This is a closed meeting for the Executive Committee.
Description:
This course equips healthcare professionals with the tools and knowledge to understand and address unconscious bias and cultural considerations in clinical settings. It covers key concepts such as cultural humility, self-awareness, and bias identification, using interactive methods like case studies and scenario-based discussions. Participants learn to recognize and mitigate biases, enhance communication with diverse patients, and foster an inclusive and culturally safe environment in their practice. The course emphasizes the importance of self-reflection, ongoing learning, and addressing power imbalances to improve patient care and outcomes.
This course meets criteria for Washington's Health Equity requirement.
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
About the Presenter: Samantha Edu, LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, mental health coach, and Senior Manager of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Care Services. With a deep commitment to fostering inclusive healthcare environments, Samantha specializes in developing and facilitating training programs that address unconscious bias, cultural humility, and equitable care practices. She integrates her expertise in mental health with a focus on cultural responsiveness, allyship, and dismantling systemic barriers in healthcare settings. Samantha is passionate about empowering clinicians to provide compassionate, culturally informed care that meets the diverse needs of all clients, promoting wellness and equity across communities.
WMHCA Cancellation Policy: To receive a refund, less a $15 cancellation fee, cancellations must be made by contacting WMHCA at least 48 hours prior to workshop date. There will be no refunds within 48 hours of the workshop date. Please make sure you have the link 24 hours prior to the event starting.
This course is approved for 2 CE hours for LMHCs, LMFTs, LCSWs, and all associate-level licensees in Washington State.
Washington Mental Health Association (WMHCA) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 2079. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. WMHCA is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Termination of the clinical relationship can be difficult – particularly when termination is initiated by the clinician. While most clinicians are familiar with the concept of legal liability for client abandonment, there is often confusion about the precise distinction between termination, referral, and abandonment. In this 3 hour workshop we will examine the legal and ethical implications of termination and referral of clinical services. Specific focus will be on understanding the concept of legal abandonment in healthcare. Participants will gain increased ability to best support their clients while also minimizing risk and limiting exposure to liability. This course is intended to meet ethics CE requirements.
About the Presenter:
Eric Ström is an attorney and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, Washington. As an attorney, Eric provides legal counsel, consultation, and guidance to mental health professionals. Eric’s clinical practice is focused on providing counseling services to combat veterans and those in other high-stress professions. Eric currently serves on the American Mental Health Counselors Association Ethics Committee, and is the ethics advisor for the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association. Eric has taught a range of courses in counseling and professional ethics at a variety of graduate and undergraduate programs.
Eric earned a PhD in Counseling at Oregon State University, graduated cum laude from Wayne State University School of Law in Detroit Michigan, earned a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from the Northwest School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University Seattle, attended the Hague Academy of International Law in the Hague Netherlands, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from the University of Michigan.
WMHCA Cancellation Policy: To receive a refund, less a $15 cancellation fee, cancellations must be made by contacting sara@wmhca.org at least 48 hours prior to workshop date. There will be no refunds within 48 hours of the workshop date. Please make sure you have the link 24 hours prior to the event starting.
This course is approved for 3 CE hours for LMHCs, LMFTs, LCSWs, and all associate-level licensees in Washington State.
This is the monthly meeting for the Membership Engagement and Outreach Committee. Normally meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month.
This is the monthly meeting for the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. Normally meetings are held the first Wednesday of the month.
The monthly meeting for the Policy and Professional Advocacy Committee. Meetings are typically held the 1st Thursday of the month.
The monthly meeting for the Professional Development and Education Committee. This committee normally meeting on the first Thursday of the month.
The conference task force is working on planning WMHCA's very first conference in nearly 10 years. We are looking for volunteers to join the conference task force. WMHCA hopes the conference will be in the Spring of 2026. The task force will meet the 1st Fridays of the month.
The Washington Mental Health Counselor Association is presenting a free event for members on how to become a licensed mental health counselor in Washington State. Topics include, timeline to a counseling career, WA state Legislation and Licensing, Supervision and Tracking Hours, and much more. It will be 60 to 90 minutes depending on participant engagement and Q&A.
Though the era of COVID was not the origin of telehealth, licensed mental health providers across the country were forced to shift to this treatment modality in COVID, regardless of preference or personal beliefs around the efficacy of this modality. As we continue to progress past the pandemic, we can look back on where we have been, and cast a vision for where we are going as a mental health counseling field.
As a multi-clinician research team, we have been investigating what have been the impacts of these structural changes (e.g. transitions to home offices, not sharing physical space with clients, changes in commutes and other lifestyle changes, etc.) on clinician’s reported sense of health and wellbeing. We have also been investigating how telehealth practice contributes to, or detract from, clinicians’ effective implementation of self-care. We are working to better understand the benefits, and susceptibilities (potential areas for impairment) that clinicians have experienced.
Join us as we share where we are in the research process, having coded themes we’ll explore together with you for relevance and applicability to clinical practice. We will provide background information and research, all the while looking to expose gaps in the literature, especially related to how the structural changes associated with telehealth practice impact and inform clinical practice.
Doug Shirley is associate professor of Counseling Psychology at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Doug has been teaching and practicing counseling and psychology since 1999. In and through his private practice, Doug has had the opportunity to walk with any number of helping and healing professionals tending to the fallout that COVID brought to multiple professional realms. Doug has a passion for supporting the helpers themselves: those whose (early) life training has taught them to put others before themselves. In his teaching he is also active in guiding the next wave of counseling professionals: those who will usher our field into its future, whatever that might be.
Dr. Eric Ström is an attorney and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, Washington. As an attorney, Eric provides legal counsel, consultation, and guidance to behavioral health professionals. Eric’s clinical practice is focused on providing counseling services to combat veterans and those in other high-stress professions. Eric currently serves on the American Mental Health Counselors Association Ethics Committee, and is the ethics advisor for the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association. Eric has taught a range of courses in counseling and professional ethics at a variety of graduate and undergraduate programs. Eric earned a PhD in Counseling at Oregon State University, graduated cum laude from Wayne State University School of Law in Detroit Michigan, earned a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from the Northwest School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University Seattle, attended the Hague Academy of International Law in the Hague Netherlands, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from the University of Michigan.
This course is approved for 1.5 CE's hours for LMHCs, LMFTs, LCSWs, and all associate-level licensees in Washington State.
This meeting is for WMHCA board business and updates. WMHCA members are invited to attend. If you are an WMHCA member please come learn about the work WMHCA is doing and participate in the discussion. It is a chance for members to hear more about the initiatives WMHCA is engaged in as well as ability to add their voices. This is not a networking event.
The finance task force is chaired by the treasurer. The task force is responsible for the financial well-being or the organization. They are the primary stakeholders in the creation of the budget. They are currently looking at ways for WMHCA to invest to build financial of the organization over time. The task force typically meets from December to May. They meet the 2nd Monday of the month.
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