Press Room

The No Surprises Act went into effect in January of 2022.  While we are still learning more about it, we have found these resources to be helpful for therapists.  Please review this information to see how the new law might affect you and your practice.  You may also want to utilize the legal helpline through MAMFT.  You may contact Terry Moore at tmoore@hjlawfirm.com  or 952-746-2175 to schedule a call to discuss any questions or concerns you have about this new law.

AAMFT

https://blog.aamft.org/2021/12/no-surprises-act-new-billing-disclosures-going-into-effect-in-2022.html

APA

https://www.apaservices.org/practice/legal/managed/billing-disclosure-requirements

https://www.apaservices.org/practice/legal/managed/good-faith-estimate-template.pdf

We are excited to announce that our bylaws have passed and members can read more about them HERE.  

The bylaw vote that took place in October passed, meaning MAMFT’s new bylaws will go into effect January 1st 2022. 

The MAMFT board and staff is working to finalize the protocols, policies and procedures manual, and other important criteria to function effectively under our new bylaw structure. We expect a transition process to occur throughout 2022 as we work to adopt these new bylaws. 

The main visible change will be in our board and organizational structure. We will be condensing the responsibilities of our organization into 4 standing committees and one accountability panel. 

Internal Affairs is responsible for the direction and management of MAMFT as an organization.

Tasks include- Strategic planning, budget and financial direction, staff direction and feedback.

Chair- Cerise Lewis; internalaffairs@mamft.net

Governance is responsible for ensuring the healthy management of our board.

Tasks include- Onboarding new board members, managing and addressing complaints, ensuring follow through and alignment with our policies and bylaws

Chair- Christina Corwin; secretary@mamft.net

External Affairs is responsible for the development of member and public facing events and communications 

Tasks include- Marketing/communications, advocacy efforts, event planning, membership engagement and recruitment

Chair- Leah Seeger; externalaffairs@mamft.net

Elections is responsible for ensuring a fair and elected make-up of our board

Tasks include- working with governance on determining board membership needs, developing a slate of qualified individuals for board positions, holding free and fair elections. 

Chair- Ana Lewis; elections@mamft.net

Social Justice Accountability Panel includes members of each standing committee, and other MAMFT members who are committed to socially just work. This panel is responsible for ensuring all board work is grounded in awareness and responsiveness to the needs of all MN MFTs.

Tasks include- providing input, feedback, and ensuring accountability for how all board and organizational functions impact various groups within our membership. 

Interim Chair- Serenity Curtis; socialjustice@mamft.net

We continue to welcome member input and feedback in this process! If you would like to participate in a committee, or have any question about the work of various committees, please reach out to the corresponding committee chair. 

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, the Twin Cities and our state are facing yet another murder of a Black man, Mr George Floyd, at the hand of the Minneapolis police force. As we mourn the brutal and needless loss of life of Mr Floyd, we are also witnessing the expression of intergenerational and historical trauma in many of our communities, as people rise up for justice and Black liberation. Sadly, we are also witnessing an influx of out-of-town agitators and organized white supremacist groups trying to destroy historically Black, Brown and Immigrant communities for their own purposes. This is also leading to increased militarized presence in these communities, with the potential dangers this entails for those most vulnerable to systemic harm among us. These are complex, dangerous and mourning times. We want to acknowledge that colleagues and families we work with are impacted in different ways depending on how our bodies are racialized and our geosocioeconomic location.

As systemic providers, we also want to acknowledge how, as larger systems fail some of our most marginalized members and communities we serve, we are also witnessing the resilience of these same communities. People are coming together and organizing, healers and medics are working on the ground, volunteer crews are cleaning the streets and neighbors are looking out for one another. Many of the people working on the ground are among our members, as well as living in the neighborhoods and communities impacted by what is currently happening. We want to make it clear that, as an organization, we are on the side of justice and Black liberation. We understand that we have work to do, given that our Board is mostly white, and we are committed to and prioritizing this work. If you are a white member looking for resources to understand what is currently happening, a relational and systemic healer in Minnesota, previous keynote presenter at our conference, and author of “My Grandmother’s Hands”, Resmaa Menakem, LICSW has a free online course on racialized trauma available at https://culturalsomaticsuniversity.thinkific.com/courses/cultural-somatics-free-5-session-ecourse.

We are grateful for all the members supporting their clients and communities, your work is invaluable. May we heal from the public health emergency that is racism. May there be justice and peace.

In solidarity,

The MAMFT Board

Posted on May 31, 2020

MAMFT’s Board of Directors has organized an ad-hoc Pandemic Task Force of volunteer board members to serve as a resource in supporting our professional community throughout this pandemic’s progressive developments. The Task Force will work with other MAMFT board members to continue organizing resources, coordinating communication across membership, generate trainings and community connection groups, and respond to ongoing inquiries from members as they arise. Below, you can find the many resources already accessible on MAMFT’s website along with a list of the aspired resources to come.

