President's Message — Gina Balit, LMFT, ATR

Fall is Approaching

The chapter closed out August with our annual — but very different this year - social networking event. We welcomed all to a fun evening for a concert in the park. We networked with new and familiar faces an hour prior and got a chance to enjoy each other's company, ate and danced, in a casual setting afterwards.

As summer comes to an end and we head into fall this month, expect a regular membership meeting on September 10th, a presentation on Healing the Helping Professional with Melissa Shepherd-Williams, and 2 member speaker meetings in October and November. Attend our September meeting to find out what the topics and presenters are for these meetings. In September, we will also announce our board slate for the following year, both in a stand alone email as well as in this issue of our newsletter under chapter news. I’m also excited to share with you the slate below, full of new and returning professionals. Thank you in advance to the 2024 board of directors below:

1. President — Shawn LaRe' Brinkley
2. Past President — Gina Balit
3. President-Elect — Daniel Hermosillo
4. CFO — Niousha Soleimani
5. Pre-licensed Representative — Chris Cervantes
6. Secretary — Stephanie Gonzales
7. Vice President Marketing and Communications — Walker Reed
8. Vice President of Membership — Akane Takijiri
9. Vice President of Programs — Jennifer Calderon
10. Board Member-at-Large — Virginia "Ginny" Lincoln
11. Board Member-at-Large — David Eshleman
12. Board Member-at-Large — Shari Manculich

We will be voting to approve this slate of nominees at our October meeting so please put the 8th on your calendar. The current board is pleased to put forth a complete slate and another diverse group of individuals to lead the chapter next year. Without these individuals being open to volunteering and stepping up to take on leadership roles we would not have a chapter.

On Wednesday, October 5 from 12:00pm to 1:30pm, the annual State of the Profession special event will give the chapter an update on state and federal legislation that could impact LMFT practice and will address regulatory topics from the Board of Behavioral Sciences, with Joy Alafia, the Executive Director of CAMFT. We will also have a 2 part pre-licensed event, featuring the Road to Licensure event offering through CAMFT. Finally, we will finish out our year by celebrating and appreciating all our chapter volunteers in November and have a final pre-licensed 3000 club and hiking group meeting in December.

I hope to see you at our next meetings; please visit our website event page to register: https://www.sfvcamft.org/Events. As always, if you have any questions, please email me at sfvcamftpre@gmail.com. Thank you!

Warmly,

Gina

Gina Balit, LMFT, ATR, is a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist and Registered Art Therapist working in private practice in Woodland Hills, CA. She is passionate about working with young children of divorce and abuse as well as supporting her Armenian community.