DID YOU KNOW?

In the original Roman Calendar, August, originally called Sextilis (Latin), was the sixth month of the year.

For more about the history of the calendar, keep reading on.

CAMFT Central San Joaquin Valley Chapter

AUGUST NEWSLETTER 2019

Law & Ethics: Tough Calls, Moral Dilemmas, Technology, and More with Ben Caldwell

Workshop description:

Our morals and values inevitably influence our work. When we have clear legal and ethical standards to guide us, we defer to those standards. But often, when faced with difficult decisions, our standards offer conflicting guidance, or none at all. This can confuse clients, who wonder whether their therapist will truly understand or support their choices.  Through the use of case examples, this workshop will show how our individual morals and values influence therapy work even when we seek to appear neutral; how to identify your own morals and values relevant to your practice; and why owning those values matters.

Workshop goals:

Goals for this workshop include (1) Assisting therapists in understanding the role that their own morals and values play in clinical and ethical decision-making; (2) Encouraging therapists to think critically about that role and its implications for therapy; (3) Informing therapists about recent developments in court cases and ethical standards related to the personal values of the therapist; and (4) Encouraging therapists toward transparency with clients about the therapist’s values, in accordance with ethical standards and the therapist’s theoretical orientation.

Workshop objectives:

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify at least two personal morals and values most relevant to their psychotherapy practice
• Differentiate between a personal opinion, a clinical opinion, advice-giving, and imposing personal values
• Construct a framework for clinical and ethical decision-making that integrates personal morals and values in a manner that is within professional ethical boundaries and appropriate to their clientele
• Identify three common frameworks for making value-based decisions
• Identify at least two implications from court cases involving mental health students’ moral decision making.

THIS MONTHS EVENTS

Licensed Peer Consultation Group

Are you feeling isolated in private practice? Are you scratching your head, wondering what another therapist might do with your client?

Would you like to join with other clinicians to share your knowledge, glean wisdom and honest feedback, and reflect on your practice in a safe, confidential space?

Are you looking to relax? Do you need more balance in your life?

Then, we are excited to have you join us! We meet the first Friday of each month...register once and you'll get a reminder before each session. 

August 2, 2019

10:00 am to Noon

6276 N. First St.

Suite 105

Fresno, CA 93710

3000 Club Clinical Dynamic Group

Have you ever have felt alone as an Associate? Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed on this sometimes arduous journey towards MFT licensure. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Now you can join with your peers and share any and every aspect of collecting your 3000 hours of experience and preparation.

On the last Sunday of each month, pre-licensed members of CAMFT - Central San Joaquin Valley Chapter, Inc. are welcome to network with your peers. You can find out more about: Internships, Supervision and Supervisors, Case Consultations, Theoretical Orientations, and Diagnostics.  Please feel welcome to attend this month’s group. Come with questions, concerns, ideas, and needs, so that collectively we may explore the treasure of knowledge through Clinical and Life experience within each of us. 

August 25, 2019
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

1495 W. Shaw Ave

Fresno, CA 93705

Scott Polenz, LMFT, guides the 3000 club on a monthly basis.

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Have you thought of making a difference in our field? Do you feel that you have something to give to help your peers that provide mental health services to our communities? 

This is a time that you can step up and make some change.

Our annual Board of Director elections are coming up soon and in order to be elected, we need you to visit the website and complete the 2020 Board of Directors application.

For more information, please visit the link below, and drop down below our current Board of Directors:

Board of Directors

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Are there topics that you want the Chapter to present for 2020 CEUs? A Survey was sent out on July 21 requesting your input. Our Board of Directors and CE Committee definitely want to hear from you. If you forgot to participate, or you accidentally delete the email, click the picture below to be taken to the survey:

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Last year's Open Couch was such a huge success that the Board of Directors has chosen to do it again. We are currently speaking with a couple venues for the location and date. 

If you have potential "vendors", please contact, or have them contact, President Vanessa Miller soon. We want this to be a success and to fill up the spaces that we can so we can help our colleagues, new colleagues in the field, students and liaisons that we work with in the community to come and obtain information they need to build their careers and help those in our communities.

Please email Vanessa Miller, or pass along the her address to those that would benefit from having a table at our event.

VanessaMillerLMFT@gmail.com

Monthly Technique

This month's technique was recommended by our chapter member, Annita Regehr, LMFT.

