Web MD article supporting relationships

http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/relationships-marriage-and-health?page=2

Trained In One State, Licensed In Another. How to get licensed in a state different from where you got your degree.

Trained In One State, Licensed In Another.

How to get licensed in a state different from where you got your degree.

When I moved from Connecticut to California my plan was simple enough. I was going to get my PhD in clinical psychology from an APA accredited school, then move back home and start my career. Things got a little bit more complicated when I changed my mind about my career path less than a year later, and realized that I wanted to be a marriage and family therapist. Yes, things did get more complicated because my preferred educational institution was not COAMFTE accredited. As cited on the AAMFT web site:

The Commission of Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education is a specialized accrediting body that accredits master's degree, doctoral degree, and post-graduate degree clinical training programs in marriage and family therapy throughout the United States and Canada. Since 1978, the COAMFTE has been recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) as the national accrediting body for the field of marriage and family therapy. (AAMFT 2011)

In Connecticut, one needs to have graduated from a COAMFTE accredited school, or from a program that meets COAMFTE criteria (CT CPH). As in many other states, if one has a degree from a non-COAMFTE accredited school, one must provide syllabus and course description documentation sufficient enough to convince board reviewers that the criteria have been met.  This also means that the clinical hours and supervision criteria for pre-graduate practicum must have been met and, subsequently, post graduate internship have to be completed in the licensing state, according to state criteria. 

While I mentioned recently that this made my projected career path more complication, it did not feel this way at the time because, as I enthusiastically started my new training program in advanced standing, feeling proud that I was gong to get a terminal degree which would allow me to have the carer I wanted without 5-7 years of graduate school in a PhD program - I had absolutely no idea whatsoever about how convoluted it would be to get my education approved in another state, not could I have anticipated the intricate labyrinth of state policy and statutes that i would bewilderingly stumble through. 

I believe I was coming to the end of my 2nd year of the 3 year Masters in Counseling Psychology program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Like several other graduate schools in CA at that time, while ITP was not COAMFTE accredited if met criteria for licensure in California. So, knowing how steeped the history of marriage and family therapy is in The Golden State, I thought what many had figured. Indeed, I believed what I was told by teachers and mentors, that if you could get licensed in CA, you could get licensed anywhere. Well one could imagine my surprise when I thought that I would just check things out before registering for the courses of my last year in graduate school.  The first thing that I learned was that one could not make up courses after they had graduated in order to meet Connecticut criteria. So, then I had to compare my course curricula to those specified on the CT DPH web site.  Before even making my assessment, I needed to convert my school’s trimester credits to (more standard) semester credits. I learned that I needed to add a couple of courses to my program of study. Then I learned that while CA only required 500 LMFT supervised hours of pre-graduate practicum,  Connecticut needed 1000. I needed to continue graduate school even thought I had met the criteria to graduate, in order to ensure that I could continue my career in Connecticut. This meant working over-time at multiple practicum placements if I did not want to delay graduation. 

If I in any way led the reader to believe that finding this information was easy, let me take the opportunity to clarify. In an age where we are used to finding out everything we need to know through the Internet, one will swiftly encounter disappointment when attempting to research licensure out of graduate school for a different state. Most state licensing boards refer to state statutes for many critical pieces of information, such as ... what an approved supervisor is, and what the ratio of group to individual supervision is. Moreover, the definition of individual or group supervisor can actually vary, for example, some states refer to individual supervision as 2 or less supervises with one supervisor, but not all states agree on this. 

Also, language can vary. What one state calls a pre-graduate practicum, another may call an internship, and what one state refers to as an internship, another state may call post-graduate practicum. I had to find out through a phone call with CT DPH that courses could not be made up after graduating. This critical piece of information was on available   in the licensing criteria published on the state web site, nor was it anywhere i could find in the several related state statutes that I read in my preparation. 

While this information was cumbersome it’s acquisition, it made my licensure in Connecticut feasible. Moreover, I knew more about the licensure process than my counterparts in the state while I was accruing my post-graduate experience subsequently getting my license. To anyone considering graduate school in a place other than the state where they wish to get licensed for marriage and family therapy, I would suggest the following guidelines. 

