AAMFT

From DC: Update on MFT inclusion in Medicare and school programs

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I’m at the AAMFT Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, where Division leaders from across the country have spent the last three days visiting our federal representatives. Priorities this year include Medicare inclusion and adding MFTs as named providers within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (otherwise known as No Child Left Behind). Before I go to the details on the visits, some words of praise: this was the first time that AAMFT’s California Division and CAMFT, an independent organization of California MFTs, have combined efforts on their federal advocacy visits, and it went swimmingly. CAMFT’s lobbyist and leaders were kind, cooperative and helpful throughout, and I hope their experience of AAMFT was similar. Legislators and their staff people seemed impressed with the level of cooperation. As to the key issues, here is where we currently stand:

Medicare. As we were starting our second day of hill visits to California representatives on Thursday, we were greeted with bad news: the inclusion of MFTs as providers under Medicare, which had been part of the House health care reform package but not the Senate package, was pulled out of the reconciliation bill that will be voted on as early as next week. There is a slim chance that MFT inclusion in Medicare could still be accomplished this year through a different piece of legislation, but at this point that appears unlikely. On a more positive note, though, there remains significant bipartisan support in both chambers for adding MFTs in Medicare, as it would improve access to mental health care for seniors and those with disabilities. For a video of Senator John Barrasso (R – Wyoming) discussing the importance of this issue, click here.

School programs. MFTs can provide services to school populations under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), but because we are under the somewhat vague category of “other providers,” most programs do not seek to include MFTs when they apply for federal grant funding under ESEA. Adding MFTs as specifically named providers would improve the availability of behavioral health services for children. It also comes at no cost, which is helpful in seeking bipartisan support. Currently, these changes are in a House bill (HR1710) that has sponsors from both parties. I always enjoy the Leadership Conference for the trips to the Hill as well as the opportunities to connect with divisions from around the country. I’ll have another update from the conference in the next few days.

California LPCC law passes; should MFTs dually license?

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Late in the evening of October 11, Governor Schwarzenegger signed California Senate Bill 788, adding Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCCs) to the state’s masters-level mental health professions, alongside MFTs and LCSWs. Licensure by grandparenting will take place over a six-month period in 2011, with routine licensure starting January 1, 2012. Should MFTs dually license?

For most, there would be no benefit, and significant added expense. Since licensure is inherently a state-based activity, there is no reason to believe that licensing as an LPCC will make one’s license more portable; in fact, a license obtained through grandparenting may have greater trouble getting recognized in another state. Add to that the still-unclear question of whether California will recognize national exams in counseling (national exams in MFT and Clinical Social Work are not recognized in the state), and the likelihood of a portability benefit grows even slimmer. The added expense of two renewal fees could be little more than wasted money.

There is, however, a legitimate reason why some MFTs may want to dually license: They want to reflect what their professional orientation has been all along. California was the first state in the US to license MFTs, and the last in the country to license LPCCs. As a result, some who work under the MFT license do so because that was the masters-level entry point into a career in mental health, and not because they particularly identify with systemic concepts. For those therapists, the Clinical Counselor license is probably a better fit.

They will not, however, want to switch over entirely. Counselors will enter the mental health marketplace in California more than four decades after MFTs did, and will need to fight for themselves every battle MFTs waged and won for recognition in hiring and reimbursement. They’ll be able to make up ground, but it will be many years before counselors can claim the kind of recognition and stature in the state that MFTs claim today, thanks to decades of good work by CAMFT and AAMFT.

Blogging the AAMFT Conference: Saturday

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Susan Johnson stole the show with her plenary presentation at the AAMFT Annual Conference in Sacramento today. Presenting without Powerpoint slides was itself refreshing, but she said several things in a far more eloquent manner than anyone else has this weekend. I’m paraphrasing, but here were a couple of my favorites:

  • Therapy needs higher goals than simply reducing conflict. We get better every day at actually creating new love and bonding.
  • Emotions have an exquisite logic to them that is not to be ignored or dismissed. For EFT or any other kind of therapy, clients should not expect that they need to leave their intellect at the door.
  • Connection with a partner soothes the brain. MRI studies show that an expectancy of shock is mediated when in physical contact with a partner.
  • When it comes to sex, research is clear: Practice *and* emotional connection make perfect.

The workshops I attended today were good informationally, but neither was put on by especially dynamic presenters. I learned about marital satisfaction instruments and online education, both of which are eminently practical — one of the things I like most about the conference.

The evening presentation by Dorothy Becvar was a nice review of the history of the field in terms of its concepts and contributions to mental health. A good (and brief) final plenary to a very good conference. I’ve heard that the other workshops were greatly varied this year in terms of quality, but that those that were good were incredibly good. The conference concludes tomorrow with a set of 3-hour workshops, including one I’ll be moderating on the licensing exam development process. More tomorrow.

