A Message from the President
In writing this letter, I find it to be a humbling experience to serve FMHCA as President for this upcoming year. Dr. Stephen Giunta is a hard act to follow given his unwavering attention to the needs of this organization.With the support of Stephen, my colleagues, and my spouse, I find that good things are definitely on the horizon for FMHCA. We, as members of this association, will have the opportunity to pull together and move this organization to encompass LMHCs across the state of Florida and provide a network of clinicians who can turn to one another when services and support is most needed.
Some of the opportunities for the year 2011-2012 include:
- Continued growth in Chapters across the state of Florida spearheaded by Andy Mize and Frank Hannah
- Upcoming 2012 Conference at the Peabody Orlando where Jill Isaacson was able to retain Dr. Donald Meichenbaum to present on CBT and PTSD,
- Dr. Stephen Giunta is also putting together a Qualified Supervision Workshop, and
- Dr. Messina will be helping us with the upcoming DSM 5
- Ongoing Legislative Coverage by Mixon and Associates and a
- A New Website That Will Embody this Newsletter and Other Resources
There are so many LMHCs and Master students in our field willing to step up and become an active part of FMHCA that I think you should know about. We all need to work on keeping FMHCA alive and well. I am very optimistic with all those involved today that this association will grow and thrive. I, for one, am grateful to have a sense of belonging with LMHCs across the state of Florida through FMHCA.
Thank you,
Denny Cecil-Van Den Heuvel
President FMHCA
Overview
Out of the 2,186 bills that were filed in the 2011 Legislative Session, only 295 passed through both the House and Senate to await the approval of the Governor. The vast majority of all bills died and now await another chance in the 2012 Legislative Session should they be re-filed. While not directly effecting FMHCA, a few sweeping measures did pass that will impact all Floridians including, requiring public employees to pay 3% into their retirement, cutting public education funding by $1.35 billion and handing Medicaid over to managed-care.
Read more: FMHCA 2011 Legislative Wrap-up & Review By Corinne Mixon of Mixon and Associates
The counseling profession took a significant step forward with the introduction of Senate legislation (S. 3371) that will make it easier for TRICARE beneficiaries to see a professional mental health counselor.
Alexandria, VA – February 12, 2010 – Today, with the release of its report titled Provision of Mental Health Counseling Services under TRICARE, the Institutes of Medicine (“IOM”) has recommended to Congress that licensed mental health counselors be able to independently treat and diagnose TRICARE patients, thus eliminating the physician supervision and referral requirement that has for so long defined mental health counselors’ work with TRICARE beneficiaries.