When I’m considering my vote for professional leadership, my test is pretty simple: What has the candidate actually done for our field? Therapists are great at talking about problems. We’re often not so great at actually rolling up our sleeves, fighting where we need to, and creating real, tangible changes.
I’m proudly endorsing Curt Widhalm and Robin Andersen in their campaigns for CAMFT board positions because they pass the What Have You Actually Done test with flying colors. They are best suited to create the real changes our profession needs to survive and advance.
Curt saw a need for new therapists to be better informed about the reality of working as an MFT. So he and Katie Vernoy (the current CAMFT President-Elect) created The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide, a podcast that has now produced more than 90 episodes, with listenership across the globe. Together, Curt and Katie also saw a need for a whole new kind of professional conference, one with a more diverse set of presenters, speaking to energetic and entrepreneurial therapists. They created Therapy Reimagined.
Robin, meanwhile, saw too many prelicensed colleagues struggling to find adequately paid positions — something that I’m deeply concerned about as well. So she created Prelicensed.com. It’s a comprehensive resource for California prelicensed therapists to learn about working in the field before licensure. It includes a job board that will only post positions that actually pay. Robin is campaigning on a promise to gain full voting rights for CAMFT’s prelicensed members — a change that is long overdue.
Curt and Robin both have been involved in local CAMFT chapter leadership, because they understand that change starts locally. They’ve helped make their chapters more active, vibrant, useful, and successful.
This is the kind of change we need.
We need fighters with proven track records of change. Of innovation. Of having much more than a vision, because we all have a vision. Curt and Robin have shown that they have wisdom and tenacity to see it through.
I proudly endorse Curt Widhalm in his run for CAMFT President-Elect, and Robin Andersen in her campaign for CAMFT Director at Large.
If you’re a CAMFT member, please vote in this year’s election. Ballots are due back by March 21, 2019.
[Full disclosure: Ben Caldwell Labs has had business relationships with both candidates. We’re a sponsor for The Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide, and I spoke at last year’s Therapy Reimagined Conference. We also have had a shared content agreement with Prelicensed.com. Neither candidate paid for or provided any other consideration in exchange for these endorsements.]