KMHCA and WKMHCA join forces to plan for 2013-14

The West Kentucky Counseling Association (WKCA) met on August 30th at the Murray State University Curris Center.  Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors from Western Kentucky used this opportunity to discuss and plan actions for the newly vitalized Kentucky Mental Health Counselors Association (KMHCA). The counselors association was enthusiastic about the progress so far in reorganizing KMHCA. A highlight of the meeting was the introduction of new officers in KMHCA who were appointed by KCA Executive Director, Karen Cook.  They include Amy Washington, President, and Alan Bakes, President Elect.  Jeri Harrell, Treasurer for KMHCA, was not present for the meeting. Officers from other parts of the state include Shanna Goggins, Secretary Technical Coordinator, and Dr. Marie Shafe, Coordinator of Programs and support for other officers. In addition, newly appointed Citizen at Large for theKentucky Board of Professional Counselors, Dr.Sandra Parks, was introduced to the counseling group during their semi-annual meeting.  Dr. Parks of Murraywas appointed to this office by Governor Steve Beshear.  

    The KMHCA members discussed informally new projects and communication outlets for the group.  A formal meeting is planned for October 24th at the yearly KCA meeting in Louisville.  The Kentucky Board of Professional Counselors will hold a board meeting on October 24 in the morning to discuss possible changes in regulations related to licensed counselors.  In addition the board will host a luncheon for all licensed counselors in Kentucky following the board meeting.  Again, proposed changes in regulations in the licensure law will be discussed.  

     As a part of the WKCA meeting, The Bridges counseling group located in Murray, Kentucky presented a program describing different methods of using Play Therapy in working with children and adolescents.  The group earned CEU and EILA credits for attending this meeting. The presentation was offered at no cost to the participants and a luncheon was provided by Murray State University at no cost to the organization.  This meeting has always been an excellent opportunity for counselors in Western Kentucky to communicate and build relationships.  Discussion of the spring meeting of WKCA and WKMHCA at Barkley Lodge was discussed with members considering the types of programs and training that they would like to see.  WKMHCA will meet again October 15th to finalize plans for the spring meeting which will offer 6 hours of CEU and EILA for participating counselors.  Counselors from any group throughout Kentucky are welcome to participate in the spring WKMHCA meeting to exchange information and gain skills.  

State Organization Update

Hello Mental Health Professionals!

 

I wanted to post this update to let you know of some of the things happening with KMHCA. This is a crucial time for LPCC's and LPCA's throughout Kentucky as the board is proposing changes to our licensure law and we continue our efforts to achieve recognition of LPCC's and LPCA's for billing purposes with Medicaid.

Our organization has endured some recent upheavals and changes - but remains a vital group for mental health professionals in Kentucky. We provide many crucial services, such as making recommendations to the governor for board appointments. We hope to provide more services in the future including a referral system for the public, a list of mental health facilities and practices that provide Counselors and counseling services, and a network of mental health professionals that strengthens our profession and our organization.

 

Along those lines, KCA, parent organization to KMHCA, has appointed new officers in the absence of a functioning central organizational leadership structure. As of June 14, 2013 the current officers of KMHCA are:

 

President - (myself) Amy Washington

President Elect - Alan Bakes

Secretary/Technical Coordinator - Shana Goggins

Treasurer - Jeri Harrel

 

KCA appointed the current leaders to a term that encompasses the remainder of 2013 and the next full term which ends August 2014. In that time the current leadership is charged with the responsibility of developing a functional and effective membership list and structure that will allow members to put the officer positions to vote in accordance with our organizational bylaws and will give all Counselors the chance to participate equally in the organizational leadership.

 

While some of the recent changes to the structure of KMHCA have been beneficial in that they have strengthened many of the regional chapters and provided more opportunities for professional leadership and development, there have been some disadvantages as well in that some areas remain without strong leadership and there is no network for reaching professionals statewide for the important tasks key to all Counselors in Kentucky.

 

For my part, my goals as President of KMHCA, with the help of our other leaders, and the accompanying target dates are as follows:

 

~ Review organizational bylaws and align structure appropriately October 2013

 

~ Host a booth at the KCA Annual Conference - Galt House Hotel. Oct. 23-25, 2013

 

~ Host an informal meeting for new and returning members to 
   share ideas and discuss organizational structure and bylaws Oct. 23-25, 2013

 

~ Develop a complete, functional Regional chapter leadership 
    list and contact tree...... December 2013

 

~ Create or reestablish an online presence through a website or blog...... December 2013

 

~ Cultivate leaders in areas currently without a functioning leadership... Spring 2014

 

~ (Re) Establish an organizational treasury account while providing 
    full accountability and open disclosure to membership... Spring 2014

 

~ (Re) Establish appropriate tax exempt status as possible... Spring 2014

 

~ Develop a complete, functional membership list and contact tree...... August 2014

 

~ Provide professional leadership and networking 
    opportunities through website.. August 2014

 

~ Develop a monthly newsletter/e-newsletter that allows all members 
    to receive effective and timely communications regarding state-wide 
    issues, proposals and changes to laws, information on CEU and other 
    educational opportunities, and a place for regional chapters to share 
    information about their events and leadership.. August 2014

 

