News & Updates

Change Healthcare, a clearing house that processes a large number of insurance claims, has been shut down for nearly a month, following a cyber attack. We recognize the impact of this shutdown on our members, clinicians, and practice owners, and care about the systemic economic ramifications of this cyberattack on those working hard to provide care and run a business. If you have been impacted by this, please be sure to check if you/your practice is eligible for temporary funding assistance at the website below:

Change Healthcare Information

MAMFT is open to hosting a virtual discussion forum, for members to share their experiences, validate our collective frustrations, and/or collaborate on options for responding to this situation. If you are interested in participating in that discussion group, or willing to share how you/your organization has responded to this situation, please fill out the form below*

Change Healthcare Forum Request

*Due to MAMFT/staff capacity- we will host an event if 10 or more people register/provide input in the above form.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! It can be hard to find a volunteer event that doesn’t ask all of us to go back to what seems like our daily grind. And yet, this is a month that not only recognizes what our work is in service of, but rejuvenates the life-force of those of us on the literal and metaphorical frontlines of a mental health crisis. That’s why we kindly ask you to join us for a blood drive so that we might partner in serving all of our clients, peers, and community in need. 

Location: 2304 Park Ave, Minneapolis, MN, 55404 (St. Mary's University - Alumni Room)
Date: Saturday, May 10th
Time: 9am-3pm

Who: Any MFT/MFT Student, MFT Superfan, Mental Health Advocate/Supporter

Register Here

(St. Mary’s Location only, see below for remote options)

Remote option!

While this event has a particular time, date, and location, if you are unable to attend, we hope that you will consider an alternative time to donate anytime during the month of May: https://www.redcrossblood.org/

Disclosure:

We recognize that the Red Cross does not accept all individuals as “qualified” donors, and appreciate that others might be unable to donate for various other reasons. If you are looking for an alternative way to volunteer, give back to our community, please feel free to reach out directly to elections@mamft.net

Want a bonus incentive to join us on site?

While MAMFT and Red Cross volunteers will be circulating on-site (with snacks!), we have designated a representative to stay on-site throughout the drive to answer member questions (like what we’re doing with pay parity or the conference), get member feedback, or, if you’re a student: you can ask anything about the profession (whether you’re a member or not)!

This event’s representative will be our Treasurer, Tessa Gittleman. If you have any questions about this event or MAMFT more generally, you are welcome to reach out to her at: treasurer@mamft.net.

We hope to see you there! 

MAMFT has 3 levels of volunteer opportunities and we are currently working to expand our committee volunteers! A committee volunteer supports a specific task force within MAMFT for a 6 month + time period by attending monthly meetings and participating in discussions. Volunteers for committees can be students, preclinical, fully licensed, or retired so grab a friend and join us in growing MAMFT!

1. Conference Committee: Help us plan the 2024 annual conference! We meet virtually on the 3rd Friday of the month from 9-10am and ask volunteers to attend the conference on September 12-13, 2024. 

Contact: Alex Iantaffi president@mamft.net

1. Social Justice Accountability Panel: Join the social justice panel to support MAMFT in being a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone by giving feedback on our goals and initiatives, and supporting the liberation scholarship fund. We meet virtually on the 2nd Friday of the month from 10-11am. 

Contact: Melissa Bolger elections@mamft.net

1. External Affairs Committee: Help us plan the many events MAMFT hosts throughout the year! We meet virtually on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 9-10am and ask volunteer to attend at least 1 event per year. 

Contact: Leah Seeger externalaffairs@mamft.net

Couldn’t make it to Mental Health Day on the Hill? That’s OK! 

You can still advocate for our profession.

We need as many people as possible to contact Legislators between now and April 12th. You can do this in 3 easy steps:

1. Find Out Who Represents You:

Go to: Legislative Maps

Type in your address, and find the contact information for your MN state Representative and Senator.

2. Reach out to your Legislators:

**Deadline is April 14th!

Send an email, place a call, and/or ask for a meeting asking legislators to support our Pay Parity Bill!

3. Pass this info to your colleagues!

Ask them to contact their legislators as well!

Don’t know what to say?

Here is a simple Template:

Hi (Insert state rep or senators name here),

I am writing today to encourage you to sign on and advocate for a hearing for HF3324/SF3344. This bill allows rate parity between Family Therapy services and Individual Therapy services. Mental health professionals are currently reimbursed at a much lower rate for family, and couples/relational sessions, even though this work is more complicated than an individual therapy session. This change is crucial to minimize waitlists, increase access to care, and attract more people to the profession. 

(Insert personal story or a bit about how this impacts you)

Thank you for your time, I am happy to answer any questions you may have on this issue!

(Insert Name and Address)

Want to Share More Details?

Use MAMFT’s One Sheet on Pay Parity:

Pay Parity Info Sheet

Optional Additional Steps:

4. Learn More About the Process!

Watch this video from our advocacy team on Lobbying 101:

Lobbying 101 Info Video

5. Become a Member, Renew Your Membership and Donate to MAMFT!

Membership dues and donations are critical to MAMFT's ability to organize these advocacy efforts, and afford advocacy attorneys who help us navigate the lobbying process. 

Join/Renew Your Membership Here (there is an option to donate within your membership payment):

Join MAMFT

6. Join MAMFTs Volunteer Efforts! 

Contact elections@mamft.net to learn more ways to support MAMFT’s many efforts, including advocacy!

