Re: NYCCAT listserve, member questions

[Guest guest]

Dear a,

I just got your message. Thank you for responding. I only have a minute before leaving to run dance/movement therapy groups for adolescents and adults with eating disorders. You are correct. It would be great if I could attend a meeting, but as you note I do not live in or near NYC. You have my permission to type a response to my questions and to post them on the list serve. Although I did get one message back channel from someone who said she had similar thoughts, I was surprised that others haven’t said anything. I imagine that is because people who have been contributing to the discussion are focused on the lack of civil service opportunities for career development in the CATs. I left civil service more than 30 tears ago. At the time the big change was putting the words dance therapy or dance therapist in parentheses after the words recreation therapy/therapist. That was the major move in the late 70’s.

Thank you again,

le

____________________________________________________

le L. Fraenkel, Ph.D., ADTR, NCC, LCAT, LMHC, CGP

Director,

Kinections www.kinections.com

At Imagine Square

718 University Avenue

Rochester, NY 14607

USA

TEL:

FAX:

Dear le,

My name is a Mac and I have just recently joined the NYCCAT Board. A number of your concerns are valid and raise a good point. I think it would be wonderful for you to attend any of the open board meetings that NYCCAT announces on this listserve and hosts, there have been two in the past 2.5 months.

IF you are able to " back channel " through some of NYCCAT's postings on the list serve I belive Chriss Berk posted a very long and detailed message regarding the question of why the funds are needed and where they are going. I can tell you now those that HAVE been collected have not yet been utilized as they are not yet the size of the sum needed to acquire a lobbyist, nor to retain the one we had, the board is currently in the process of deciding how to proceed.

Also yes, the organizations that partnered to push Licensure through have splintered, so the monies which were before pooled from a larger contingency are now, shall we say, less ample.

I notice however that you live a ways away, and in light of this I would be willing to print out your email and address these questions at the next closed board meeting (tomorrow night).

If this is agreeable to you, I would volunteer to type an email to respond to your inquiries point by point and post it on the list serve for those that do read them.

Additionally if someone else has read this email and would like to pose a question I suggest emailing me directly, with the subject heading " Questions for NYCCAT Board " and I will try to introduce them into tomorrow night's discussion as well.

brianamacwilliam@...

Best regards,

a Mac MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT

Licensed Creative Arts Therapist

www.artsinaction.homestead.com

313 E.92nd. St. #2W

New York, NY 10128

I considered starting a community group, which would have forums,

live chat, etc. I have adminstrated on groups in communityzero for a

number of years, they have a great inexpensive format. I had written

NYCAT about doing this a year ago and never got an answer.

Things have only gotten worse in the past year. OMH employees need

to act now. Some of us are in danger of loosing our positions as

budget cuts will be happening in January.

It is quite possible that if we took care of the problems in OMH

there could be lots of new jobs for lcats across the state, so it

serves everyone, not just omh people. Which is why we should have

NYCATs support.

A separate listserve for this would help move things along also,

because most people working in OMH are not going to discuss things

in a forum that could include unknown people.

A few people wrote to me asking to be included, even though they do

not work in OMH. People are disturbed that things have moved so

slowly. We understand that NYCAT has many issues to deal with, but

we want to get involved and this seems to be the best way to start.

Kathy Masone

>

> Also, Ailish and Kathy, NYCCAT is working on a new website that

will have the capacity to have message boards and forums so that

conversations like these and others can happen in one place. We are

working for a start-up date early 2009.

> It is certainly something we need.

> Debbie Stone, Board Member

> debbiestone@ ...

>