Check out the special report, which introduces the COVID-19 Task Force, summarizes resources, and identifies next steps.

MAMFT-Special-Report-Pandemic-Task-Force.pdf

Dear Colleagues,

The Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT) is aware that, while we are all facing the challenges that COVID-19 poses, our Asian American and Pacific Islander colleagues, students, neighbors and clients are also dealing with increased incidents of racial discrimination, harassment, bigotry and violence. These incidents are happening across the country as well as in our own state. Racism and bigotry are sadly not uncommon in times of crisis, and there is a long history of blaming Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) at various times in the history of the United States. This means that Minnesotan AAPI businesses, families and healthcare providers, including MFT colleagues and students, now fear for their safety and wellbeing while also having to deal with this pandemic.

With this statement, MAMFT wants to clearly condemn any acts of racial discrimination, harassment, bigotry and violence against AAPI clients, colleagues, students, neighbors and clients. As systemic providers, we understand how important our relationships are, and how vital it is to be in solidarity with one another, especially at such a challenging time. We urge all non-AAPI members to be alert to the racism and bigotry that our AAPI clients, colleagues, students and neighbors are currently facing so that we can better support one another through our actions, in both our professional and personal lives. One way to be proactive is to publicly support AAPI owned and run businesses and organizations, as asked for in the Joint Statement issued on March 31st, 2020 by a set of Asian Minnesotan organizations (found here).

We also welcome our AAPI colleagues, students, clients and neighbors to let us know how we can better support you as an organization during this challenging time and beyond. Please know that, even though we have much room for growth, our commitment to social justice and anti-racist practices is unwavering and firmly woven in our strategic plan and goals for our association.

Sincerely,

The MAMFT Board of Directors

MAMFT has set up a web page for sharing information relevant to providing mental health services in light of Covid-19. It is by no means an exhaustive list of resources nor should any of it be taken as legal or ethical advice from MAMFT.

We will continue to add resources/information to the page in the coming days and weeks. If you know of a resource or are willing to share content you have put together you think would be of benefit to others, please email it to me and we will consider adding it on the web page (mamft.net/covid-19).

With a collective and collaborative mindset we can best navigate challenging times such as this. MAMFT is here to help facilitate that collaboration and our collective strength.

Thank you for being a valued member of our community and for the important service you are providing the larger community during this time.

Sincerely,

Sara Bidler, LMFT
Executive Director
executivedirector@mamft.net

Learn about the 5-Year Strategic Plan adopted by the MAMFT Board for 2020-2025 by watching the below video and reading about the plan here!

The plan focuses on the following 5 goals: (1) Increasing Inclusivity, (2) Structural Changes that Ensure Sustainability, (3) Increasing Visibility within the Public Sector, (4) Creating Strategic Relationships that Enhance the Quality of Professional Life for MFTs in Minnesota and (5) Making MAMFT the Professional Home for More MFTs in Minnesota.

Thanks to Lucas Volini (MAMFT President-Elect) for volunteering his equipment, time and talent in filming and producing the above video!

Check out MAMFT’s brochure on “Why See an MFT?”

MAMFT-Why-See-An-MFT-Brochure.pdf

Marriage and Family Therapists view mental health as a function of how people operate individually and together in their relationships with others, in “systems.” Systems come in many shapes and sizes, from two people in a couples’ relationship all the way to the “systems” that organize our communities, our nation, and our species. Systems create opportunities for its members to communicate their needs, meet their needs, and allocate resources. Whenever a system fails to do so in a way that is unfairly prejudicial for any member or group of members within a system, inequity is the result, and social justice is at least part of the answer. Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy strives to represent the views of its individual members and also the profession as it exists in Minnesota. From this viewpoint, the MAMFT Board has deemed it necessary and useful to create a position statement that reflects the MAMFT’s stance on equity and social justice in our community. This position statement is also intended to encourage thought, dialogue and action by our members and the organization internally and with our community on the issues of equity and social justice as they have arisen, continue to arise, and evolve. MAMFT is continuing to learn and evolve with our profession. We are not immune from the systemic issues that plague all groups and organizations. This statement is a commitment to reflect on and take action steps toward ensuring any current or previous members of the association who believe their needs in these regards have not been met to know that we take these issues seriously, believe they have systemic and historic origins and we are willing to do our part in addressing issues of equity as an important part of our function as a Board of MAMFT . It also serves as a loud invitation to come to the table and help guide MAMFT to the next chapter of professional organization and community in a manner that is fair, just, and inclusive to everyone.