Blogging the AAMFT Conference: Thursday/Friday

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Today was the first full day of the AAMFT Annual Conference, which is in my former hometown of Sacramento. It’s been great catching up with old friends, colleagues, and students — this event has become as much a reunion for me as an educational experience. Still, I’ve learned a lot. Here’s what I’ve learned last night and today:

  • We’ve come a long way. The opening plenary on Thursday night was an appreciation of the history of our field, and a celebration of finally accomplishing licensure in all 50 states. Bruce Kuehl did a great job with it, and I may be adding clips from this to the MFT Theories course next year.
  • I need to start a Facebook group. I’ll call it “MFTers for Changing MFTers for Change.” But then a subgroup would probably spring up to try to change my group, and I don’t want that kind of trouble.
  • Family systems and psychoanalytic principles are not mutually exclusive. Okay, to be fair I already knew that. But Richard Scwartz’s presentation of Internal Family Systems made me believe this more strongly than I had before.
  • COAMFTE accreditation matters. I already knew this too, but now I have more evidence to back it up. Jeff Larson was kind enough to fill in for Russ Crane, and Jeff joined Mary Moline and I in presenting a workshop on the things that set COAMFTE programs apart. Jeff handled curriculum, pointing out that MFTs are required by licensure laws to get far more education and experience in family therapy than any other profession. Mary took on public mental health, reviewing how the COAMFTE programs in California and around the country are uniquely positioned to integrate changes in public mental health approaches like the recovery orientation. And I took on licensure, pointing out that graduates of COAMFTE-accredited programs get further, faster in the licensure process and are more likely to pass their exams than graduates of non-COAMFTE programs.

Overall, the AAMFT Annual Conference has again earned its spot as the most valuable and rewarding continuing education event I attend during the year. More tomorrow.

On same-sex marriage, CAMFT stands quietly alone

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Around the country, state governments have wrestled with questions of how to best recognize relationship commitments among same-sex couples. To provide guidance and respond to questions from legislators and the public, most mental health organizations have developed clear and specific policy statements that show where the organizations stand:

Of course organizations of marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are uniquely qualified and well-positioned to address this issue. The positions we stake can be particularly important to policymakers.

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) went through a thoughtful, open process of debating the issue a few years ago. The result of that process is the following policy statement (emphasis mine):

AAMFT believes that all couples who willingly commit themselves to each other, and their children, have a right to expect equal support and benefits in civil society. Thus, we affirm the right of all committed couples and their families to legally equal benefits, protection, and responsibility.

That policy statement was developed through careful deliberation, member comments (about 800 pages’ worth), and importantly, a very extensive report (on their web site, but restricted to members) on the state of the research around same-sex couples and their children.

The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) has taken a very different approach to the question: Avoidance. Even after a great deal of member protest, at its most recent board meeting CAMFT only went so far as to put out a generic anti-discrimination statement that sidestepped any and all meaningful questions: Is refusal to allow same-sex marriage discrimination? Should same-sex parents be allowed to adopt and raise children? How does the term “marriage” relate to the work of MFTs, particularly our work with same-sex couples? They don’t say.

Officially, CAMFT’s refusal to step in has been on the grounds that it is not the best use of their resources. Get caught up in this social cause, the argument goes, and you wind up caught in many more, and they distract from the mission of the organization.

This is hogwash, of course. Professional associations in mental health usually have specific policies for addressing social issues, and processes for determining which social issues to get involved with. They understand that these issues need to be addressed, because social issues inherently impact the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The dilemma for CAMFT — and I’m guessing here, trying to give the benefit of the doubt — must revolve around whether to risk alienating a significant portion of their membership. MFTs come in many stripes, from those who adamantly support same-sex marriage and see it as a human rights issue, to those who just as adamantly believe marriage is a religious institution and therefore needs to be restricted. Take a stand on either side of the debate, and in an instant, you’ve shown a major portion of your membership that you do not share their value.

As a worker in an evidence-based field, I would hope that my colleagues would be willing to be guided by the best available research at the time. The policy statements of other organizations make it clear that they are trying to do just that, even over the objections of a portion of their membership. To be sure, each organization likely lost a few members when they took the stands they did. Silence, however, does not seem like the ideal answer.

CAMFT members are now pushing back, organizing petitions and trying to encourage change from within the organization — or, failing that, suggesting that therapists quit CAMFT entirely (here are just a few resignation letters to CAMFT). Since CAMFT board members were this year selected by a committee (the most recent member “election” was a perfunctory exercise, with only one candidate put on the ballot for each open position), such actions may be the only way members feel they can have a voice in the organization, short of actually serving on the board.

It is interesting that California, which was the first state to license MFTs, now houses the group of psychotherapists last to recognize the harm done by staying silent about what “marriage” means.

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A quick aside: I haven’t mentioned the American Counseling Association (ACA) here because I can’t quite tell where they stand. I found an obtuse reference to a 1997 resolution the organization debated, but I can’t find the resolution or indications of whether they adopted it or not. They do have an active division on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in counseling, which by itself is a step above CAMFT on the issue.