The Advocate Magazine 2022 Issue 1 | Page 4

The Advocate
Website : www . amhca . org Phone : 703 / 548 – 6002 or Magazine
AMHCA Actively Advocates for Your Profession
The

The Advocate

Website : www . amhca . org Phone : 703 / 548 – 6002 or Magazine

800 / 326 – 2642 Fax : 7032022
/ 548 – 4775 VOLUME 45 , No . 1
Website : www . amhca . org Phone : 703 / 548 – 6002
The Advocate Magazine is published quarterly , by the American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ). Issues are posted at www . amhca . org / advocatemag , where they can be downloaded as PDFs .
45 th AMHCA President , 2021 – 2022 , & Interim CEO / ED Beverly Smith , PhD , LPC , NCC , CCMHC , ACS , NCSC , CFT , HS-BCP , BCC , MAC , CPCS , BC-TMH , CCTP , BCPCC
Publisher Dr . Beverly Smith
Consulting Editors
Angele Moss – Baker , LPC , LMFT , MAC , DCMHS- COD AMHCA Past President , 2021 – 2022 44 th AMHCA President , 2020 – 2021
Aaron Norton , PhD , LMHC , LMFT , MCAP , CCMHC , CRC , CFMHE AMHCA Southern Region Director
Editor in Chief Whitney Meyerhoeffer
Editor Kathleen McCarthy
Membership in AMHCA is $ 183 / year and gives you access to the archives and any supplemental materials linked in the magazine . Join AMHCA and to get the most out of our many publications !
Disclaimer : Information printed in The Advocate Magazine does not represent an official AMHCA policy or position , and the acceptance of advertising does not constitute endorsement or approval by AMHCA of any advertised service or product . AMHCA reserves the right to edit or reject all copy .
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Article submission guidelines : Send copy for The Advocate Magazine to AMHCA no later than six weeks prior to issue date . Email copy to Kathleen McCarthy at mccarthy . kathleen @ gmail . com and CC wmeyerhoeffer @ amhca . org .
© 2022 , American Mental Health Counselors Association . All rights reserved . No portion of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written consent of The Advocate Magazine editor or AMHCA ’ s executive director & CEO .

From the President & Interim CEO / ED

By Beverly Smith , PhD , LPC , NCC , CCMHC , ACS , NCSC , CFT , HS-BCP , BCC , MAC , CPCS , BC-TMH , CCTP , BCPCC 45 th AMHCA President , 2021 – 2022 , and Interim CEO / ED

AMHCA Actively Advocates for Your Profession

As we continue to experience the fatigue generated by grappling for two years with a worldwide pandemic and have now added the emotional impact of the invasion in Ukraine , we are still “ re-imagining a better world and an enhanced AMHCA ” by advocating for Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors ( LCMHCs ) in several ways .
AMHCA is thrilled that President Biden ’ s March budget recommends that mental health counselors be covered under Medicare ( see page 6 ). AMHCA has been active in Medicare social media campaigns to urge legislators to include LCMHCs and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists ( LMFTs ) as authorized Medicare providers . I am participating in another Congressional briefing in May to garner more Medicare sponsors , and I am participating in a Senate hearing with the U . S . Virgin Islands . Also , as part of the Mental Health Workforce Coalition , AMHCA participated in a webinar with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy ( AAMFT ) about the need to update the 1989 Medicare laws related to LCMHCs and LMFTs www . amhca . org / advocacy / medicare .
AMHCA also continues to advocate for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Implementation Act ( see page 9 of the fall 2021 issue of The Advocate Magazine at www . amhca . org / events / publications / advocatemag ). This “ Dial 988 ” hotline will be available nationwide starting in July 2022 . Additionally , AMHCA supports the No Surprises Act , which will protect citizens from unexpected bills from out-of-network providers and facilities , while advocating for relief from the unfair administrative burden it places on behavioral healthcare providers bit . ly / 3KRSD8u .
Legislation That AMHCA Supports to Benefit LCMHCs
AMHCA also supports several legislative bills in our collaboration with the Mental Health Liaison Group ( MHLG ), a coalition of national behavioral health organizations .
• Virtual Peer Support Act of 2021 : See bit . ly / 3CN156d .
• Kids Online Safety Act ( KOSA ): See bit . ly / 3wd7Gpj .
• Anna Westin Legacy Act : See bit . ly / 3qbNUXn .
AMHCA has also been busy advocating for the mental health concerns of our youth and advocating less burdensome tele-mental health regulations . For a fuller description of AMHCA ’ s advocacy efforts , the three legislative bills listed above , and AMHCA ’ s Virtual Advocacy Day , see pages 6 and 8 .
Two Additional Notable Resources
Mental Health America ’ s County and State Data Map is an online dashboard that shows the health of our communities reflected in data collected in 2020 – 2021 . The dashboard shows data on the prevalence of the following mental-health-related categories : depression , suicide , PTSD , and trauma survivors , in addition to providing a comparison of the data on each category from all 50 states and the District of Columbia https :// mhanational . org / mha-state-county-data . continued on page 5
4 The Advocate Magazine 2022 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org