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD

What is Mental Health Day on the Hill?

The Mental Health Legislative Network's (MHLN) Mental Health Day on the Hill is Thursday, March 7th at Christ on Capitol Hill Church.

The theme this year is: Spotlight Mental Health

Mental Health Day on the Hill is a day to meet with legislators to talk about the importance of mental health and advocate for mental health related legislation and infrastructure.

9:30 AM: A welcome and policy briefing event will be heldat Christ on Capitol Hill Church (105 University Ave. W, St, Paul- near the Capitol), where you'll hear a high level overview of current mental health policy and funding issues.

11:00 AM: MHLN will hold a rally in the Capitol Building rotunda (75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155), where you'll hear from legislators and advocates and make your voice heard!

Ready to Register?

If you register via the MHLN (link below), you can secure a meeting with your specific legislators to discuss our current pay parity bills, or other issues impacting you as an MFT.

Registration: Mental Health Day on the Hill | March 7th, 2024

Throughout Mental Health Day on the Hill:  MAMFT and our Advocacy team will have a meeting spot in the MN Department of Transportation Cafeteria- a short walk from the Capitol building (395 John Ireland Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155) where you can learn more about our specific advocacy efforts, meet our advocacy lawyers, learn about our current bills up for consideration, and discuss options to advocate with your lawmakers!

Learn more about MHLN: https://mentalhealthmn.org/public-policy/state/

Other Information & Ways to Participate

• If you can't join us in person, you can still advocate with your legislators for pay parity:

• If you need to know what to say to a legislator, here is our Pay Parity one sheet

• If you want more info on the current bills we are advocating for- here they are:
  

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF3344&b=senate&y=2024&ssn=0

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF3324&ssn=0&y=2023

• If you you have any specific questions about how to connect with your legislators, or how to engage in this process, feel free to reach out to our legal advocacy team and let them know you are a part of MAMFT's advocacy efforts: Izzy Rojas: 651-262-4922

• If you don't know who your legislators are, you can find them here: https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/

Want to be a sponsor for our 2024 Training Series? Learn more and register by clicking below!

Register Here

The MAMFT conference committee will begin to meet again virtually on February 16th at 9am. If you are interested in volunteering for this committee, please email Dr Alex Iantaffi at president@mamft.net The time commitment is around 1-2 hours per month with some more work required near the conference time in September. All our members, including students and pre-licensure members, are welcome to join this committee.

Are you a social justice minded individual seeking a way to support increased diversity and inclusion in the field of marriage and family therapy? Do you have an hour or two to commit to this work each month? Would you like to see more of this from MAMFT? If so, then consider joining us on the Social Justice Accountability Panel! Please reach out to Melissa Bolger at elections@mamft.net for more details!

Check out our awesome board members who were hard at work this past week to make 2024 an awesome year ahead!

What was discussed:

• Reviewing bylaws & policies and procedures
• Creating policies
• Social media ideas
• Setting goals for 2024
• Planning for the Annual Conference
• Discussing and planning fun upcoming events

At our January retreat and Board meeting, we realized that there might be some confusion when it comes to terminology in relation to volunteering options for MAMFT. Below are some definitions of the different volunteer options with MAMFT:

Board Member: Formal position where an individual volunteers and is voted in or appointed to the Board for a specific seat and term. Time commitment of 5-6 hr/mo avg over the course of 2-3 years.

Committee Member: Volunteer position within a specific committee with a focus on committee-specific goals, such as events, promotion/fundraising, social justice, or conference/training. Time commitment of 2hr hr/mo avg for 6 months or more.

Special Project Volunteer: Volunteer position where an individual contributes to MAMFT on an ad hoc basis. There is no pre-established time commitment and the individual is only affiliated with the specific projects, tasks, or events volunteered for.

Click below to meet and get to know your board members and committee members!

Click Here

Dear MAMFT members,

The Board wanted to share why we have not made a formal statement about what is happening in Palestine and Israel right now, as well as in Sudan, Ukraine and unfortunately many other places across the globe. We discussed this at our December Board meeting and agreed a larger, ongoing conversation is needed about the capacity, scope and policy of how MAMFT responds to these types of issues

What do we mean by that? As a small, volunteer Board, we want to use our capacity to best serve the organization and steward its resources. We want to be engaged locally, since we are a state-based organization. However, as systemic therapists, we’re also aware that what is happening globally impacts our members and local communities in a number of ways. This presents us with the issue of when and how to comment on events unfolding globally, especially since we only have 2 part-time (wonderful) staff, a completely volunteer Board, and no PR team!

We don’t want to only make statements. We want to do the actual work of living up to our values and mission as well as maintaining the organization and its day-to-day operations running. Thus, the Board will be working on a policy on when to make statements, how to ensure they align with our values and mission, and how to match actions to words. Having such a policy would ensure we can be more consistent as an organization, rather than having messaging shift when members rotate on and off the Board.

We understand that much of our Board’s work is not always visible to our members and that we’re still young as an independent non-profit since we separated from AAMFT in 2018. We appreciate your patience and welcome your feedback and questions, as always.

Thank you for your understanding and ongoing support and best wishes for 2024!

Sincerely,

Alex Iantaffi, PhD, MS, SEP, CST, CST-S, LMFT

Board President on behalf of the MAMFT Board of Directors