~ Strengthen relationships with KCA, the state licensing board, and 
    the governor's office to allow KMHCA to provide the most effective 
    responsive advocacy possible for Mental Health Professionals 
    throughout Kentucky......... Ongoing

 

~ Support Regional KMHCA chapters in their efforts to provide 
    educational and professional opportunities locally Ongoing

 

~ Develop a system for responding quickly to members questions 
    and concerns while also providing timely information pertaining 
    to Mental Health professionals state-wide......... Ongoing

 

~ Effectively utilize technology to allow more complete engagement 
    of members across the state, to include a web presence, conference calls, 
    E-vents, and web-based voting and registration processes......... Ongoing

 

~ Provide accountability and dependability to our membership......... Ongoing

If you have any questions, are interested in getting involved, or are seeking a Regional chapter in your area please do not hesitate to contact me. I have begun compiling a list of our membership, so if you know of someone who did not receive this information and has been a KMHCA member or is interested in becoming one please send me their contact information.

 

Regional Leaders, please send me your complete membership list and contact information so that we can begin the process of establishing a contact tree for reaching all members with pertinent state-wide information.

Thank you all for your support and for the indispensable work you do in offices, clinics, schools, homes, and other settings around the state. I hope to see many of you at the KCA conference in October! 

 

Warm Regards,

 

Amy Washington, LPCC

KMHCA President

P.O. Box 1144

Murray, KY 42071

(270) 227-3420 (cell)

The Future of Kentucky Mental Health Counselors Association (KMHCA) – A New Beginning

Notes from the South Central Kentucky Mental Health Counselors Association Meeting (SCKMHCA) – Lake Cumberland State Park April 18th, 2013

Facilitated by John LaRusch

Members of KMHCA and KCA officials were invited to attend the meeting to discuss the next phase of KMHCA.
John started the meeting by encouraging those attending to identify the positives which the past year had brought about for the profession. Attending counselors reported that regional organizations had been strengthened with most regions developing a complete training conference for the spring of 2013. Also, they indicated that counselors and KMHCA leaders had been networking with each other more.
Next on the agenda, the members were asked to describe the benefits of continuing KMHCA. The following were reported:
1. Professional/Personal Support.
2. Networking
3. Credibility in the community related to state and national affiliation.
4. Connection to national leadership through AMHCA – By-laws and ethics information.
5. Shared experiences – Firsthand experience with other counselors.
6. CEUs available at little or no cost.
The current president, Michael Cornwall will be stepping down April 30th and there are currently no officers serving KMHCA and none have been identified for the coming year.
Karen Cook, Executive Director of Kentucky Counseling Association (KCA) and Susan Patterson, President of KCA, were present representing KCA. John informed the group that all monies for KMHCA were being transferred to KCA as KMHCA is an affiliate of KCA and the organization is currently not functional. The amount of money to be transferred was not indicated. John indicated that the money could be transferred back to KMHCA at a later date should the organization become functional.
John indicated that the KMHCA Blog will be in operation until the current agreement is completed. It may be reinstituted at a later date and currently comments can be posted by calling Michael Cornwall.
John distributed a form to be completed by those attending asking for volunteers to help with reorganizing KMHCA. John stressed that those volunteering should be prepared to offer their time and energy for all projects indicated as it will be important to have everyone enthusiastically involved and ready to work to restart and improve this important organization.
KCA leaders will work with the current KMHCA leaders including regional presidents to determine how KMHCA officers will be chosen for the coming year.
Karen Cook suggested that KMHCA members interested in becoming state level leaders could attend this year’s annual leadership training conducted by KCA in early August.
It was announced that KMHCA has a board which includes the presidents of all regional groups. The board was inactive during the past year.
One member suggested that the KMHCA mission statement should be reworked to describe the purpose of the organization and other members agreed. The current problem is that the by-laws and mission statement for KMHCA cannot be located. WKMHCA used the KMHCA by-laws and mission statement to develop their own documents and this may be a method of retrieving the KMHCA documents.
John LaRusch indicated that he has offered to act as liaison in reorganizing KMHCA, but that he would not seek and would not accept the office of president.
Those with questions or suggestions my reach John LaRusch at jlarusch@gmail.com or Karen Cook at Karen.Cook.KCA@gmail.com. Ms. Cook’s phone number is 606-685-6009.
In relation to WKMHCA and this information, Karen Cook reported that she does not have a current slate of officers for our group. I am sure this has been forwarded to the current leaders because I personally sent a copy myself at one time. Karen and I discussed the confusion about our organizational make-up and I referred her to the current officers of WKMHCA, specifically Amy Washington, our current president. There is some confusion about the counties making up the western region and Ms. Cook mentioned that it might be advisable to consider combining and renaming Regions 1 and 2 since they both include counties currently being served by WKMHCA.
I shared with the group attending this meeting some of the positive approaches we have instituted in W. Ky. including working to include younger counselors in planning and leadership positions. It was suggested that W. Ky. Counselors might be of help to KMHCA by sharing these examples of activities directed at building membership and including counseling students and younger counselors in WKMHCA. I suggested that we might work with Dr. Samir Patel of Murray State University in initiating these activities as he is currently president of Kentucky Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
Everyone in attendance agreed that this has been a very difficult year for KMHCA and its affiliates, but the group attending the Lake Cumberland meeting gained support for making the efforts needed to reorganize and strengthen this important organization.