From the President and Interim CEO / ED
Dr . Beverly Smith , 45 th AMHCA President , 2021 – 2022 , & Interim CEO / ED
continued from page 4
The Hopeful Futures Campaign addresses the mental health crisis among American youth , with links on its website to a report card on how schools are handling mental health care bit . ly / 3KQ9EjB , as well as strategies and policy solutions to improve the mental health of U . S . children . The report card is “ a first-ever national report card grading every state in the country on policies that support school mental health , with recommendations so that every state can take further action to help their children ,” writes Bill Smith , the founder of Inseparable , an organization involved in creating the report card .
Celebrate AMHCA ’ s Many Achievements !
• Counseling Compact . This important legislation will now take effect because the required minimum of 10 states have now enacted the Counseling Compact legislation : Alabama , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Maine , Maryland , Mississippi , Nebraska , Utah , and West Virginia . We are excited about this accomplishment and expect even more states to pass that legislation this spring . AMHCA state chapters have been leading the Counseling Compact initiative in many states . A sincere thank you to all of the AMHCA state chapters for your hard work and dedication , and to those who continue to work with me on AMHCA ’ s Counseling Compact Committee , which was commissioned for AMHCA ’ s 2021 – 22 fiscal year : Dr . Gray Otis , Dr . Jeri Stevens , Ms . Consuelo Wilson , Dr . Fred Dombrowski , and Dr . Dominque Avery . For more information , visit www . amhca . org / advocacy / counselingcompact .
• New AMHCA State Chapters . Despite the challenges of the last couple of years , AMHCA has exceptional national and advocacy initiates to celebrate , including the chartering of AMHCA state chapters in Colorado and Northern Virginia , and progress toward chartering state chapters in Delaware and the U . S . Virgin Islands . I hosted a Town Hall meeting April 8 that you can watch on YouTube here : https :// youtu . be / 4sVDOGtxO2s .
• AMHCA Neuroscience Symposium : I hope you were able to join us on April 22 , 2022 , from noon – 6 p . m . EDT ( 9 a . m .– 3 p . m . PDT ) for four terrific online presentations . The 10 presenters discussed topics including the neurobiology of stress in children and teens , prolonged grief , addressing trauma sequelae , and a neuroscience taskforce ’ s training model . See more at bit . ly / 2022AMHCANeuroscience .
• AMHCA Spring Leadership Series . As LCMHCs , we are ethically obligated to attend to our own mental well-being and to the mental well-being of our patients / clients . Thus , fostering emotional intelligence as a leadership skill is a daily part of our regimen in seeking wholeness in an anxious world . To this end , we developed a three-part AMHCA Spring Leadership Series , with presenter Donna Wilson , PhD , LPC . We look forward to you joining us . The first webinar , on “ Leading Through a Reflective and Relational Lens ,” was held March 4 . The second was held April 8 , 2022 , on “ Leading Through a Lens of Equity and Inclusion ,” and the final webinar will be on May 27 , 2022 , 11 a . m . ( EDT ), “ Leading in Turbulent Times .” For more information , visit bit . ly / 3KWKgcc .
Remember to Practice Self-Care
We urge AMHCA leaders , chapters , and members to continue to celebrate AMHCA ’ s many accomplishments . As we celebrate , work , and provide outstanding clinical services to our patients / clients , please find your happy space and create a synergy that fosters hope , peace , and resiliency .
AMHCA Board of Directors
President , 2021 – 2022 , & Interim CEO / ED Beverly Smith president @ amhca . org
President-Elect Fredrick Dombrowski presidentelect @ amhca . org
Past President Angele Moss – Baker pastpresident @ amhca . org
Treasurer ( interim ) H . Gray Otis treasurer @ amhca . org
Director-at-Large Tony Onorato directoratlarge @ amhca . org
North Atlantic Region Director Cynthia L . Jamison northatlanticregiondirector @ amhca . org
Southern Region Director Aaron Norton southernregiondirector @ amhca . org
Midwest Region Director Jim Blundo midwestregiondirector @ amhca . org
Western Region Director Karen Langer westernregiondirector @ amhca . org
Graduate Student Representative Daun Kwag dkwag1 @ student . gsu . edu
AASCB Rep . ( ex-officio ) Joseph Weeks josephrweeks @ yahoo . com
AMHCA Staff
• Chief Strategic Officer , Director of Communications & Chapter Relations Whitney Meyerhoeffer wmeyerhoeffer @ amhca . org
• Director of Finance , Operations , & Membership Management Melissa McShepard mmcshepard @ amhca . org
• Director , Office of Credentialing and Continuing Education , Director of Events Rebecca Woodson rwoodson @ amhca . org
• Director of Program Coordination H . Gray Otis gray _ otis @ yahoo . com
The Advocate Magazine 2022 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org 55