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Professional Development and Education Committee

Committee Mission Statement


We believe that education needs to be rooted in decolonized and liberative principles. The education committee seeks to sponsor high caliber and timely educative presentations to increase competency, provoke critical consciousness, and challenge oppressive practices. We offer continuing education opportunities which are accessible and further the embodiment ofethical clinical practice. We support counselors in developing cultural humility and strategies to reduce suffering. WMHCA and the committee actively seek to recruit presenters with diverse and intersectional identities, philosophies, and content.

Contact information


Chair:Carolyn Russo PhD, LMHC, NCC

Vice-Chair: Christina Louk PhD, LMHC, NCC


Committee Purpose

The Professional Development and Education Committee is inviting all WMHCA members to join the committee. The goal of the Professional Development and Education Committee is to vet presenters for workshops, select topics that best serve members, plan and host workshops, and stay updated on all continuing education requirements set forth by the Washington State Department of Health. The committee also explores and makes decisions regarding curriculum development.

WMCHA is always accepting professional development proposals for continuing educationClick here for more information.

WMHCA also approves continuing education for other organizations or providers.  Click here for more information.

All providers are now required to take 2 CE's of health equity continuing education every 4 year.

What are the Health Equity Training Standards?

As of January 1, 2024 all providers licensed under Title 18 must take two (2) continuing education credits of health equity training every four (4) years.  This includes associates.

 

The training must:

  • Include implicit bias training to identify strategies to reduce bias during assessment and diagnosis and may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the topics below

  • Instruction on skills to address the structural factors, such as bias, racism, and poverty, that manifest as health inequities.

  • Self-reflection to assess how the licensee's social position can influence their relationship with clients and their communities.

  • Strategies for recognizing patterns of health care disparities on an individual, institutional, and structural level and eliminating factors that influence them.

  • Intercultural communication skills training, including how to work effectively with an interpreter and how communication styles differ across cultures.

  • Have trainers with demonstrated knowledge and experience related to health equity. Research referenced in the training must be based on current empirical research and known best practices.

  • The courses must assess the licensee's ability to apply health equity concepts into practice

  • An assessment at the end of an in-person or virtual continuing education training to determine knowledge gained during that training or

  • A document provided at the end of an in-person or virtual continuing education training that attests to attendance at the training.


Other topics that meet the requirements are:

  • Methods for addressing the emotional well-being of children and youth of diverse backgrounds.

  • Ensuring equity and anti-racism in care delivery pertaining to medical developments and emerging therapies.

  • Structural competency training addressing five core competencies:

  • Recognizing the structures that shape clinical interactions.

  • Developing an extra-clinical language of structure.

  • Re-articulating "cultural" formulations in structural terms.

  • Observing and imagining structural interventions; and

  • Developing structural humility.

  • Cultural safety training.

Meeting Information

  • The PDEC committee meets the 1st Thursday of every month at 1:00 PM. 
  • Meeting Registration is Below

Upcoming Committee Meetings

    • 03/27/2025
    • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
    • Live Synchronous Zoom Event
    • 6
    Register

    Description:

    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.

    Objectives:

    • Identify legal standards regarding liability for client abandonment in healthcare settings;
    • Distinguish client abandonment from termination of clinical services;
    • Describe the ethical standards regarding client termination and referral.

    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.


    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.

    • 04/03/2025
    • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
    • Zoom
    Register

    The monthly meeting for the Professional Development and Education Committee. This committee normally meeting on the first Thursday of the month. 

    • 04/04/2025
    • 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 

    • 04/07/2025
    • 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 



    • 04/09/2025
    • 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Live Synchronous Zoom Event
    • 124
    Register

    Description:

    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.

