NPI Reflects Spring 2022

NPI REFLECTS SPRING 2022

Volume 12: Issue 1

this issue

What is NPI? The Nashville Psychotherapy Institute or NPI is a 501(c)(6) non profit, professional organization. Founded in 1985, NPI now boasts 300+ members. www.NashvillePsychotherapyInstitute.org

Inside this issue:

“Big Flowers” by John Paul Kesling Artist represented locally by Red Arrow Gallery To learn more about the artist, visit page 7 1

A note from the Chair Linda Manning

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Let’s Say Gay Juliana Vokes

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Torn and Transformed Barbara Sanders

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Work Organizes Life…

Philip Chanin

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On Turning 50...

John Nichols

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Board Member Spotlight Kristin Finch

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2022 Jules Seeman Fall Workshop Save the Date

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Continuing Education Calendar of Events

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From the Chair...

As I write this letter, Spring is returning to Middle Tennessee. Warmer temperatures, budding trees, and early Spring flowers surround us. As we move into 2022, NPI is thriving, and working with disruptions and changes. When I last wrote, we were preparing for a February Connections Retreat and had hoped to be back to in-person meetings for all events. Omicron had other ideas. The Connections Retreat was rescheduled for February of 2023. Our monthly meetings began virtually and are now offered in a hybrid format through April. One Board Member has left to invest fully in responsibilities for another organization. Thank you for your service to NPI Jennifer Adams. We are excited and grateful to welcome Valerie Martin to the Board to fill out Jennifer’s term.

In my first letter, written for the Fall NPI Reflects, I introduced my theme for this year, a focus on Compassion and the “Common Good.” I mentioned that as psychotherapists we are privileged to witness in our clients courageous, compassionate ways of living, as well as the harmful impacts of selfish, callous, vicious, and cruel behavior every day. I mentioned the two years of dealing with the pandemic of COVID 19 and both the callous responses and the “caring and sharing” strategies outlined by the psychological research of Paul Gilbert.

Linda Manning, PhD

Since that letter, we have experienced the unimaginable reality of a war of aggression in Europe. We are witness to the courage and strength of the people of Ukraine who stand united against overwhelming odds to defend their country, their lives, and their democracy. The images on the nightly news are heartbreaking and inspiring. Once again, the trauma of these global events spills into our offices, our telehealth sessions, and our hearts and bodies. Our need to support our patients, ourselves, and each other increases.

In times like these, I remember the love and wisdom in the words of Thich Nhat Hahn, the global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist whom we lost on January 22nd of this year. The website of his Plum Village monastery (https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/) states “A gentle, humble monk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him ‘an Apostle of peace and nonviolence’ when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.” I consider him to be one of my beloved teachers. This quote was spoken in relation to the war in Vietnam but fits so well today. “Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting.

With mindfulness we know what to do and what not to do to help.”

Action, and especially collective action, can make a difference. We speak a great deal these days about division and tribalism. But the collective action of tribes can also take different, better forms. A recent article expressed it this way.

“Although the notion that group solidarity leads inevitably to prejudice, animosity, and conflict is common, it is also incorrect and potentially dangerous,” the psychologists Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel write. “Humans do seem to possess the innate capacity to identify with members of their own groups. People in every culture share the same propensity to form coalitions. This tendency is what the anthropologist Donald Brown calls a 'human universal.' But it does not lead inexorably toward intergroup conflict. 'Groupishness'—a term some researchers use to describe humans’ tendency to identify with social groups—can be the source of a much wider repertoire of actions, including cooperation, altruism, embracing diversity, and helping people radically different from ourselves.”

“For every hate group, another group, such as the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, exists that is committed to helping others. And the more deeply members identify with the latter, the more likely they are to help people different from themselves—even at significant personal cost. Recognizing that collective norms can be either positive or negative is a key to understanding why and when tribalism occurs. It also suggests how different groups can find common ground.”