MAMFT’s Commitment to Socially-Just Practice

The Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy actively encourages the participation of all therapists regardless of age, creed, race, ethnic background, gender, socio-economic status, region of residence, physical or mental status, political beliefs, religious or spiritual affiliation, and sexual or affectional orientation. Although we are an organization of individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds, the Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy also recognizes our core unifying identities as therapists who practice on Dakota and Aanishinabe territories, currently known as Minnesota, on Turtle Island, currently known as the United States. We also recognize that we hold unintentional attitudes and beliefs that influence our perceptions of and interactions with others. We are committed to all aspects of diversity as well as our knowledge and appreciation of the unique qualities of different cultures and backgrounds.We aspire to becoming alert to aspects of diversity, previously unseen or unacknowledged in our culture. In this spirit, we are committed to collaborating to combat all forms of systemic prejudice as we seek to promote access, healing, restorative justice and liberation for all in our society.  We recognize that social justice extends beyond attitudes and into actions that promote the creation of a space for the human spirit to thrive and the establishment and continuation of just relationships. To this end, we are dedicated to increasing our multicultural competencies and effectiveness as colleagues, educators, researchers, administrators, policy makers, and practitioners.

MAMFT Equity Statement

The Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy actively encourages the membership and participation of all qualified Marriage and Family Therapists, regardless of age, race, ethnic background, gender, socio-economic status, region of residence, physical or mental status, political beliefs, religious or spiritual affiliation, and sexual or affectional orientation. Although we are an organization of individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds, the Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy also recognizes our core unifying identities as therapists who practice on Dakota and Anishinaabe territories, currently known as Minnesota, on Turtle Island, currently known as the United States.

We also recognize that we hold unintentional attitudes and beliefs that influence our perceptions of and interactions with others. We are committed to the appreciation of the unique qualities of different cultures and backgrounds. We aspire to becoming alert to aspects of diversity, previously unseen or unacknowledged in our culture. In this spirit, we are committed to collaborating to combat all forms of systemic inequity, exploitation and oppression as we seek to promote access, healing, restorative justice and liberation for all who have been harmed by any of these practices in our society. We recognize that social justice extends beyond attitudes and into actions that promote the creation of a space for the human spirit to thrive and the establishment and continuation of just relationships. To this end, we are dedicated to increasing our understanding of effective ways to resolve and eliminate all forms of systemic inequity as educators, researchers, administrators, policy makers, and practitioners. With these understandings, we plan to continue to take action to ensure that MAMFT is both perceived and actually is an organization which promotes and creates opportunities for members and the community to interact with equity, fairness and inclusion.

The MN session is over! It ended May 20th. Although there were not as many wins as we hoped for, this session still passed more bills to support mental health initiatives than many past sessions! So we are calling that a win! Take a look through the following list to see some of the highlights from the 2019 Session.

• Kept the Provider Tax with a slight decrease to 1.8%
• Funding to sustain Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs)
• Funding for Intensive Children’s Mental Health Treatment and 150 new Psychiatric Residential treatment Facility (PRTFs) beds
• NAMI Policy language to better enforce mental health parity
• Funding increase for school-linked mental health services – $1.21M next two years and $9.6M the following biennium along with expansion of who can apply for grants, what grant funding can be used for and an analysis of the program going forward
• Funding for youth-shelter linked mental health treatment – $250,000 a year
• Funding for the child welfare training academy
• Making it easier to enroll in TEFRA through MNSure
• Reducing TEFRA fees
• Funding for Safe Harbour for sexually exploited youth
• Major increase in funding for suicide prevention -$5.6M the first biennium and $7.46M the second biennium
• Increasing MFIP by $100 a month
• Decrease the spenddown under MA for people with disabilities in 2022 so it’s 100% of the poverty guidelines instead of 81%
• Increasing timely access to substance use disorder treatment
• Increasing funding for FASD grants
• Additional funding for mobile mental health crisis services – $2.5 next two years and $9.793 the following biennium
• Funding for the specialized community supervision project
• Increase bed capacity in state operated services
• Funding for the competency restoration task force
• Funding to address county disputes with discharges from state operated services and requiring a report on the number of days someone spends in a state operated program when they don’t need that level of care
• Expanding Medical Assistance to all children in foster care
• Funding for the tobacco quitline
• Addresses the issue of travel time for mental health professionals
• Incorporating changes to behavioral health homes
• Allowing jails to share names of people who screened positive on a mental health screen to county social services
• Requiring plans to cover PANDAS
• Strengthening oversight of network adequacy waivers building on language passed several years ago by NAMI to require plans to demonstrate what actions they are taking to ensure network adequacy
• Allows for prescriptions to be refilled in an emergency situation for chronic conditions (could help with mental health medications)
• Establishing Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month