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Chapter IX Matters
By Mary T. Earnest, Chapter
IX President Elect
Great strides were made and new efforts were initiated
by Chapter IX in 2010 under the leadership of Karena Valkyrie and it is our responsibility to continue and expand the good
work in 2011. We are extremely fortunate that Dr. Valkyrie will continue as Chapter
Program Committee Chairperson, that we have Margaret Fox continuing as our Treasurer,
Kim Compton is continuing as our Publicity/Website Committee Chairperson, Kathy King is continuing as Secretary, Lisa Patterson
will be out Historian, and Ashleigh Kerlin is continuing as our Student Blogger. Additional
officers and committee chairpersons who have been an active part of the team and new members will be contacted about confirming
their positions or considering an open position.
Our goals for 2011/2012 will be to:
- Continue
our efforts to develop and expand the membership of the chapter through increasing connection with student groups, identifying
new members, and engaging inactive members.
- Increase
communication with all members and potential members through expanding e-mail and website efforts, and developing new contacts.
- Expand
individual and chapter recognition efforts locally and statewide.
- Continue
to plan workshops and activities that will respond to the needs of a diverse membership.
- Identify
and get involved in a community service project that will benefit the local area.
Once installed, the officers will be meeting to
map out a plan of action for 2011. However, everyone needs to mark your calendar
Friday, February 25th to attend the Winter/Spring Workshop at Wiregrass
Rehabilitation Center, Dothan where Drs. Lynn Boyd & Jeanell Norvell will present on “Making
the Connection: A Group-Counseling Model for Difficult Populations.” Please
remember we are here to serve you and want you to join a professional, progressive, friendly, and positive team in planning
a very effective year. You can get involved by joining or attending our business
meeting that we coordinate with our workshops or just contacting us through our website survey at http://alcachapterix.com
The
Valkyrie’s View
I write realizing that this is my last contribution
to the Quarterly as President of Chapter IX. We begin this New Year installing
our new slate officers at the February 25, 2011 business meeting which follows our winter workshop. Your officers are: Mary Earnest, President, Margaret Fox,
Treasurer, Kathy King, Secretary, Kim Compton, Website/Newsletter/PR, and Lisa Patterson, Historian. (For a full listing of all the committee chairs and members-at-large, please check out our website.)
Chapter IX has worked
hard and has achieved many successes in the last three years and I am proud to have been part of the organization and effort
behind those accomplishments. We are clearly stronger as a chapter as evidenced
by our exuberant annual meeting in Mobile where we welcomed several new members and renewed connections with several retired
ones. One of our greatest accomplishments of the past three years is the award our Building Bridges workshop - Working with Diverse Populations: Ethics and Competency Issues received. We are so proud of working with VII ALAADA, ALAMCD, ALCCA, and ALDARCA
to create an award winning program. Lisa Patterson was acknowledged as Outstanding
Chapter IX member at the conference for her devoted service as president and website/newsletter “guru.”
Looking toward the
future, we have an outstanding Winter Workshop prepared. In a four hour format, Drs. Lynn Boyd and Jeanell Norvell will provide a workshop
to review the ethics linked to group work, the stages of group development, and provide examples of effective exercises for
dealing with difficult populations. Group exercises covered include concepts
linked with guided imagery, building trust, anger management, genograms, sculpting, and family of origins issues. This program
is appropriate for all masters’ level counselors, as well as, all who hold an LPC or ALC.
Important Info: Friday,
February 25, 2010, Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center, 795 Ross Clark Circle,
Dothan, AL 36303. Walk-in registration
begins at 8:00 a.m. Cost is very reasonable: ALCA professional members - $35,
ALCA student members - $20; all others $45. These fees guarantee lunch for
those who register on Tuesday, February 22. AND
– any “none” ALCA member may pay the member price if they join ALCA on the day of the workshop.
To the members of Chapter IX, I have treasured being your president and thank you for all of the support
and effort that enabled our chapter to see growth and success in these past three years.
I know we have a very bright future ahead and we are in very good hands with Mary and her team. Come to the February workshop, get involved, and let’s keep this growth active. Be well, happy New Year and fare-thee-well.
K.T. Valkyrie, PhD, LPC
Former President, ALCA-IX
PS... Reminder - As a way to encourage people to
visit our website (http://www.alcachapterix.com/), we started planting a question or an activity in our website. The first person who finds the hidden phrase or
answers the question and sends the answer to drktvalkyrie@gmail.com
will have $15 taken off her/his February workshop registration.
The
Importance of Your Membership
From
Chip Wood, ALCA Executive Director
Hardly a day goes by that the state office fails
to receive one (and often more calls) from an Alabama counselor telling us that they need our help. Our first question is
always “are you an ALCA member?” Almost always the answer is “yes”. Yet, when we check the person's
membership(which we always do), we find that what the person often means is that I was a member a few years ago but have not
renewed in several years (for whatever reason). Today ALCA has over 3000 people who are inactive members (members at one time
but not currently active).
Can you imagine how much stronger ALCA and its
efforts in behalf of our members would be if we had those inactive members participating? ALCA provides many wonderful services
for its members. Yet, it is only as strong as the support we receive. The best way you can support our efforts is by maintaining
your membership and supporting our conference.
Yes, we need your support and we need it now.
The economic downturn has affected ALCA just as it has affected everything else. Membership is down some. We have financial
reserves, but we cannot support the association very long on those. I urge you to maintain your membership. If it has lapsed,
take the time to complete the renewal forms we send you or go to www.alabamacounseling.org and renew online. Remember we are only as strong as our membership helps us to be.
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