So how can we help in Ukraine? Social Justice Committee member Kelly Carter has assembled the following resources that we can consider. Thank you, Kelly! * Why did this happen: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/why-putin-invaded-ukraine-russia-war-explained-rcna16028 * Articles on charities: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/25/1082992947/ukraine-support-help https://www.today.com/news/news/5-verified-charities-working-help-ukrainians-invasion-rcna17590 https://time.com/6151353/how-to-help-ukraine-people/ * Effects: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/16/1081185004/russia-ukraine-invasion-us-impact https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/world/europe/ukraine-refugees-united-states.html * Government partners who assist with refugees: https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/us-resettlement-partners.html I invite you to consider the actions that you want to take. In that spirit, I leave you with one more Thich Nhat Hahn quote, “I come here empty-handed, and I go empty-handed. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.”

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Let’s Say Gay

By Juliana Vokes, MA, LPC (Temp) On March 8th, 2022, Florida passed a controversial bill called, “Don’t Say Gay” (HB1557/SB1834). This legislation bans LGBTQ+ material and instruction in primary schools preventing students K-3 from learning about and openly expressing sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom.

Those who support the bill feel that it is inappropriate for students to be introduced to LGBTQ+ behaviors, trends, or topics whether it is from teachers, peers, textbooks, or images. There is a great deal of pushback on the recent passing of the bill out of fear that it will be harmful for students’ mental health. LGBTQ+ youth will be faced with increased stigma and isolation as this bill removes LGBTQ+ representation entirely and sets a precedent for future homophobic laws. It is a hateful attack on LGBTQ+ children, parents, and teachers.

Public schools are currently allowed to teach religion from the Bible for historical and cultural purposes. Similarly, LGBTQ+ history and social culture is valuable to our future generations and deserves to be discussed openly and fairly as we continue to promote equality for LGBTQ+ folks.

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill wants to ban any instruction that involves LGBTQ+ representation but also rejects the idea of LGBTQ+ teachings through language in the classroom. An important example that highlights the removal of such instruction can be as simple as such: A second grade teacher presents a problem to the classroom that states, “Sally has two moms who each brought her 2 toys...” Unfortunately, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill would NOT allow this problem to be introduced in the classroom. Another example of the bill’s use rejecting other teachings would be if a child was asked to draw a picture of their family. If this child has parents of the same-sex, the child could be asked to refrain from sharing their picture or the school could face lawsuits if this picture is shared in the classroom and complaints are made.

LET’S SAY GAY This legislation is happening in surrounding states and mental health professionals need to understand the negative impact it has on our youth and future generations.

Currently, a handful of bills are introducing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Tennessee. We need to keep ourselves updated on changes in legislation while educating ourselves in current LGBTQ+ discussions and supports.

HELPFUL LINKS: Visit Tennessee General Assembly Bill Main Index to see a list of bills by index number. Click on the bill number to see the caption, bill history, and links to the text, amendments, and fiscal notes.

Read current legislation: Legislation - TN General Assembly 3

Torn and Transformed

by Barbara Sanders Torn, we come to tend* Gathering together, overcoming So many illusions and myths About our lives and those of others Together we can heal We can pray and speak We can cry and sing We can dance our ways Through the chaos all around us Following a mystical exploration Designed to weave sacred freedom Leaving content and words aside For more creative moments Without words, with silence Fueled by sacred spirits All around us We learn to pause and breathe Instead of react We learn to reflect before we act We see the beauty of this experiment In Change The alchemical mixtures of our being Both divine and human We grace each other with our listening We allow ourselves to be tended to We share our energies, both pain and delight With all beings in our world As they share in the process of All transformational journeys Embracing all parts of ourselves first Practicing radical acceptance For what is Within us And outside of us Finding peace and new comfort For all *Borrowing Amanda Gorman's spoken words (2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVfyaRLVvpY Read more: https://transformationalreflections.blogspot.com/ https://mysticalexploration.com/

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Work Organizes Life: Considering the Importance of Meaningful Work, and Reflecting on the Importance of “Flow” in our Working Live

