MAMFT is a proud sponsor of Shout Out Loud, a local organization dedicated to youth suicide prevention awareness. We will have a booth at their 4th annual event on Saturday Sept. 30th, from 11am – 3pm at the St. Louis Park, Rec Center ROC- 3700 Monterey Dr, St Louis Park, MN 55416.
Stop by the booth where we will be talking about the value of connection and healthy relationships in preventing suicide. We will have games and giveaways, and we will be promoting MAMFT’s therapist finder to event attendees looking for more support.
Learn more at https://shoutoutloudmn.com/
MAMFT is planning three community events for members to connect this August and September. Dog lovers, Cat lovers, Movie lovers, we have something for everyone:
Movies in the Park - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Dog Lover Happy Hour at Unleashed Hops and Hounds
Caturday at the Twin Cities Cat Fanciers Show
We had multiple members reach out regarding the advocacy wins from the 2023 legislative session. Many people asked about the new requirements on health plan companies to credential eligible providers.
The specific language is an amendment to § 62Q.096. The amendments require health plan companies to credential and enter into a contract for mental health services with any provider that “meets credentialing requirements.” It allows the health plan company to waive certain credentialing requirements not related to quality of care. And it ensures that health plan companies can no longer refuse providers on the grounds that their network has “a sufficient number of providers of that type” or “a sufficient number of providers of mental health services in the aggregate.”
These changes take effect July 1st, 2023. We hope this amended law will ensure more health care professionals have the opportunity to become credentialed/secure contracts with more insurance companies.
If you are looking to become credentialed with a health plan, please be sure to check the credentialing requirements of that health plan.
To see the complete law and amendments please visit: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/62Q.096
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/57/laws.2.40.0#laws.2.40.0
Are you headed to Mental Health Day on the Hill? Do you need a sample of things you can share with your elected officials?
Or are you interested in the details of our current advocacy efforts?
Check out our Advocacy FAQs:
Advocacy 2023.pdf
MAMFT is pleased to introduce Bridget Mozina, our new part-time Administrative Coordinator. Bridget is a fellow LMFT and has a private practice in Burnsville. Bridget graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2006, and earned her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Saint Thomas in 2010.
Some fun facts about Bridget are that she loves spending time with family and friends, being active (biking, paddle boarding, yoga, and hiking), hanging out with hertortoiseshell cat, Mia, watching Studio Ghibli movies, nerding out about Harry Potter, reading, cooking, and playing video games!
Bridget is going to hit the ground running and will transition fully into her position by February 12th. Please give a warm welcome to Bridget!
The link to register to participate is below. Those interested in meeting with their legislators to set up appointments during the week of March 6-10.
Link to Sign Up for Day on the Hill: https://forms.gle/eHeoqdgUdeMiG9CX7
Tis the season for love, connection, and happiness! So come break bread with your fellow MAMFT members as we watch Soul Food and eat some Soul Food! We will be dining on food from Soul Bowl, while watching a classic film highlighting the experiences of a matriarch-led African American family who navigate family, love, grief, betrayal, and hope. This event is FREE, and open to any member of MAMFT! We will cap this event at 30 people, so RSVPs are required!
When:
Friday February 17th
5pm-6pm: Break bread, mingle, and eat- Food from Soul Bowl, courtesy of MAMFT
6pm-8pm: Soul Food movie- 1:54:42 run time
Where:
Change Inc.: Event held in Training Room
1209 Tyler Ave NE Suite 170
Minneapolis, MN 55413
RSVP:
Email externalaffairs@mamft.net with name of attendee
MAMFT membership required for attendance
Deadline to RSVP: Friday February 3rd
MAMFT is HIRING!!
MAMFT is looking to add two new people to our staff. In Q1 of 2023 we plan to hire both an Administrative Coordinator and an Interim Executive Director.
Both positions are part-time, contractor roles. These positions are a great opportunity to become connected with the MFT community in Minnesota, while helping forward the mission of MAMFT.
The Interim Executive Director will:
Manage the planning and implementation of MAMFT’s 2023 virtual training series and annual conference
Support implementation of Board’s vision and priorities
Manage administrative staff
Manage social media and marketing programs
Support the Board with the search for a permanent Executive Director
This position will start out as a temporary role, lasting apx. 6 months, with the possibility of developing into a permanent role. Responsibilities require a commitment of apx. 15-20 hours a week, at $35 per hour.
To see the complete job description and qualification requirements please click HERE
To apply, please complete THIS FORM
The Administrative Coordinator will be responsible for
Member communications development: including weekly e-blasts, email responses, and social media posts
Other admin duties assigned by the Executive Director: including but not limited to managing registrations for events; source and purchase supplies; assisting with membership events, etc.
Monitor member applications and payments
Updating MAMFT website
Promoting MAMFT events
This position is a permanent role. Responsibilities range from 10-20 hours per week, at $20 per hour.
Advocacy Update: Investing Funds to Protect our Profession
In 2021, the MAMFT board reviewed ways to invest in the future of our organization. At the time, it was decided to utilize MAMFT reserve funds in an investment portfolio. Before going forward with investing, we looked at current financial markets, and considered the priorities set forth by our members. Given these variables, the board reconsidered the best way to invest. It was decided that funds would be better spent working to address issues facing MFTs in their practice.
Many of you have experienced how the decisions of an insurance panel can impact our work, and our profession. Currently, insurance panels often pay LESS for a family/relational therapy session, than they do for an individual therapy session. We believe in the specialized training, skills, and effort it takes to do relational therapy. And thus we believe our work as MFTs should be paid, at minimum, at the same rate as individual therapy.
In addition, we learned that some insurance panels have started to require, for a session to be considered family therapy, that the designated client be a minor attending therapy with their caregiver(s). There are instances of insurance panels denying claims for family/relational therapy, if there isn’t a minor at the center of the therapy. MFTs know that families come in many forms, and the need for family/relational therapy is vital to clients of every age. We don’t believe insurance panels should be defining what a family is or isn’t, or who is entitled to family therapy.
To address these issues, we need support. After months of vetting options, the MAMFT board has decided to contract with a legal advocacy firm, Hylden Advocacy & Law, to help address these important issues of reimbursement equity, and protect our scope of practice from being defined by insurance companies. We believe these efforts will benefit both our MFT community and the communities we serve.
This is likely going to be a multi-year effort, which will take the support of our members, in addition to our new legal partners, and likely our elected officials. We hope that our members will choose to actively participate in this process, and help us in continuing to fund the work it will take to be successful. If you are interested in supporting our efforts, please fill out this FORM, so we can connect you with other volunteers accordingly.
If you have any other questions about these advocacy efforts, please contact Alex Iantaffi at president@mamft.net
We look forward to advocating on behalf of MFTs across Minnesota!
Since the SCOTUS decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade, clinicians and therapists are forced to evaluate how this decision impacts their practice. MAMFT wanted to provide Minnesota based MFTs with resources to help understand our responsibilities to our clients, and ways to help work effectively with others in this changing world.
We developed the following presentation to help clarify our legal and ethical responsibilities to clients based on MN state statues.
In addition we are grateful to Eric Fawcett, MA and Tess Gittleman, MA, LMFT, who were willing to share their guidance on how to clinicians can ethically work with clients who may not share their beliefs in this increasingly complicated world. In the below video*, you will learn how to communicate through polarized topics, why it’s important to work with populations you may find to be antithetical, and learn skills for navigating appropriate and ethical referrals.
You can find the video here.
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