TABLE of CONTENTS

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Monthly event President's message Board of Directors meeting CARE Circle Crafting Group Ethics Roundtable Listserv updates Members CE Library Members Messages - Jenny Patterson-Kerr More upcoming events Past President's Notepad Prelicensed Support Programs Committee Scholarships, Honors & Awards Supporters & Sponsors Telehealth Course Therapy Groups Listings Volunteer Corner

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). 

Sept. CARE Circle (Compassion, Acknowledgement, Recharge, Empower - formerly Compassion Fatigue) Support Group Meeting

Join us for the fun of Pride! Dress in your finest rainbows and don't miss our two 2026 Pride events!

Photo of Tara D'Orazio and Dr. Bob Casanova from previous Pride events. 

Dear RECAMFT Community: 

At a time when we see so much polarization and disconnection, I am reminded that in our work as therapists we often work with this through cultivating openness, tolerance, acceptance, curiosity and community.  At a recent gathering called “Drinks with Shrinks” one of the founders / “co-creators”, John Crowley, spoke about several programs that he works on to foster these characteristics.  “Petaluma Conversations – Bridging Social and Political Divides” ( https://aqus.com/talk/)  conducts  facilitated discussions on topics that tend toward polarization and tries to foster understanding and tolerance by bringing people with differing views together to talk, listen and connect.  “Join Something” is another idea created by John’s Aqus Community Foundation (https://aqus.com/) which promotes a number of different organizations and non-profits in the Petaluma area that need members and/or volunteers.  John and others who work with him in a number of different groups believe that bringing people together and having people work on something with a common interest is a way to create better connections and build stronger communities.  I believe that in our face-to-face human interactions we have that opportunity to connect and build a sense of belonging and community.  RECAMFT has been a sponsor of “Drinks with Shrinks” which meets twice a year at Life on Art in Petaluma – the next event will be in October – please check it out. https://aqus.com/drinkswithshrinks/

We have so many varied ways for you to engage with your RECAMFT Community this month!  Our Racial and Social Justice Committee is working hard to support our LGBTQ+ community through participation in the Sonoma County Pride Parade on June 6^th  and the Dyke March / Lez-a-Palooza street fair on June 21^st, along with sponsoring booths at both – you can march, you can make signs, you can table at our booths.  There is a co-working session to help you catch up on paperwork or projects on June 3^rd, and our monthly CE speaker meeting on June 5^th and board meeting on June 12^th. Our Makers Guild / Craft Group meets on June 12^th. We are having our first Movie Night, viewing “HER” followed by a discussion on AI relationships on June 18^th We have our quarterly Ethics Roundtable to discuss challenging situations on June 26^th.  See below regarding a Listening Session on June 29^th to get input and feedback about serving you better.

Building more engagement with our RECAMFT community has been a priority to which I and other board members are committed.  We even codified it in our Strategic Plan (https://www.recamft.org/Strategic-Plan).  We have heard that people want more opportunities to connect and have been working on new and varied offerings. Our membership committee has brainstormed and came up with lots of wonderful, fun, different ideas.  However, we need more help to make these offerings happen.  More and more we are seeing primarily board members attending committee meetings and implementing events.  We need HELP!  Here are some areas that I’d like to ask you to consider offering some time to help.

PROGRAMS Committee needs

Programs Co-chair:

• Work with the Programs Chair to bring in diverse and interesting presentations.
• Projected commitment: 1-2 hours a month every other month, plus 3 hours of event time on the month that is yours.  

Programs Advertising/ Social Media manager

• Work with the Programs committee to promote events.

• One hour per month.

Programs Non CE event Coordinator

• One hour per month plus time at the events one or two times per year.

Programs Committee Member

• One hour per month plus – support the committee and its members.

RACIAL and SOCIAL JUSTICE Committee needs

RSJC Members (Openings for 5+)

• One hour per month and a little more when we are involved in community events or launching a project.

MEMBERSHIP Committee needs

Social Media Volunteer

• Post monthly events to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.
• One hour per month.

Membership Committee Members (Openings for 6+)

• Participate in committee meetings.
• One hour per month, plus time to help set-up/run events as they are planned.  This is also opportunity for micro participation with helping on jobs for events (promotion, shopping, swag bags, set-up/take down, etc.).

Special Interest Groups (SIGs) – groups with a common interest such as couples work, kids, somatic, etc.

• Interest in starting or being part of a special interest group – be part of forming general guidelines for groups and how to promote them. One to two hours per month for start up – ongoing varies by group and frequency of meeting.