By Philip Chanin, Ed.D, ABPP, CGP Board Certified Clinical Psychologist Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center www.drphilchanin.com ~ philchanin@gmail.com “It’s important to be productive. It’s important to pay taxes. Work organizes life. I plan on working until the day I die, because work is fun, work is interesting, work is important…You only have limited time, and I believe in making the most of it.” (from an interview with U.S. Representative Jim Cooper (D-Nashville) in the Nashville Scene, February 10, 2022, page 7) “Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.” (from Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann, 1921) “Sigmund Freud was once asked what people need in order to be able to live a full and happy life. His reply was three words: ‘Lieben und arbeiten.’ Love and work. Work is one of the most defining, overarching aspects of our lives. It molds and establishes nearly everything about our everyday existence; it is something we do practically every day and will do practically every day for most of our lives. When someone asks you, ‘What do you do?’ what they are really asking is, ‘What is your work? What is your career?’” (Jeff Olson in ­The Slight Edge) The pandemic has led millions of Americans to reevaluate their work lives—according to news reports, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs during November, 2021. According to an article in Business Insider by Juliana Kaplan and Madison Hoff (12/2/2021), “Over 90% of job switchers said they quit because the pandemic made them feel like ‘life is too short to stay in a job they weren’t passionate about.”

As psychotherapists, we talk with many patients about their work lives. Some patients specifically seek out psychotherapy because they are stressed out and depleted by their work. Sometimes they are dealing with demanding and even narcissistic bosses or managers. I’m thinking of a 30-year-old male patient whose work in an advertising firm was so stressful that he was having recurrent panic attacks. These went away as soon as he quit his job. I’m remembering a 60-year-old female patient who came to see me because her narcissistic female boss was so demanding and critical that the patient’s health was being affected. I encouraged this patient to leave her job and apply for short term disability.

One of the books that I have recommended to probably hundreds of patients over the years is Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The flow state is the experience we have when we are so engaged in an activity that we are not aware that time is passing. The preconditions for the flow experience are that the activity is sufficiently complex and also that it engages a sufficiently large amount of our ability. Csikszentmihalyi states that we need to spend as much of our day as possible engaged in flow activities. If we are unable to do this, he writes, then “psychic entropy” sets in, and we feel bored, lethargic, and even depressed.

In describing the flow state, Csikszentmihalyi states, “The self becomes more differentiated as a result of flow because overcoming a challenge inevitably leaves a person feeling more capable, more skilled…After each episode of flow a person becomes more of a unique individual, less predictable, possessed of rarer skills…people become so involved in what they are doing that the activity becomes spontaneous, almost automatic; they stop being aware of themselves as separate from the actions they are performing…we found that every flow activity, whether it involved competition, chance, or any other dimension of experience, had this in common: It provided a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person to a new reality. It pushed the person to higher levels of performance, and led to previously undreamed-of states of consciousness. In short, it transformed the self by making it more complex. In this growth of the self lies the key to flow activities.” (pp. 41, 53, & 74) (Continued on page 7) 6

(Work Organizes Life… cont’d from previous page)

Another source that I have recommended to many patients over the years is an article entitled “Work and Serenity” by Ralph G.H Siu, Ph.D. In this article, Siu discusses the idea that every individual in a work organization needs to put a priority on his or her mental health. He writes, “When an organization speaks of occupational mental health, getting the job done comes first. Getting it done more efficiently comes next. Mental health comes third as part of the calcula­ tions on efficiency. The individual should therefore conduct himself at work, almost in self-protection as it were against the natural propensities of organizations in his attempts to preserve the primacy of his own mental health as of the highest priority rather than the lowest.”

Siu adds, “From Buddha’s standpoint, the minimizing of suffering rather than the maximizing of happiness constitutes the good of living. If work is to have the best meanings for living, it must contribute to decreasing misery, grief, an­ guish, and pain…the Taoist first senses the kind of continuum which is necessary for serenity over his lifespan. This continuum must not be broken by work. If a person’s behavior at work disrupts this continuum of feeling, then one will not be able to retain his sense of wholeness and tranquility when he retires from work.” (pp. 3-4) I wrote an earlier article, available on my website, entitled “The Relevance of Buddhist Teachings for Modern Day Psy­ chotherapy: The Noble Eightfold Path and The Karmic Law of Cause and Effect.” In this article I quote from S.N Goenka in An Introduction to The Buddha and his Teachings. One element of the Eightfold Path is “Right Livelihood.”

As Goenka writes, “We meet our obligations to society by the work we do, serving our fellows in different ways. In re­ turn for this, we receive our livelihood…Whatever remuneration we are given in return for our work is to be used for the support of ourselves and our dependents. If there is any excess, at least a portion of it should be returned to socie­ ty, given to be used for the good of others.” (p. 101). As psychotherapists, we can stress to our patients the importance of right livelihood for one’s overall well-being.

