Pre-Licensed Support Group
Who: Pre-licensed SBCAMFT members and non-SBCAMFT members. Click this link if you would like to become a member of SBCAMFT (Join now!)
Where: Zoom (link will be provided with registration)
When: First Friday of every month from 10am-11am (with exceptions)
Description: This virtual event for pre-licensed clinicians is a great place to come together to support one another during your pre-licensed journey. We will have a guest speaker at each meeting who is a licensed clinician who can share their journey and answer questions the group has for them. Peer support groups do not include case consultations.
Cost: FREE
Sponsored by Mission Harbor Behavioral Health
Diversity Panel: Supporting Our Immigrant Clients in Times of ICE
This panel brings together clinicians and community advocates to explore how we can best support our undocumented and immigrant clients at this time of great peril and uncertainty. Many of our clients, loved ones, and community members are facing the constant threat, or the devastating reality, of an apprehension by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Many, too, are coping with immense loss, grief, and trauma, persistent terror and anxiety, alongside racially discriminative narratives. Our panelists will be sharing their lived experiences, tools, and perspectives through a culturally-responsive, liberation-focused lens. This discussion is intended to help mental health professionals respond with compassion, resilience, and culturally-sensitive care — both inside and out of the therapy room. Please note that there will be time for questions, and that this event will not be recorded given the need for safety and sensitivity around this topic.
Who: SBCAMFT members and Non-SBCAMFT members
Where: Zoom (link will be sent in registration confirmation email)
When: August 11, 2025 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Our Panelists:
Ali Cortes, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (she/ella):
Ali is a first-generation, trauma-informed, and bilingual Latina therapist whose work centers on trauma-informed care, cultural healing, and community empowerment. Ali has spent over a decade serving diverse communities through direct therapy services, clinical supervision, teaching as an adjunct professor, community crisis responses, community leadership, and mental health education. She has worked with youth, families, couples, college students, and first responders. Through this diverse experience, Ali has cultivated a deep understanding of systemic trauma, trauma response and recovery, intergenerational healing, and the power of culturally grounded care. She founded Bienestar Counseling, Coaching, and Consulting (formerly Bienestar Latinx), a transformative mental health platform that centers the wellness and leadership development of BIPOC and Latine communities. Bienestar offers bilingual psychotherapy, healing-centered workshops, and culturally responsive consulting services that challenge oppressive systems while fostering individual and collective resilience. Rooted in her own lived experiences as a first-generation daughter of immigrants, Ali leads with authenticity, compassion, and cultural integrity.
Contact:
Instagram: @bienestar_latinatherapist @bienestarccc
Website: www.bienestarccc.com
Email: alicortes@bienestarccc.com
Mariela Marin, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (they/them/elle):
Mariela, alongside their role as therapist, is Teaching Faculty and Director of the Latinx Mental Health Concentration at Antioch University and is currently the Clinical Director of Community Counseling and Education Center (CCEC). They also are part of the leadership team of the national organization, Latinx Therapists Action Network, that supports the work of organizers, activists and movement leaders and works directly with local non-profit organizations in efforts to protect and support local undocumented communities. They are a first-generation, bilingual Latinx person, and are dedicated to the work of honoring, healing, empowering and celebrating community through the promotion of mental health and wellness.
Email: mariela@ccecsb.org
Sarah Marin, Nonprofit Operations Director (she/her)
Sarah serves as the Director of Operations at CCEC, a nonprofit mental health clinic that has served the community for over 40 years. She approaches her work with a commitment to collective care, striving to build systems that nourish clinicians, sustain access to healing, and center liberatory models of practice to affirm dignity, mutuality, and belonging. Beyond the clinic, she is a deeply concerned community member who has witnessed the harm caused by immigration injustice. Alongside her spouse, she is supporting a youth with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and brings to this panel a perspective shaped by personal responsibility, accountability, and solidarity with migrant communities.
Email: sarah.marin@ccecsb.org
Panel Facilitator: Vincent Gonzales, Santa Barbara CAMFT CEU Events Director and Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (he/his)
Additional Information:
*This webinar will be available by Zoom. If you do not already have a free Zoom account, sign up for it today. The Zoom link will be emailed in advance of the webinar. The webinar will be a mixture of discussion and Q&A.