1. Research statutes: This means finding your state board’s regulatory web site and looking up the criteria for licensure. I also means looking up the relates state statutes and reading them over for any details that might pertain to your program; One should also call and ask any questions not addressed in the specified criteria or relates statutes. I knew my contact at the DPH by first name. I called her often, and we exchanged emails when I needed clarification several times. It is never too early to start this one, I would recommend doing this before even committing to your graduate program.
2. Customize Your Curriculum: If you completed number 1 early, you might  just pick a COAMFTE accredited program. If, as I did, you want a specialized program and are willing to take extra steps to get licensed, then work closely with you school’s registrar from the start to plan out a custom curriculum. Make sure your school will allow it. Most would would probably not have a problem in your wanting to register for more classes, especially since it may mean having to pay increased or extend tuition. 
3. Be prepared: Save multiple copies of your proof of your pre-graduate practicum forms. Also save a copy of your course catalogues with course descriptions for each year. Save a copy of each course syllabus. Get the forms signed for the state that you will get licensed in. I had them signed in California, asked the chair of the program to keep an extra copy on file, and then kept my copy in a safe for 2 years. Do not be surprised if your state licensing board wants pre-graduate practicum documents, and course curriculum, send directly from your school. 

Becoming an LMFT is an enriching, thrilling, and wonderful endeavor. One should take measures to ensure that the hard work it requires is not done in vain.  This article is an effort to help those planning to get licensed in a state other than that where they receive their graduate training, to do so with as few unwanted surprises as possible. By following these guidelines most people should have an easier, and smoother time planning out their career and path towards MFT licensure. 

How do you maintain mood over the lean months of Winter?

You’ve given dozens of merry wishes, heard just as many good tidings, maybe even have had the joy of unwrapping a desired gift from your wish list, or tried to hide your disappointment when it wasn't what you expected. Before you could catch your breath from all of that... the words “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” barrels across the globe and rattle’s your skull - and the next thing you know it’s 2012!

That would be great except for the fact that, if you are like many people, you have just spent the past three months wrapped up in celebrating holiday after holiday since  Halloween. You may have taken your only vacation from work until summertime, if you’re lucky. Now it’s all over. You may feel as though you have nothing to look forward to except three more months of winter, snow storms, doing your taxes, getting used to writing “2012”, and maybe valentines day. Now you have to cope with life going back to “business as usual.”  

Many people begin to feel what I am calling the Post-December Doldrums in early January. Over the past three months we have been riding on socially constructed happiness, gratitude, or family time; That is, in most cases what holidays are. Since no one with enough power has decided to make Groundhog Day a national holiday, the ball is in your court when it comes to feeling good. 

For starters we can thank Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln not only for their service but for inspiring our government to declare 2 winter Mondays as national holidays (Martin Luther King Day is January 16th, and Presidents Day is February 20th). Three-day weekends surely do help with the winter doldrums. 

Beyond going back to a reliance on holidays to boost your mood, there are some things we can all do to help us out of our holiday withdrawals. And yes, it is possible to prevent them.

Sunrise - The days have stopped getting shorter, and are beginning to lengthen. While you are probably looking forward to longer days and earlier sunrises, this time of year is just past the shortest day, and grants one gift that is easy to take for granted. The sun rises at about 7:15am at the beginning of January, and towards the end of the month it gets closer to 7:00am.  That is about 2 hours earlier than the summer solstice times. This means that it might be the easiest time of year to witness the sunrise. In many traditional eastern philosophies such as that of the I-Ching or traditional chinese medicine, it is believed that the Winter is dominated by Yin energy, characterized by the cold, still, slow, dark nature of the season. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for depression, right? Well, according to these traditions, in order to stay healthy one must always maintain balance of Yin and Yang energy. One uses traditional practices to do this. Since sunshine is a major source of Yang energy in the universe, watching the sunrise will restore the body, mind, and spirit to a healthy balance. You may remember from last month that sunlight has been proven to combat depression. Even more pragmatic - witnessing the glorious, bright, and dynamic nature of the sunrise is never easier than in winter,  and is the perfect way to get energized and jump-start your day... and it’s free!