I have often said to patients, “One of the challenges of adult life is to keep redesigning our work lives so that they bring us sufficient challenge.” As psychotherapists, we have the good fortune to practice a career in which we continue to grow in our abilities to help our patients as we get older. In a conversation with psychiatrist Thomas Campbell, MD, he once said to me, “It would be a shame not to continue to work in our elder years in order to help patients by utilizing what we have learned over decades of doing psychotherapy.”

RED ARROW GALLERY ONLINE EXHIBITION: JOHN PAUL KESLING | FLEUR DU JOUR COVER ARTIST: John Paul Kesling was born and raised in Kentucky on the banks of the Ohio River, spending much of his time outdoors. He attended Morehead State University in Morehead, KY for his BFA in Arts and received an MFA in Painting from The Savannah College of Art and Design in 2010. He spent the next six years in Brooklyn, NY immersed in the NYC art scene. In March of 2016, he attended a residency at The Vermont Studio Center, where he realized how integral time, space, and nature were to his studio practice and in July of 2016 he relocated to Madison, TN. He has attended residencies at Azule (Hot Springs, NC) and Artist Residency Chattanooga. In 2020 he was the recipient of the Tri-Star Arts $1,000 Emergency Relief Fund Grant. In 2021 he became a Nashville Metro Arts Lending Library Artist. His work has recently been featured in various group and solo exhibitions at Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN), Create Magazine (online), Oz Arts (Nashville, TN), ArtFields (Lake City, SC), Tim Faulkner Gallery (Louisville, KY), Ten Eyck Gallery (Brooklyn, NY) and several others. He is represented by the Red Arrow Gallery. He now owns a dog.

“In 2004, my younger brother lost a years-long struggle with his opioid addiction. We grew up in a small Appalachian town in Northeastern Kentucky. Industrial and coal-dependent, Ashland, Kentucky was a ground zero for the start of the opioid crisis in the late 90s. The 2017 Netflix documentary "Heroin(e)" featured nearby Huntington, WV, just ten miles away. That city has been dubbed "the overdose capital of America" where the overdose rate is ten times the national average. With the loss of my brother and many of my friends and former classmates, mortality has always been a heavy-handed ghost in the studio. These flower paintings are flowers that won't wilt or return to the ground. They are symbols of the fugitive beauty of a life, cut down too early. They're painted in haste, half from life and half from memory in the same way we remember lost loves. They are the flowers that filled our home after the funeral, flooding out onto our front porch with the bitter-sweet scent of a time that changed everything and everyone. These paintings of flowers, cut dead and brought into a house to be admired. Good and evil, life and death are wrapped up into that simple act. I see these as portraits of life, light and dark, loose and brooding, ethereal and endlessly searching for a quiet place to rest.” ~John Paul Kesling 7

On Turning Fifty...

By John Nichols, MS, LPC/MHSP —————

By the time you guys read this, I’ll be 50 years old. To the young ones that are gasping at the thought, screw you. To the colleagues of mine that are older and dismissing my malaise, refer to what I said to the young ones. I don’t feel that old, but I’m not embracing it either.

I’m not exactly sure how this happened. I was 27 yesterday. I feel 30 something, and I think I look 40 something minus the mostly white, but incredibly majestic beard that I’m sporting. Once it actually blossomed, I raised my rates by like 50 bucks. I theorize that when my clients question my counseling, they always go back to, “But that beard is legit! He must know how the world works.”

Before I was a therapist, I was a “liquor rep”. I sold wine and spirits to restaurants and bars from the time I was 29 until 40. So basically I was hungover for a decade. During that time I met a lot of great people. I visited wineries and beer breweries all over the world. For a while, I never needed a reservation at a restaurant. I could call at the last minute, get a table, and probably have most, if not all, of my meal comped. I rarely paid for concert tickets, and I went to a lot of concerts.

I was pushing 40, and I realized that I had always wanted to be a therapist. I knew that if I didn’t pursue this career, I would regret it my entire life. So at 38 years old, I went to Lipscomb University and enrolled in their Professional Counseling program. I worked full-time selling booze during the day and went to classes full-time at night. The higher ups at Lipscomb were aware of my day job. My defense was that the first miracle Jesus performed was water to wine, not water to Diet Pepsi. They agreed, and a few free samples of booze later I was in the program.

