: Law & Ethics, Technology, and Best Practices for Connecting with Your Clients 3 CEs, with Dr. Lisa Wenninger, PhD, LPCC
- How to Write a 10-Minute Treatment Plan 3 CEs, with Barbara Griswold, LMFT.
- What Should be in Your Notes, But Probably Isn't 3 CEs, with Barbara Griswold, LMFT.
LGBTQ+
- Affirmative Family Therapy with Gender Diverse People and Their Loved Ones 2 CEs, with Dr. Shawn Giammattei, PhD
- Working with Dissociative Disorders & Plural Communities 4 CEs, with Serenity Serseción, PhD, LMFT
- How Sexuality Influences the Clinical Picture for Female Clients, 2 CEs with Dr. Jenn Kennedy, PhD, LMFT
Neuro-Biological
- The Neurodiversity Paradigm: Autistic & ADHDer Adults 3 CEs with Katy Higgins Lee, LMFT
- Transforming Trauma: The NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) 3 CEs with Brad Kammer, LMFT
Members can watch the video, pass the test, fill out the evaluation, and download your certificate. It's that easy! You can earn CEs for any recorded event if you didn't already earn CEs from the live event. And our RECAMFT Thinkific platform keeps track of all your CEs and Certificates! Return to top
Welcome back, RECAMFT community! We are so excited to share some of the upcoming monthly CE events. RECAMFT Zoom presentations
Are you interested in seeing what we have coming up? Consider microvolunteering with the Programs & Conferences Committee! Microvolunteering opportunities: providing support at in person CE events; driving outreach to potential speakers for CE events; writing up a short article about each presentation for the newsletter ("What You Missed"), and more! Reach out to info@recamft.org if you have ideas of how you'd like to help out. Gwendolyn Watson, LMFT, she/her Programs Chair Programs & Conferences Committee RECAMFT Director at Large RECAMFT's Racial and Social Justice Pledge
We strive to advocate, educate, collaborate, and strategize for positive racial and social justice change within our membership and our community. Check out RECAMFT's Library page for books authored by our members! Have you written a book? Be sure to let us know so we can include it on our Library page. Email info@recamft.org.
| Attend our next Prelicensed Meet & Greet in Petaluma, Nov. 7th! Greetings Prelicensed RECAMFT members! Please join us for our second prelicensed networking event in Petaluma on Friday, Nov. 7th, 2025, 5-7 pm at Life on Art Workspace. This is an opportunity to network and build community with fellow prelicensed clinicians. Soft drinks and snacks will be provided. Please find additional event information online and be sure to register. I also want to thank the members of our prelicensed committee. We are looking forward to hosting additional events in 2026 and are planning a panel discussion about different career paths prelicensed members can pursue in mid February. Other events will include additional networking opportunities, as well as specialized events with topics including preparing for licensure, and other community building activities like a book club and outdoor events. If you have any questions or concerns about the road to licensure, and how RECAMFT can help, or want to connect with Brian, please email info@recamft.org.
Chair, Prelicensed Committee RECAMFT Director at Large Scholarships for Pre-Licensed andNewly Licensed Members |
Last Call for Nominations!
Members! Your SHORT DESCRIPTION is the most important thing on your profile.
|
Upcoming events
| Featured member
If you are not currently enrolled in the listserv, please email therapy@recamft.org and ask to be added. You have the option of setting up your account to be
After you have been added to the listserv, you can change the way you receive the emails to any of the above choices. In Gmail the emails will appear under your Forums tab. To send an email to the listserv, simply address your email to recamft@groups.io If you do not want to be on our listserv, you can delete your account or write to info2recamft.org and ask to not be a part of the listserv. But we urge you to give it a try. You are missing out on a ton of meaningful collaboration with your colleagues. We hope you will enjoy being part of our online community! Please note: our new email address is info@recamft.org. |
Our listserv has around 400 members on it, and is active daily with great conversations, resources, offerings, in search of, books, movies, office rentals, jobs, internships, etc. You can view the home page of our listserv at
Contact info@recamft.org to advertise a job. Featured member |
Photo of the April 2025 Board meeting by Tara D'Orazio, she/her. |
Featured member |
Find out more about advertising with RECAMFT here. Please note: our new email address is info@recamft.org. |
We Need You! Jobs for Awesome Volunteers
We need help with
Please send an email to info@recamft.org if you can help. | This month we'd like to thank the following awesome volunteers who, in addition to our Board of Directors, are helping us plan future events! Prelicensed Committee - next event Nov. 7th! Membership / Networking Committee - in-person event planned for Dec. 5th! Thank you to our volunteers who help make RECAMFT great! |
Treating Binge Eating with Self-Compassion: A Trauma-Informed Approach
by Erica Thomas, LMFT
As the holidays approach, conversations about food, body image, and self-control often grow louder, both in our clients’ lives and in our therapy rooms. Even those who don’t meet the criteria for binge eating disorder may find themselves overeating, feeling out of control around food, or slipping into the familiar cycle of guilt and restriction that tends to accompany the holiday season.
