Florida Mental Health Counselors Association

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

PresidentFMHCA

Here, it is our goal to provide you, our members and fellow practitioners of the healing art of Mental Health Counseling, opportunities for enrichment and growth in our profession & diligent representation promoting the field of Mental Health in our wonderful State of Florida. To this end, we sponsor a yearly conference and provide networking and educational experiences to foster improvement in our performance as licensed mental health counselors.

Please review the "Legislative" updates and information by clicking the "Legislative" button above. Thank you.

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We invite you to share your ideas and give your leadership the opportunity to tailor your member experience with FMHCA to your needs.

Elvis Lester, MA, LMHC, NCC, MAC, NBCFCH
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (MH2221)
President – 2012-2013

FMHCA ♦ PO Box 272552, Tampa, FL 33688

2012-2013 Legislative Updates

The Latest...

Our efforts, FMHCA, Lobbyist representatives and fellow members, helped get Bill 1161 through the House Health Quality Committee.

The 491 update bill has passed through its first bill of reference in the House. The members of House Health Quality voted unanimously to support the bill. In addition to Mixon and Associates visiting with each member of the committee, several FMHCA/SMHCA members helped us get the bill passed by calling the legislators offices. We hear that we will be back on the Senate Health Policy agenda next week since they ran out of time, but we cannot confirm that yet. Next up is the Senate Bill 1368. We are hopeful that the Senate Committee will hear the bill in Senate Health Policy committee next week. Keep watching. We will keep you updated.

Click Here for the Latest "Mental Health Counselor Session Report"

Please SUPPORT Senate Bill 1368 By Ring

Relating to Clinical, Counseling and Psychotherapy Services

In Health Policy on 3/20/2013

This Bill….

Closes a loophole that allows mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy and clinical social work interns to put the public at risk by practicing as interns for ten or more years with no intention or ability to achieve full licensure. “Lifelong interns” are responsible for up to 33% of the discipline cases that come before Florida’s regulatory board.

Modifies Florida’s out-of-date accreditation standards for Master’s and PhD-level-mental-health-counseling-programs. Alternative accreditations prohibit some graduates from working with the VA. Often these new licensees are not informed that their education does not permit them to practice in these settings.