Full disclosure, I promised the Board that I would right an article for the next publication. I usually need inspiration to write anything. My inspiration tonight is I’ll be 50 in 48 hours. How the hell did this happen? Why do my “best friends” seem to be unaware that I’m almost half a century old? Where is my birthday party? Where is the invite to meet your attractive friend with loose morals and daddy issues? Where is my beer and shot with a lascivious name that would offend my colleagues?

Dad decided to go camping this weekend with friends, crushing my belief that I was the favorite. My little sister, who has professed for years that I AM the favorite, has been wearing my father’s ass out for going out of town on my birth­ day. After decades of sibling rivalry, my sister adores me. At least until she remembers I am the favorite.

Margaritas are delicious, by the way. Zing Zang has a wonderful mix (they are not reimbursing me for my recommendation).

Things haven’t worked out the way I thought they would. I thought I was smart waiting until 40 to get married. Two years later I was divorced. I moved back home to start a practice. The folks let me move in. Soon after Mom showed signs of cognitive decline. Now dad, me, and an angel named Mary take turns caring for her.

Mom doesn’t remember everything. But she remembered that this weekend is my 50th birthday. She was so excited that I took her to Sperry’s tonight to celebrate my birthday. I will ALWAYS remember today.

Maybe 50 ain’t so bad.

“Natural Connection” Painting by Artist: Olesia Grygoruk 8

Board Member Spotlight Kristin Finch, LPC-MHSP (temp), NCC I first joined NPI as a graduate student in 2016 in hopes of both learning about different therapeutic perspectives and meeting more seasoned therapists who are actively engaged in this community. As I was often told in graduate school, private practice can become isolating and lonely, so to be able to cultivate a network of other clinicians and grow relationally in being known and knowing others was (and is) a priority to me. I can recall my first luncheon experience, where I felt like my being a ‘green’ therapist was going to be on display. I was nervous and unsure of what to anticipate, and yet, when I was greeted upon entrance and able to connect over a meal with others, I realized that no one else had an expectation for me to prove my skills or value as a therapist (as my anxious brain had anticipated). It was immediately freeing for me to realize that we were all there for the same goal-to learn, be known, and know others. In joining the board, my hope was to create the same environment for others to feel welcomed, connected, poured into, and valued in each of their therapeutic niches. However, as we all have experienced COVID’s disruption in our relational lives, NPI is unfortunately not immune to this disruption, either. My hope of greeting other nervous students, connect­ ing new clinicians with seasoned ones, and initiating conversations across the lunch table have had to transition to a more virtual framework and while this has been sufficient for the time being, I am eagerly anticipating more places for intentional, relational connection. I hope to foster the bridge between those who have been in practice for a career lifetime and those thatwho are just beginning. Let’s do this together!

Kristin Finch

I would love to share a bit about myself so you can know me, too! I am a transplant from North Carolina but have resided in Nashville now eleven years. I moved to Nashville to work in the non-profit world, having worked for both a larger, global non-profit and a local, grassroots non-profit. With a background in Sociology and African American studies, my interests have always been in people and cultures and systems. While I enjoyed my time in the non-profit world, especially through connecting with people unlike myself, I wanted to create change and healing on a smaller, more individualized scale. I had the privilege of working with a gifted therapist who had opened my eyes to a new language and way of seeing the world and myself, which inspired me to do the same for others. To be able to sit with others and witness sorrow and joy and grief and growth is a sacred position for me.

I consider it an honor and also a responsibility to remain active in my own growth, which is where NPI has played an important role, as well.

I have a private practice in Berry Hill where I work with adults and couples with many presenting symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, addiction, or grief. However, my work is underneath the symptom, always approaching the client from a “bottom-up” trauma framework. I find this allows the client to reclaim their parts of self that have become disowned or denied through various relational woundings to regain integration.

Wholeness is the goal!

I have a twelve-year-old pug who sits with me and my clients daily, a spirited two-year-old son, a thirteen-year-old stepson, and a husband of six years. I hope to meet each of you soon!