NEWSLETTER Committee Needs

Newsletter Assistant

• One to two hours a month.
• Work with Chair to put together the monthly online newsletter.

We also know that we do not have all the ideas or answers about how to engage more of you and draw you into participation.  So, I want to hear from you.  On June 29^th from 7 to 8:30 I will be on Zoom for a Listening Session to hear from you about how to support you better, what you need and want from RECAMFT and understand barriers to participation. So please drop in and share your thoughts.

        RECAMFT goes on a summer break in July and August, so I wish you an enjoyable summer with some good time for relaxing and recharging.  See you again in September!

Kindest regards, 

Pat Hromalik, LMFT

2026 RECAMFT President

Pat Hromalik, LMFT is the President of RECAMFT's Board of Directors. She has a private practice in Petaluma, CA.

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Please note: our new email address is info@recamft.org. 

How to edit your Short Description which appears in our Therapist Directory

in 4 easy steps! 

1. Log into your RECAMFT account.
2. On your profile page click the orange Edit Profile button.
3. On the Edit Profile page, scroll down near the bottom of the page to the Short Description (which is just above the Long Description). Make changes to it.
4. Click the orange SAVE button at the top of your profile. Now you will have a short description of your practice appearing in our directory!

Questions? info@recamft.org

Come join RECAMFT as we show our pride in June. 

• Saturday, June 6th - SoCo Pride
• Theme: Pride & true: Advance, Advocate, Act up
• Join us for the parade walk and booth shifts
• Register here.

Please join us for Sonoma County Pride on June 6th, both for the parade and staffing our booth. Find out more, including how to volunteer to help cover staffing schedules of the booth, and walk the parade when you register here. 

• Sunday, June 21st - Lez-A-Palooza
• Street Fair on the Square
• Join us for the march and booth shifts.
• Register here. 

Please join us for Lez-a-palooza Dyke March and Booth on Sunday, June 21st. Find out how you can volunteer for both the march and booth shifts.  Register here. 

(L-R) Emily Larkin, Past President and Tara D'Orazio, CFO attended CAMFT's Annual Conference in May and held a RECAMFT booth for attendees to puruse. Tara has recently been elected to the CAMFT Board of Directors as one of its three newest Directors at Large. Way to go, Tara, and thanks to both of you for making our chapter shine at the state level!

Exciting Prelicensed events planned for Fall 2026! 

Greetings Prelicensed RECAMFT members!

We had a  Prelicensed Meet & Greet on Friday, April 24th, 2026 from 5-7 pm at Brew Coffee & Beer House in Santa Rosa. We will plan to do this again in the fall. We hope to have a job fair this fall as well. 

I'm happy to tell you the RECAMFT Board appointed a 

 Prelicensed Director at Large! She will represent the prelicensed point of view on our Board. Please welcome Angela Sanville, AMFT and congratulate her on this appointment! 

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.

Brian Crites, LMFT, he/him

Chair, Prelicensed Committee

RECAMFT Director at Large

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Scholarships, Honors and Awards

Scholarships for Pre-Licensed and

Newly Licensed Members

We’re offering two scholarships to support our pre-licensed and newly licensed members:

• The Joe & Pamela Ward Memorial Scholarship offers three $1,000 awards and a free RECAMFT membership. Deadline: May 30, 2026.

• The Tzedakah Scholarship, in partnership with Therapist Development Center (TDC), offers $250 toward exam prep materials. Winners are drawn monthly through the end of 2026.

Learn more and apply at recamft.org/scholarship    Return to top

Hello RECAMFT community! We are so excited to share some of the upcoming monthly CE events.

RECAMFT Zoom presentations

• June - Ashley Green - Narcissism
• No meeting July / August
• September - Brian Crites and Litza Tanner, CBT topic
• October - Daniella Saporta - Expressive Arts Therapy
• November - Dene Carrol - Supporting Couples through separation
• December - Kara Cruz - Supporting Penopause (male menopause)

We are reviewing applications for presentations to be scheduled for Spring 2027. Please submit an application if you have a presentation idea to info@recamft.org.

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.

We look forward to another year of bringing you quality, enriching presentations which support your professional growth and development.

With gratitude,

Gwendolyn Watson, LMFT, she/her

Programs Chair

Programs & Conferences Committee

RECAMFT Director at Large

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RECAMFT's Racial and Social Justice Pledge

RECAMFT is committed to equity including addressing structural racism and systemic injustice. We endeavor to be inclusive and value individuals from all ethnicities, ages, races, sexual orientations, genders, languages, abilities, religions, citizenship statuses, and socioeconomic backgrounds into our chapter and into treatment.