For therapists, it can be challenging to know how to help clients navigate these patterns with sensitivity. We may feel torn between offering practical strategies and addressing the deeper emotions that drive them. That is where a trauma-informed, self-compassionate approach can make all the difference.
Beyond “Willpower”: understanding the need beneath the behavior
In Treating Binge Eating with Self-Compassion: A Trauma-Informed Approach, I’ll invite clinicians to explore what happens when we look at overeating not as a lapse in willpower, but as a moment of coping. Many clients who struggle with binge eating or emotional eating are doing their best to soothe distress that feels too big or too painful to manage. Food becomes the safest, most accessible way to self-regulate.
When we approach this behavior through the lens of self-compassion, we help clients see that their eating makes sense in the context of their lived experience. This shift alone can reduce shame and open the door to real healing.
Bringing compassion into the therapy room
Bringing compassion into the therapy room is not only about helping clients be kinder to themselves, it is about creating a relational space where safety can be felt. Our compassionate presence acts as co-regulation, allowing clients to stay connected to their bodies and emotions without becoming overwhelmed. When clients sense that their pain is held with warmth rather than judgment, the nervous system begins to trust again.
In my November 7th RECAMFT workshop, we will explore:
- How shame fuels the binge-restrict cycle, and how to interrupt it with self-kindness.
- Practical language and in-session tools to help clients build emotional safety.
- How to honor protective coping strategies while gently inviting new possibilities.
- Ways therapists can cultivate their own self-compassion when feeling stuck, frustrated, or unsure.
Beyond problem-solving: the power of leading with compassion
The holiday season often amplifies issues of control, belonging, and comfort, especially for those with histories of trauma or emotional dysregulation. Family dynamics, social gatherings, and cultural pressure around food and body image often trigger unhealthy habits.
When clients bring food struggles into the therapy room, many of us instinctively start with behavior change. We want to offer tools and strategies to help them feel more in control. But with food and body concerns, this approach can backfire. Clients who already carry shame about their eating may hear even gentle suggestions as criticism. Leading with compassion instead of solutions communicates safety first, creating space for insight and lasting change.
Whether you work with clients diagnosed with binge eating disorder or simply see more food-related distress around the holidays, this training will equip you with a trauma-informed, compassionate lens to guide your work. You will leave with practical interventions and renewed empathy, for your clients and for yourself.
Erica Thomas, LMFT, (she/her) was RECAMFT's 2018 President. Erica specializes in helping individuals heal their relationship with food, body, and self through the practice of self-compassion. Her work is informed by the self-compassion research of Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer, Internal Family Systems, mindfulness, and trauma-informed principles. She is the creator of Heal Emotional Eating with Self-Compassion and teaches courses and workshops designed to bring more kindness and safety into the healing process.She has a private practice specializing in teens and families.
Link to our Therapy Groups page and a PDF of current offerings - RECAMFT.ORG/Therapy-Groups CLICK HERE to learn more about local group offerings, and payment to advertise your group. 
|
|
 We are deeply grateful to Kitty Chelton, LMFT for serving for two years as RECAMFT's President. She served in both 1994 and 1995. Kitty specializes in somatics and is a supervisor at Lomi Clinic. She has a double BA in physics and biology, and two masters degrees: biophysics and counseling psychology. We are lucky we had her brains serving us! Thank you, Kitty!!
Photo by Lomi Clinic. |
Thank you for reading this month's newsletter! RECAMFT is great because of involved members like you!! Please note: our new email address is info@recamft.org. |
Are you looking for help? Find therapists offering free natural disaster and crisis sessions here. Please check out MySonomaStrong.com. Visit the NAMI Warmline. Take a trauma-informed yoga class. We will recover together! ¿Buscas ayuda? Encuentre terapeutas que ofrezcan sesiones gratuitas de crisis y desastres naturales aquí. Visite MySonomaStrong.com. Visite la NAMI Warmline. Toma una clase de yoga informada sobre el trauma. ¡Nos recuperaremos juntos!
Redwood Empire Chapter of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists |
