Thanks to ACTION Clinical Supervisor Jennifer Moentmann, MS, MFT; ACTION Family Counseling has been certified by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as a licensed  Continuing Education Provider. The first license is valid until 2013, and ACTION will then seek continued licensing.

“Thanks to Jennifer’s vast understanding of the continuing education process, and extensive work, ACTION will design, develop, and implement a continuing education program that will serve marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, addiction counselors, lawyers, law enforcement agencies, and ACTION Family Counseling staff,” said ACTION CEO Cary Quashen. “She was assisted in the licensing process by Bob Sharits and Dr. Arjun Reyes in writing the sample curriculums and demonstrating ACTION’s ability to deliver accurate and relevant information to garner our license. In the State of California an organization is privileged to be licensed.”

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“Certification was a complex process,” said Moentmann. “Each curriculum presented to the certification agency required a scope of practice and outline. Part of our teaching staff will be myself; Dr. Arjun Reyes; Bob Sharits, CATC; Mark Miller, MFT; and Patricia Patton, PhD, MFT. Additional teaching staff will be sought as our program expands.”

According to Quashen and Moentmann, this is a great opportunity to be of service and expand what ACTION does and is already doing. ACTION already engages in community education on a weekly basis for our Parent & Teen Support Group Programs, performing outreach to local schools, law enforcement agencies and hospitals.

The goal is to extend our services to care providers in the community as well. There is a growing need for a multidisciplinary approach ensuring the wellness of teens and adults and that can be enhanced by continuing education. It also creates a new division for ACTION Family Counseling that will advance our continued good reputation in the community, as well as become an additional source of revenue for ACTION.

The following is a sample curriculum of what ACTION is accredited to teach:

Education Lectures on Addiction and Recovery:

• “The Impulsivity Spectrum: In Treating Psychiatric Disorders” Manifestation of Impulsivity in Alcohol Abuse and Dependence
• “Suicide Risk Management: Understanding the complex task of assessing and Managing the Risk of Suicide in Clients”
• “Trauma and Addiction:  A Recovery Process”
• “Therapeutic Methods Employed By and Utilized Through the Twelve Steps”
• “Understanding the Disease of Addiction”
• “The Soldiers Project: “Dual Diagnosis Issues:  Combat Trauma and Coming home”
• “Anger and Domestic Violence:  Managing Anger in Teens and Adults”
• “The Use of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Mindfulness.”
• “Psychopharmacology and the Treatment of Chemical Dependency Clients”

Additional Continuing Education Topics:

• “The Dual Diagnosis Client with Pain Management Issues”
• “The Disease Model of Addiction and Family Roles in Recovery”
• “Early Intervention, Signs and Symptoms of Chemical Dependency and the Brief Therapy approach”
• “Dual Diagnosis Treatment:  Balancing Sobriety and the need for Medical Interventions”