by Sara Oppler | Aug 24, 2015 | Uncategorized
Rogene M. Eichler West, Ph.D. is a Board Certified Neurofeedback Clinician (BCIA) and Washington State Certified Counselor with a Doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota (1996), with postdoctoral training from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is a member of Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback and the International Society for Neural Regulation.
Prior to becoming a clinician, Dr. West held research and faculty positions at institutions such as University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
In addition to her clinical duties, Dr. West consults in collaboration with BrainMaster Technologies and InteraXon to develop new software and wearable EEG tools to help mental health clinicians and their clients.
by Sara Oppler | Aug 24, 2015 | Uncategorized
Dr. Carruth is currently a Professor at City University of Seattle. She is the Clinical Training Coordinator and she teaches extensively in the Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC) program. Dr. Carruth received her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Tennessee, a CACREP-accredited program. Dr. Carruth is a National Certified Counselor (NCC), and Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS), and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Washington State. Since finishing her formal education, Dr. Carruth has spent time working in the mental health system in Washington, and has used her experiences as a clinician to inform her practice as an instructor and her current research agenda.
Currently, Dr. Carruth is completing the first phase of a project in which she and her team of researchers are exploring the impact of budget cuts on recovery for consumers of community mental health. Alongside this primary interest, Dr. Carruth has developed a unique perspective of the importance of action research for counselors, and her research interests now include examining the relationship between action research and social justice in counselor education.
Dr. Carruth has spent her career in the helping professions, and she has over 15 years of experience working in human services and community mental health. Dr. Carruth maintains active roles in a number of professional organizations, including the American Counseling Association, the American Mental Health Counselors Association, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, Counselors for Social Justice, the Association for Humanistic Counseling, and the Washington Mental Health Counselor's Association, where she is president emeritus. Dr. Carruth also serves her professional community as an editor for the Tennessee Counselors Association Journal and as an apprentice editor for The Qualitative Report.
by Sara Oppler | Aug 18, 2015 | Uncategorized
Medicare Legislation Action Alert
New bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to extend Medicare provider status to mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists. On July 22, 2015 Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced the “Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act” (S. 1830) and on June 12, 2015 Representatives Chris Gibson (R-NY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced the House version as (HR. 2759). The identical bills would allow Medicare beneficiaries access to mental health counselor services and marriage and family therapists (MFTs) through Medicare. By providing these mental health professionals the opportunity to participate in the Medicare program, the bills expand the number of mental health providers available to beneficiaries.
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AMHCA, ACES and NBCC Jointly Endorse Plan for Licensure Portability
The AMHCA-ACES-NBCC portability plan is built on sound principles of quality assurance and national standards. The plan will promote acceptance of a license from another state when the individual holds a degree from a clinically focused counselor preparation program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP), holds certification as a National Certified Counselor, or meets standards adopted by the state board of counseling.
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TRICARE Provider Status Legislation
In May the American Counseling Association took credit for attaching bill language to the House version of Department of Defense funding legislation (HR.1735) that is opposed by AMHCA because it would effectively gut current TCMHC rules. The TCMHC rule change is now mired in the much broader funding logjam over federal spending. If Congress decides to pass a short-term CR to buy members more time to deal with federal spending questions, it will effectively halt any advance of the ACA’s provision. Most Members of Congress think they’re now heading toward a CR, which would keep federal funding on autopilot from this fiscal year into next, allowing no policy or spending changes, and maintaining the current TRICARE rule for TCMHCs.
Mental Health Reform Bills Take Shape
After several years of fits and starts, momentum is building in Congress to pass a mental health reform bill that responds to mass gun violence without addressing any new restrictions on access to firearms. This week Senate HELP Committee members Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced a new bill, see summary, making mental-health system reforms. The bill offers a legislative response to House, Rep. Tim Murphy’s (R-PA) long running, but unsteady, push for action on mental health reform. Increased attention on mass gun violence also appears to have spurred reintroduction in June of Representative Tim Murphy’s bill, now H.R. 2646. Like last year’s, it contains a number of controversial provisions including an “emphasis on institutional and coercive approaches,” see Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, while excluding provisions to expand voluntary community-based services such as AMHCA’s Medicare provider status amendment for CMHCs.
For more background and tips on affecting national policy, become a joint, "unified dues" member of AMCHA and WHMCA today!
by Sara Oppler | Jul 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
Dear WMHCA Members,
I am pleased to announce the final results of Board Elections for Fiscal Year 2015-2016:
· President-Elect: Mary Kannegaard, MS, LMHC
· President: Thom Field, PhD, LMHC, NCC
· Past-President: Richard Stride, PsyD, LMHC
· Treasurer: Duncan Hollomon, PhD, LMHC
· Co-Secretaries: Marianne Marlow, MA, LMHC and Suzanne Staum, MA, LMHC
Other newly-appointed Board Members include:
· Membership Chair: Leslie Gibb, MA, LMHC
· Central Washington Representative: LaRee Rumble, MA, LMHC
· Eastern Washington Representative: Kyle Williams, MA, LMHC
Thanks to all who participated in the online election!
Ellen Carruth, PhD, LMHC
by Sara Oppler | Jul 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
Many thanks to all who have responded to the survey on Regence. If you have not yet done so, please
click here to take the survey before the cutoff date of Sunday, July 26.
The next Coalition meeting on Regence will be held on
August 15 at Glaser Auditorium in Swedish Hospital - First Hill (747 Broadway, Seattle) from
9:00 am to noon. The meeting will include the results of the survey; a draft letter to OIC; summary of legal advice; assignments to five subcommittees; and the kind of question and answer period we had at the last meeting. If you plan to attend please let Cynthia Stover, Coalition Treasurer, know at
cynthiastover@hotmail.com by
August 12.
The subcommittees will include writing position papers; social media campaign; publicity campaign; coordinating with other mental health groups; and coordinating with other consumer groups. If you are willing to be a chair of one of these subcommittees, please email or call Laura W. Groshong, LICSW, Mental Heath Advocate, at
lwgroshong@comcast.net or
206-524-3690.
