Over the past few weeks, I've been feeling emotionally depleted from the attention the need for systemic change for black communities was getting.

I am intentional when I say “the attention”, because this is not a new issue by any means; rather, it is the way that we are starting to pay attention to it that is new.

The following reflection on advocacy is written by Mary-Jane Beach, secretary of the NEAFAST Board. For more information about joining the NEAFAST Board of Directors, please email [email protected].

I remember that in the mid-1990’s, I was working with families, often after school and evenings. I had two children and never seemed to have enough time. Some of the families had various negative and pejorative labels: dysfunction, multi-stressed, multi-problem.

The following is written by Mary-Jane Beach, secretary of the NEAFAST. For more information about joining the NEAFAST Board of Directors, please email [email protected]:

At this stage of my career, I realize that MFT’s from Massachusetts have been there for me. First it was SFTR (Society for Family Therapy and Research) in the 1970s in Boston. There were workshops, supervision groups, and training programs available. Later it was an MAMFT mentoring group where I had individual and group support to develop a practice and a niche. Then there was advocacy and a focus on licensure and eventually vendorship. I learned to advocate and testify at the Statehouse thanks to the leadership of the Massachusetts Chapter. Knowing it was important to give back, yet still challenged by children, travel, and time I joined the MAMFT Board, and naïve as I was, became Treasurer. I learned to use accounting software, began to understand how National Organizations and Chapters functioned, met colleagues from around the state, and participated in local networking activities. 

Last month, we wrote a blog post about the collaborative efforts of the Executive Office for Health and Human Services (EOHHS) as they help create processes that improve access to quality behavioral health care in our state. Quite a few NEAFAST members have attended these meetings and provided input, including Stuart Moskowitz, a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) in the Worcester area. The following are his reflections from a listening session meeting in Worcester

Last month, we wrote a blog post about the collaborative efforts of the Executive Office for Health and Human Services (EOHHS) as they help create processes that improve access to quality behavioral health care in our state. Quite a few NEAFAST members have attended these meetings and provided input, including Mary-Jean Beach, a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) in Cape Cod, and NEAFAST Board Member. The following are her reflections from a listening session meeting in Cape Cod.

I went to the 2^nd EOHHS listening session at Cape Cod Community College on June 18, 2019. It was very well attended by a representative sample of consumers, families, providers, schools, advocacy organizations, and constituents. Senator Julian Cyr (D Truro) came in and spoke about his interest and concerns. The meeting was informative, exciting, and affirming for me as a family therapist. In our community the important take-aways were: 1) family advocates and consumers pled for more family sensitive behavioral health care and support; 2) parents and young adults over 22 are left without help when they lose Special Education Services; 3) the future of ambulatory behavioral health care may be in schools and primary health care offices.

An Interview between Steve Gaddis, Director of the Narrative Therapy Initiative, and Jeremiah Gibson, NEAFAST President

Watch Here

These excerpts from an Interview between Steve Gaddis, Director of the Narrative Therapy Initiative (NTI), and Jeremiah Gibson, NEAFAST President, focus on NTI's 2019-2020 programming, specifically the Apprenticeship Program and the Certificate Program.

Jeremiah Gibson: I wonder if I can ask a couple questions about the programming for 2019-2020. You’ve alluded to the Narrative Certificate Program. And then there’s another program that you guys are offering too that’s called the Apprenticeship Program. I’m wondering if you could take a few minutes to describe those.

The Narrative Therapy Initiative is hosting two separate trainings next weekend in Beverly. On Thursday, 4/25, Suzanne Gazzolo, PhD, and Matt Mooney, LICSW will give you a taste of the process and power of narrative therapy in their 6 hour workshop "What is Narrative Therapy?". On Friday and Saturday, 4/26 and 4/27, Suzanne and Matt will offer an intensive, skill-based training, "Narrative Therapy in Practice". For more information on these conferences, including cost and location, please check out the Narrative Therapy Initiative website.

NEAFAST had the honor of interviewing Suzanne and Matt about their experiences with narrative therapy.

NEAFAST is a professional organization with a volunteer board of directors. The Board of Directors provides guidance and vision for how NEAFAST meets its goals of supporting quality training and practice of family and systemic therapy. Our board members have a diverse set of professional and personal interests, which contributes to the development of an organization that seeks to systemically address the needs of therapists in Massachusetts. In the initial installment of our series Meet Our Board, we introduce you to Katherine Manners, LMFT.

For over 30 years, Katherine has worked in the field of victim services. She began her career as a volunteer in a domestic violence shelter, which led to many years working in the new field of victim advocacy for the Middlesex District Attorney’s office. From there she obtained her M.Ed. in MFT from UMass Boston and went to work providing traumatic bereavement therapy with family members of homicide, developing and leading several programs in Roxbury, Cambridge and Boston including hospital and community-based agencies.

NEAFAST is a professional organization with a volunteer board of directors. The Board of Directors provides guidance and vision for how NEAFAST meets its goals of supporting quality training and practice of family and systemic therapy. Our board members have a diverse set of professional and personal interests, which contributes to the development of an organization that seeks to systemically address the needs of therapists in Massachusetts. In the initial installment of our series Meet Our Board, we introduce you to the NEAFAST President, Jeremiah Gibson, LMFT.

NEAFAST: How did you get interested in becoming an MFT? 

Online journalism is going through its share of growing pains.