Gratitude - “Gratitude” is defined in the New Oxford American Dictionary as “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” The most current research in positive psychology has shown that practicing gratitude boosts happiness and mood, and can even increase people's maximum happiness level. Positive psychologists add further that in order to gain the most out of gratitude, one should practice both feeling and expressing gratitude. Furthermore, they add that one specific aspect of gratitude that may be contributing to this mood and happiness boosting effect is that of attributing thankfulness to something outside of one’s self. Dr. Andrew Weil cites some recent research and describes some commonly used gratitude practices in his book, Spontaneous Happiness. One  of these practices is starting a gratitude journal in which every day you take some time to write down in a special place a few things that you are thankful for in your life. I personally would like to suggest doing this in a more interpersonal way, which also includes gratitude expression. That is, I recommend expressing gratitude to at least one person in your life every day, especially during the lean months of winter. While positive psychologists have demonstrated how this works in their research, I think on some level we have known this for thousands of years. Again, this is what people all over the world do on virtually all holidays, spiritual or not. Even the act of expressing thanks, or “saying grace,” is one way this practice has been culturally engrained in many societies. Besides being he norm, these customs have probably stuck around for so long for one other reason - they make us happy, and feel good. 

What are you doing to boost your Mood in late Winter?

Digital Affairs

In January's newsletter I wrote about the impact of mobile technology on relationships. Since I have received a great deal of interest and comments on the subject, I am posting the article here to welcome any further discussion. 

The more I go out to the restaurant, and the more couples I talk with, the more I am realizing that the last decade has come with a very unique challenge to many relationships. It is getting harder and harder to get together and have quality time with one another, and easier and easier to communicate via digital technology. This latter point can be a good thing, except for the fact that many are becoming so dependent on it that it is getting in the way of the little time people have left to spend with their loved ones and community. Have you seen, or even been the couple that sits at a restaurant, each person distracted by their mobile device. Both people are sitting together, but neither are actually there. Some refer to people having affairs with technology. NPR has recently been airing many stories about how smartphones, etc. can ruin relationships. I have a few points that can help preserve relationships in the mobile tech era.  

1. Beware of addiction. Texting, mobile Face-booking, Tweeting, etc, can all be addicting, probably because the immediate gratification that they grant is hard to compete with. Just like any other thing, if you’re getting feedback that it is getting in the way of any aspect of your life, you may be getting addicted.
2. Know if you are easily immersed. I know many people who feel as though they have ben web surfing, texting, or emailing for 2 minutes when it has actually been 15 or more. Immersion is a state of consciousness where awareness of physical self is diminished or lost by being surrounded in an engrossing total environment; often artificial. it is common when interacting in cyberspace and gaming, but you may also notice it from reading books or watching movies. I recommend performing your own little experiments by looking at the time before and after interacting through your digital device. If you (or your spouse) notice that much more time passed than you thought, work on setting limits with technology. 
3. Set limits with your device. This means turning your phone off no matter how important you are at work or to the people in your social cyber-network. One author who talked about a book he wrote on NPR recommended setting up a time when you go out to dinner when you both agree to check voice-mails. I recommend shutting your phone off or putting it on “airplane mode” when out to connect with a loved one. If you’re at a party, make a commitment to not use your device for at least an hour so that you can take advantage of the real social time. Lastly, give your mobile phone less priority my doing something else before checking it in the morning.

Welcome

Welcome to Modern Family Therapy's Blog! I am very pleased and excited to offer this space to share thoughts and ideas with anyone interested. Please feel welcome to post any topics or questions that you would like me or other readers to discuss here. To learn more about me, Natale Teodoro, LMFT and my clinical practice, Modern Family Therapy, please visit my website: www.modernfamilytherapy.com. Looking forward!


-Nate