We wanted to share with you what Marin CAMFT members are thinking as the COVID-19 situation is hopefully starting to change with arrival of vaccines, along with some input we received on how Marin CAMFT should proceed as we head further into 2021!
In the last week of January, we sent out a survey to our membership, and as of 2/4/21, 80 people replied, which is a great response rate. Thank you to those who took the time to offer your thoughts! Here are some of the significant responses we received.
In case you're using a screen-reader, the question was "After Shelter-In-Place is lifted, how do you plan to resume work with clients?" This was a "check all that apply" question. The vast majority of respondents plan to continue working with clients remotely: 61 out of 80 people (76%) indicated they would work virtually. About 36% (29 people) said they would work in-person in the office, and 17% (14) said they would work in-person outdoors. These answers do not sum to 100% because people could choose multiple options, which many clearly did. We also had an "other" option for that question, and the majority of those write-in answers were statements like "Both in person and virtual" or "hybrid" or "a mix." One person said that they have done teletherapy for many years already and will continue that way, and others said they weren't sure if clients wanted to return to in-person, or that they weren't sure where they would practice because of closing their physical office location.
Also interesting is that 17% of you will be working with clients outdoors! Perhaps we can make that a topic of discussion on Zoom in the coming weeks, where everyone can share what you've tried and what you are planning with clients for outdoors sessions or practices (see below for some plans that are in the works for shared discussions like this!).
We also wanted to know how you would prefer to receive Marin CAMFT's programming and events.
If you're using a screen-reader, the survey question was: "After Shelter-In-Place is lifted, would you like to see Marin CAMFT..." with three options asking about format. The results show that 70% of the respondents (56 people) prefer that we host a combination of in-person and virtual CE trainings and workshops. 28% (22 people) prefer that we continue offering primarily virtual trainings, as we have been doing since the pandemic started. And about 3% (2 people) want primarily in-person events.
We anticipated that many of you would like to see us return to in-person meetings, so we also asked about what your expectations would be for that to happen.
We wanted to hear your thoughts on protocols and requirements for having meetings in person again. The survey question was: "What would have to be true for you to feel comfortable with/want to return to in-person events with Marin CAMFT?"
This was an open-text response, so no fancy bar-charts available on this one, but here is a sampling of the 71 write-in answers that were given:
For all attendees to have a vaccine.
Virus transmission at less than *1
All therapists present at event vaccinated and more research on efficacy of vaccine
Everyone one with masks. Distancing 6 feet. Outdoors.
Covid under control
Be aligned with health department protocols.
I’m not sure at this point.
We're not quite sure yet either -- but we're working on it!
From the overall survey responses, we can see that many of our members are eager for in-person events to start up again, and at the same time, there are concerns and uncertainties about when and how we will be able to do this. Marin CAMFT is committed to doing it safely, when the time is right, and with clear protocols in effect, exactly as many of you have requested.
Here is the link to the survey results, in case you want to explore the answers more directly. (Note that since the survey is still open, the data is likely to change in the future from the summaries that have been published here.)
On January 30th, Marin CAMFT President Adam Cohen hosted the 2021 Chapter Retreat - virtually of course! We had nine members participate -- thank you to those who carved out time on a Saturday morning to join us! Adam presented these survey results and led a discussion of planning for the near term.
Here is a quick recap of key ideas and conversations:
Overall it was a very productive meeting, and we're grateful for the input provided by our members! Marin CAMFT will continue to make the most of our current situation within the realities of COVID-10 while the vaccine is being rolled out to our community.
The good news is that Marin CAMFT has been able to offer quite an array of virtual events so far through the pandemic, and we have many more planned throughout 2021 -- here are the next ones!
MARIN CAMFT: UPCOMING CONTINUING ED EVENTS
February 12 12:00 - 2:00 |
Couples Therapy: Billing, Documentation, and Ethical Dilemmas Presenter: Barbara Griswold, MFT |
March 12 12:00 - 2:00 |
Fundamentals of Art Therapy & How It Can Help You Break Through Blocks in Treatment with Children Presenter: Lisa Spivack, MFT, ATR |
March 20 9:00 - 11:00 | Black Minds Matter Presenter: J. Luke Wood, PhD |
April 9 12:00 - 2:00 | Working with the Cultural Outsider in Psychotherapy Presenter: Dennis Portnoy |
April 24 9:00 - 12:00 | Introduction to the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) Presenter: Brad Kammer, MFT, LPCC, SEP, NMT |
Ideas are welcome! Please email President Adam Cohen -- and more news to come!!