Annita recommended the use of glitter jars in therapy. This is a wonderful mindfulness exercise for all ages. The best thing about these jars is, they can be made by you and the client in their therapy session (the younger the client, the more you will want to do the mixing). This gives them the ability to choose the color of their glitter glue, the colors of the added glitter and depending on the age, can help mix it together. There are numerous recipes online for the glitter jars. I have found that if you want a variety for display in your office, you find the bottles that suit your room. If working with kids and adults, you a variety of bottle sizes. For this recipe, find a plastic bottle that will hold approximately 32 ounces. (I prefer the Core brand. The label is easy to cut off with scissors, the shape is similar to an hour glass, the plastic is clear, the lid is not tapered and the surface is smooth.) One recipe recommends using distilled water, which is a better sounding idea than tap water as bacteria could build up in your bottle over time. Use 1/2 cup room temperature distilled water in your bottle, add 1/2 cup of glitter glue, 1-2 teaspoons extra glitter, (my personal recommendation is using 1 teaspoon of fine glitter that is similar in color to your glitter glue, and 1 teaspoon of glitter that is more course.) Fill the remainder of the bottle up with distilled water. If you choose to heat the water on the stove before hand, to help the glue mix better, DO NOT POUR IT IN THE BOTTLE WHILE HOT! You can mix the heated water and glitter glue in a glass mixing bowl with a tapered pour spout. Also, at room temperature, you can close your lid with the bottle filled to the brim and the bottle will not shrink in from the heat or the change in temperature after it has been sealed.

To seal the lid, you can use hot glue (which I personally have found will come off because it does not adhere to plastic very well); gorilla glue (again this one can come off is using a bottle like Dasani, or one where there is not protective top over the plastic bottle cap; or go with the standard, Super Glue. For added protection, use a colorful duct tape to seal the outside of the lid. (I always tell my students, the lids are not allowed to come off. Yes, they do ask all the time.)

Annita shared this to enhance the technique:

[The glitter jar] becomes our Mindfulness exercise that can be sent home with the client at some point.  For younger children, it’s nice to have the jar there available in session when they come in.  “Their jar” is waiting for them.  When they terminate, the jar goes home with them to remind them of the tools they’ve learned and can still use on their own. There are some plastic jars available online that makes it less likely a broken glass jar may cause harm.   In the glitter jar I make with younger clients, I  begin with purple glitter glue.  Together we talk about basic emotions… the times we might feel them, or notice them in others.   Then I ask the child to decide what color he or she might use for each of those emotions/feelings…and what other things remind the child of that color.   I provide separate color glitter for each emotion and allow the child to add that to the Mindfulness jar… “there goes some anger, this is some happiness, this is some sadness, this might be loneliness, hope..”….whatever feelings stand out of the child. The young person can pick out those colors clearly in the jar.   Now we shake the jar, and  have all those emotions stirring up in our minds.  We practice just ‘sitting with’ the emotions that have been stirred up by some event… just breathing with them…acknowledge their presence as normal for all of us…and let the emotions all settle down to the bottom of the jar.  

I also use a “Loving Kindness” meditation that can be practiced as the glitter takes its time to settle to the bottom of the shaken jar.    I have recently had an adult client (with whom we practiced the Loving Kindness at end of session) tell me the guided relaxation exercise we have also done in session  was used with younger grandchildren prior to bedtime.  The client reported the children were focused, calm and went right to sleep. Another time, the grandparent used the Loving Kindness meditation with the children (ages 5 and 6), after which both children (previously arguing and in physical pushing problem) were calm, and relieved of anxiety. The grandparent also felt at peace.    It’s so encouraging when clients actually take a tool from session and use it—even more so when it is used to form helpful connections with young children in their care.  

Thank you Annita for your contribution.

Things to know!

OUR CALENDAR'S HISTORY

The original Roman calendar is believed to have been a lunar calendar, which may have been based on one of the Greek lunar calendars. As the time between new moons averages 29.5 days, its months were constructed to be either hollow (29 days) or full (30 days).

KING ROMULUS -

The original Roman calendar was said to have been invented by Romulus, the first king of Rome, around 753 BCE. The calendar started the year in March (Martius) and consisted of 10 months, with 6 months of 30 days and 4 months of 31 days. The winter season was not assigned to any month, so the calendar year only lasted 304 days with 61 days unaccounted for in the winter.