CE Event: Nature as Co-Therapist: An Introduction to Ecotherapy Led By Rev. Connie L. Habash, LMFT
Who: SBCAMFT members and Non-SBCAMFT members (Join now!)
Where: Zoom (Please be prepared to spend some time outdoors during this workshop, or at least next to a window (but it is strongly preferred to have the ability to sit outside in a natural setting.)
When: Fri., Aug 22 9:30am-11:30am (2CEs)
Description:
Nature immersion is a deeply healing, transformative experience for many of us. Recent studies affirm this, showing that mindful time spent outdoors can profoundly increase our well-being. There are physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual benefits to time spent in nature. It slows us down, returns us to the present moment, soothes our nervous system, shifts our perspective, and connects us to something larger than our individual selves.
Ecotherapy is a process of healing and transformation through connection with the natural world. Although it is usually done outdoors, Ecotherapy can also be brought inside the counseling office in a variety of ways. Through experiential, metaphorical, and conceptual ways, nature can inform and guide therapy sessions, sometimes with surprising synchronicities. Being outdoors in nature offers us unique insights, growth, and renewal that aren’t available inside the four walls of our offices or online.
Led by Rev. Connie L. Habash, LMFT, join us in an afternoon of Ecotherapy, where you will experience these gifts of “nature as the co-therapist”, supporting your journey of healing and growth, and learn applications for clients in your own therapy practice, both indoors and outside.
The goal of this program is for participants to be able to understand what Ecotherapy is, its benefits to clients, appropriate client populations to practice ecotherapy with, how to create a meaningful Ecotherapy experience, safety and legal concerns with Ecotherapy, and practical applications of Ecotherapy techniques indoors and outdoors. Experiential
Ecotherapy is a process of healing and transformation through connection with the natural world. Although it is usually done outdoors, Ecotherapy can also be brought inside the counseling office in a variety of ways. Through experiential, metaphorical, and conceptual ways, nature can inform and guide therapy sessions, sometimes with surprising synchronicities. Being outdoors in nature offers us unique insights, growth, and renewal that aren’t available inside the four walls of our offices or online. Experiential exercises in nature (from each participant’s remote location) will be the focal point of this workshop.
Cost: $10 for Student/Associate members, $20 for SBCAMFT members, $25 for all State CAMFT members, and $30 for Non-SBCAMFT members (Join now!)
Sponsored by Jane
Additional Notes Pertaining To Our Policy As A CE Provider:
1) This course has been designed for a mental health professional that include LMFT's, LCSW's, LPCC's, and LEP's. Also, Pre-licensed and Associate members may earn hours of experience for attending the Santa Barbara Chapter of CAMFT workshops as approved by their supervisor.
2) Refund/Cancellation Policy: Attendees may cancel registration and request a refund one week from the time of the event.
3) To request accommodations for special needs, please email the Program Administrator at events@sbcamft.org.
4) To obtain the grievance policy or report a grievance please email events@sbcamft.org.
5) Course Completion Certificates will be awarded at the end of the course in exchange for a completed evaluation form.
6) Course meets the qualifications for 2 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
7) SB CAMFT provider number (57942).
8) Santa Barbara Chapter CAMFT is Approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFT's, LCSW's, LPCC's, and LEP's. Santa Barbara Chapter of CAMFT maintains responsibility for this program/course and content.
9) The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodates attendees with disabilities in compliance with state and federal laws and regulations. Event is ADA compliant.
*This webinar will be available by Zoom. If you do not already have a free Zoom account, sign up for it today. The Zoom link will be emailed in advance of the webinar. The webinar will be a mixture of lecture and also Q&A.
Coffee with SBCAMFT
Where: CAJE Arlington - 1316 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
When: Friday, October 24th, 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Description: Connect with other clinicians over a cup of coffee or tea. Stop in on your way to work or stay for a while. We can’t wait to see you!
Cost: FREE! Includes complimentary drip coffee*
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