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Jules Seeman Fall Workshop Saturday, October 22, 2022 “How DBT Handles Resistance” Sponsored in part by a generous donation from

Special Guest Presenter: Stephanie Vaughn, Psy.D. Clinical Psychologist-HSP Owner of PSYCHē & DBT-Linehan Board of Certification Certified Clinician™ Dr. Vaughn is a seasoned Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Linehan Board Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapist™ (DBT), national speaker, and has served as an expert consultant for variety of institutions including the U.S. Department of Defense, Kennedy Krieger Hospital, Jacksonville Naval Hospital, Kentucky Western State Hospital, & Camp Pendleton Marine Base. She earned a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) from the Georgia School of Professional Psychology, completed a Doctoral internship at Vanderbilt University (where she also founded their DBT Peer Consultation team), and completed her post-doctoral work at the Department of Veteran Affairs- Intensive PTSD Program conducting Prolonged Exposure (PE) for combat veterans and women with Military Sexual Trauma. She served for 6 years as a provider for Logistics Health Incorporated (LHI) conducting fitness-for-duty evaluations for soldiers preparing to enter the military.

What is DBT? Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a comprehensive multidiagnostic, modularized behavioral intervention designed to treat individuals with severe mental disorders and out-of-control cogni­ tive, emotional and behavioral patterns. It has been commonly viewed as a treatment for individuals meeting criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) with chronic and high-risk suicidality, substance dependence or other disorders. However, over the years, data has emerged demonstrating that DBT is also effective for a wide range of other disorders and problems, most of which are asso­ ciated with difficulties regulating emotions and associated cognitive and behavioral patterns.

As the name implies, dialectical philosophy is a critical underpin­ ning of DBT. Dialectics is a method of logic that identifies the con­ tradictions (antithesis) in a person's position (thesis) and overcomes them by finding the synthesis. Additionally, in DBT a client cannot be understood in isolation from his or her environment and the transactions that occur. Rather, the therapist emphasizes the trans­ action between the person and their environment both in the devel­ opment and maintenance of any disorders. It is also assumed that there are multiple causes as opposed to a single factor affecting the client. And, DBT uses a framework that balances the treatment strategies of acceptance and change - the central dialectical tension in DBT. Therapists work to enhance the capability (skills) of their client as well as to develop the motivation to change. Maintaining that balance between acceptance and change with clients is crucial for both keeping a client in treatment and ensuring they are making progress towards their goals of creating a life worth living.

To learn more about Stephanie Vaughn and DBT, visit the Psyche website at https://www.psychepllc.com/ 10

JOIN US IN-PERSON or VIRTUALLY Friday, April 8, 2022 “How (Good) Clinicians Do Harm,” presented by Mary Payne, PhD

Friday, June 10, 2022 “Women’s Sexuality and Health,”

presented by Kristina Stork, MD Program & Registration Information at www.NashvillePsychotherapyInstitute.org Each presentation is eligible for one CE credit hour

NEWSLETTER CREDITS

2022 NPI BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Editor: Emily Ector-Volman, LPC, NCC Layout & Design: Melissa Vickroy, MS Printing: ISSUU online publishing

Linda Manning, PhD; Chair/Social Justice

Tom Neilson, Psy.D; Chair-elect John Nichols, MS, LPC/MHSP; Immediate Past Chair

**Editor’s Note: The content and opinions expressed within this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by the Nashville Psychotherapy Institute, the Board of Directors of the Nashville Psychotherapy Institute, or the Editor of the newsletter.

Avi Dressler, LMFT; Treasurer Tonya Mills, LPC-MHSP/T; Treasurer-elect D. Kirk Barton, MD Krista Conick; Student Member Tiffany Davis, LCSW Emily Ector-Volman, LPC, NCC; Communications Kristin Finch, LPC-MHSP (temp), NCC Laura Fritsche, LPC-MHSP; Membership Chair

Valerie Martin, LCSW Doug Taylor, LPC-MHSP; Speaker Research Jay Tift, LPC-MHSP; Hutton Historian Juliana Vokes, MA, LPC (Temp); Social Media

Nashville Psychotherapy Institute

P. O. Box 158626 Nashville, TN 37215 npinashville@gmail.com www.NashvillePsychotherapyInstitute.org

Melissa Vickroy, MS; Executive Coordinator

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