Calendar of King Romulus:

1. Martius - 31 Days
2. Aprilis - 30 Days
3. Maius - 31 Days
4. Iunius - 30 Days
5. Quintilis - 31 Days
6. Sextilis - 30 Days
7. September - 30 Days
8. October - 31 Days
9. November - 30 Days
10. December - 30 Days

The 304-day Roman calendar didn’t work for long because it didn’t align with the seasons. King Numa Pompilius reformed the calendar around 700 BCE by adding the months of January (Ianuarius) and February (Februarius) to the original 10 months, which increased the year's length to 354 or 355 days.

The addition of January and February meant that some of the months' names no longer agreed with their position in the calendar (September - December). The month Quintilis was renamed July in honor of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE and Sextilis was renamed August in honor of Augustus in 8 BCE.

Calendar of king Numa

1. Ianuarius - 29 days
2. Februarius - 28 days
3. Martius - 31 days
4. Aprilis - 29 days
5. Maius - 31 days
6. Iunius - 29 days
7. Quintilis - 31 days
8. Sextilis - 29 days
9. September - 29 days
10. October - 31 days
11. November - 29 days
12. December - 29 days

The Roman calendar was still flawed after adding January and February, as well as the days and months needed to keep the calendar in line with the seasons. Many attempts were made to align the calendar with the seasons but all failed. An extra month was added to the calendar in some years to make up for the lack of days in a year.

The insertion of the intercalary month was made by the pontifex maximus, the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. However, this system was flawed because the Roman calendar year defined the term of office of elected officials, thus a pontifex maximus could control the length of the year depending on their political agenda.

When Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus, he reformed the calendar by getting rid of the intercalary months. The Julian calendar was created, then completed during his successor Augustus' reign.

Common Year -

1. Ianuarius - 29 days
2. Februarius - 28 days
3. Martius - 31 days
4. Aprilis - 29 days
5. Maius - 31 days
6. Iunius - 29 days
7. Quintilis - 31 days
8. Sextilis - 29 days
9. September - 29 days
10. October - 31 days
11. November - 29 days
12. December - 29 days

Leap Year -

1. Ianuarius - 29 days
2. Februarius - 23/24 days
3. Intercalaris - 27/28 days
4. Martius - 31 days
5. Aprilis - 29 days
6. Maius - 31 days
7. Iunius - 29 days
8. Quintilis - 31 days
9. Sextilis - 29 days
10. September - 29 days
11. October - 31 days
12. November - 29 days
13. December - 29 days

This history moment was found at:

https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/35735/which-months-were-added-during-the-roman-empire

SELF-CARE

Here is a crossword puzzle to complete for a new self-care technique. 

If you would like, you can send your responses to michael.crile.amft@gmail.com, with the subject "Crossword results". We will acknowledge the first three Licensed and first three Associates who sent in their answers. You can either print off the puzzle, fill it out, copy and send, or just write down your answers and email the list back with the number.

ACROSS

4        These are factors that are inherent to an individual base on their DNA

8        Family Systems Theory, treatment of Human Problems, Theory about relationships

12      Therapy that helps clients build a bridge between their realizations in “reel” life and their experiences in real life utilizing film

13      San Salvador, opened pediatrics practice, served in Israeli Army, codirected programs for refugee children, Structural Family Therapy, helped develop treatment protocols for anorexia nervosa

14      These maintain a distinction between one individual and another

15      This is used to outline the family relationships

16      Integrative form of psychotherapy that adapts to the unique needs of each specific client, depending on the problem, the treatment goals, and the person’s expectations and motivation

17      Client-centered approach to psychotherapy that helps clients focus on the present and understand what is really happening in their lives right now, rather than what they may perceive to be happening based on past experience

18      John & Julie, this married couple were both marital therapists, couples-based therapy and education that draws on the pioneering studies of relationships

19      Regarded as the mother of Family therapy

20      Where more than one person is participating in therapy

DOWN

1        A more holistic approach, addressing mental, physical, social, emotional, creative, and intellectual needs, with an emphasis on the role of a healthy spirit in healing

2        A subject that is losing its worth in family life due to the constant bombardment of electronic devices

3        Therapy where toys are placed in a blue container

5        Well known therapeutic modality that is evidence based with seven core principles

6        This type of therapy is usually focused on one specific focus with people that typically do not initially know each other

7        The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected

9        Trauma-Focused therapy

10      Six elements on which families are evaluated to be either functional or dysfunctional

11      The action or process of separating feelings and thoughts

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Do you know what the pictures in this months newsletter represent? If so, email Michael Crile at michael.crile.amft@gmail.com