     

    Objectives:

    Participants will be able to:

    • Apply working knowledge of the relevant literature on clinician health and wellness, self-care, and telehealth to clinical practice,
    • Foster ongoing self-awareness and telehealth-specific practices of self-care and wellness related activity,
    • Dialogue around study findings and the themes that are emerging from the data,
    • Advocate for and participate in increased consultation and collaboration to develop shared nomenclature and understanding of issues.

    About the Presenter:

    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.

    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 1.5 CE's 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.

    • 05/01/2025
    • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
    • Zoom
    Register

    The monthly meeting for the Professional Development and Education Committee. This committee normally meeting on the first Thursday of the month. 

    • 05/02/2025
    • 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 

    • 06/02/2025
    • 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 



    • 06/05/2025
    • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
    • Zoom
    Register

    The monthly meeting for the Professional Development and Education Committee. This committee normally meeting on the first Thursday of the month. 

    • 06/06/2025
    • 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 

    • 08/28/2025
    • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 



    • 10/30/2025
    • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 



    • 12/01/2025
    • 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    • Zoom
    Register

    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. 



Past events

03/17/2025 Unconscious Bias Training and Cultural Considerations for Healthcare Professionals with Samanth Edu, LPC
03/07/2025 The Art of Supervision with Sarah Weber, LMHC
03/07/2025 Conference Task Force Meeting
03/06/2025 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
02/28/2025 DATE & TIME CHANGE: Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
02/25/2025 Vicarious Trauma & Compassion Fatigue: Recognize, Mitigate, & Thrive-With Alexa Alberts, LICSW
02/12/2025 Decolonizing Somatic Therapy with Movement, Food, and Art-With Jayden Aubryn, LICSW
02/11/2025 Clinical Documentation Considerations of Changing Federal and State Laws-with Eric Strom, JD, PhD, LMHC
02/07/2025 Conference Task Force Meeting
02/06/2025 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
01/10/2025 Law and Ethics of Relationships in the Clinical Setting With Eric Strom JD, Ph.D, LMHC
01/09/2025 CANCELLED: Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
01/03/2025 Conference Task Force Meeting
12/18/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
12/06/2024 Conference Task Force Meeting
12/05/2024 CANCELLED: Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
11/19/2024 Neuroplasticity, Poetry & Mental Health
11/18/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
11/09/2024 Introduction to becoming a First Responder Therapist Curriculum (Live In Person Event)
11/07/2024 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
10/19/2024 WMHCA Member Networking Event
10/19/2024 Introduction to Becoming a First Responder Therapist Curriculum (Live In Person Event)
10/18/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
10/17/2024 Law and Ethics: Let Your Disclosure, Documentation, and Record keeping Work for You
10/16/2024 Here Comes an Election… Law and Ethics of Personal Beliefs in the Clinical Relationship
10/03/2024 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
09/19/2024 Law and Ethics of DOH Investigations: Process, Risks and Safeguards That Influence Clinical Practice
09/06/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
09/05/2024 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
08/17/2024 Introduction to becoming a First Responder Therapist Curriculum (Live In Person Event)
08/15/2024 Legally and Ethically Launching your Private Practice
08/14/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
08/08/2024 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
07/23/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
07/11/2024 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
06/28/2024 Canceled-Law and Ethics of DOH Investigations: Process, Risks and Safeguards That Influence Clinical Practice
06/20/2024 Supporting Trans and Non-Binary Clients
06/10/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
05/22/2024 Law and Ethics: Let Your Disclosure, Documentation, and Record keeping Work for You
05/17/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
05/16/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
05/15/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
05/15/2024 Are We OK? Potential Impacts of Telehealth Structural Changes on Clinician Wellness
05/14/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
05/13/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
05/09/2024 Law & Ethics of the Clinical Use of Artificial Intelligence
05/02/2024 Professional Development and Education Committee Meeting
04/26/2024 Self-Compassion as Exposure
04/18/2024 Healing Trauma Through Movement
04/16/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
04/15/2024 Becoming a Counselor in Washington State
04/05/2024 Generational Trauma and Generational Healing

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