We strive to advocate, educate, collaborate, and strategize for positive racial and social justice change within our membership and our community.

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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 https://groups.io/g/recamft.

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 

• Read individual emails
• Read a digest of 12 emails
• Or read online only

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 info@recamft.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! 

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• President welcomed the Board to our meeting. 
• The Board is still trying to decide on a date / time for the annual day-long Board Retreat which will be held this summer. 
• The President reported the first Walk & Talk with the President(s) event was a great success. She is planning for the next to be held at Spring Lake Park in the near future. 
• The Scholarship Committee has been asked to work with a potential sponsor who has offered a scholarship for prelicensed members who work in the field of addiction. Details will be discussed and brought back to the Board for consideration. 
• The Board hopes the upcoming Movie Night in Sebastopol will be well attended by our members. 
• Past President Emily Larkin thanked Brian Crites and Jenny Patterson-Kerr for their help cleaning up and organizing our storage facility. 
• Tara D'Orazio and Emily Larkin held a chapter table at CAMFT's Annual Conference, and were very happy with having made about 25 contacts around the state of people interested in finding out more about RECAMFT. See pictures elsewhere in this newsletter. 
• Emily Larkin reported she held a discussion group table at Drinks with Shrinks in May and it was very well received. She feels we should continue to do this sort of community outreach. 
• CFO Tara D'Orazio reported we are in a better financial position this year than we were at this time last year. She is considering offering some educational talks to members about managing money. 
• Programs Chair Gwen Watson discussed a planned CE event for the fall, and it was decided to offer the event which will be an experiential art therapy program, 3 CEs. 
• Membership Committee is exploring offering Special Interest Groups (SIGs), which will be small groups for people interested in a special topic, such as couples work, art therapy, spirituality in psychotherapy, etc. If you are interested in a special topic, or offering a group, please write info@recamft.org and let us know. 
• Winners of the Joe & Pamela Ward Memorial Scholarships will be announced soon. 
• Prelicensed Committee Chair, Brian Crites, is planning a fall event on starting a private practice. 
• Sponsorship Committee is exploring several interested sponsors. 
• Racial and Social Justice Committee has two events planned for June. Please see the Current Events page for links to Pride on June 6th and Dyke March & Lez-A-Palooza on June 21st
• During the Open Forum the President noted we have still "not cracked the member engagement nut" and the Board discussed ways to encourage members to volunteer.  
• Note: Board meeting Agendas and Minutes are available on the Members Only page. 

Photo of the May 2026 Zoom Board meeting by Laura Strom.

• Top L-R:  Jean Hayes, Director at Large (DAL) / Membership Co-Chair; Laura Strom, Secretary; Emily Larkin, Past President;  
• 2nd row L-R: Tara D'Orazio, CFO; Gwen Watson, DAL / Programs Chair; Brian Crites, DAL / Prelicensed Committee Chair; 
• 3rd row L-R:  Pat Hromalik, President; Elle Saunders, DAL;  Jessica Heaney, President Elect; 
• Not shown: Angela Sanville, Prelicensed Director at Large (DAL); Jenny Patterson-Kerr, DAL

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Can you help? Jobs for Awesome Volunteers

PROGRAMS Committee needs

Programs Co-chair:

·  Work with the Programs Chair to bring in diverse and interesting presentations.

·  Projected commitment: 1-2 hours a month every other month, plus 3 hours of event time on the month that is yours.  

Programs Advertising/ Social Media manager

·  Work with the Programs committee to promote events

·   One hour per month.

 

Programs Non CE event Coordinator

· One hour per month plus time at the events one or two times per year.

 

Programs Committee Member

·  One hour per month plus – support the committee and its members

 

RACIAL and SOCIAL JUSTICE Committee needs

 

RSJC Members (Openings for 5+)

·  One hour per month and a little more when we are involved in community events or launching a project.

 

MEMBERSHIP Committee needs

Social Media Volunteer

·  Post monthly events to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.

·  One hour per month

Membership Committee Members (Openings for 6+)

·  Participate in committee meetings

·  One hour per month

Please send an email to info@recamft.org if you can help.     

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Got a sticky problem?

Come discuss it confidentially with your colleagues at our next Ethics Roundtable

Not consultation, just a great way to get some ideas about how to handle your sticky case. Friendly and open group.  Learn more here.

• Fri., June. 26th, 2026
• 10:00 to 11:30 am
• Zoom
• Register here.

Hosted by Gina Culver, LMFT, she/they. Thank you, Gina! 

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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. 

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