January 18, 2021
Dear fellow members,
As president of the MI-ATSA board, I wanted to spend a few minutes to review where MI-ATSA stands at the end of 2020 and where we are going. Last year brought unexpected events that dramatically altered the lives of everyone. I want to acknowledge the board members’ adaptability to these changes and our appreciation to our members and participants who helped MI-ATSA thrive last year. When 2020 dawned, we expected to have conferences where we could all get together, learn, share, and network. Well, it did not go exactly as we thought, but the MI-ATSA board is so thankful that you were able to be flexible as the Board moved training opportunities and involvement to an alternative platform.
I just wanted to recap a few highlights of the recent activities for MI-ATSA. On May 1, we had the chance to be trained by Bob McGrath, creator of the ROSAC.
Several practitioners have found Bob’s training to be very useful in helping to make decisions about the pros and cons of people with sexual behavior problems being able to develop stability through contact with friends and family when they are safe to do so.
Later in the year, on November 13, we were able to host a training with Dr. Kevin Powell.
Kevin presented on a variety of ways in which we can move treatment toward a more positive focus. The board was quite appreciative of how our speakers, participants and support personnel were able to transition our training opportunities so quickly to an online format.
Although it has been harder to do during the pandemic, the board has continued to be active in advocacy opportunities, especially as it relates to Sex Offender Registry policy. If you have ever looked for ways to be more involved with MI-ATSA, one easy step is to take the initiative to contact your state legislators to advocate for a more functional registry or join one of our many subcommittees. We have been able to do this through in-person meetings, Zoom meetings, seminars, and phone calls to state legislators.
Behind the scenes, the MI-ATSA board has grown in important ways. During the past year we have added three new board members with a focus on bringing in board members with a wide diversity of professional experiences. Although the board was already used to utilizing Zoom to conduct our board meeting for members spread throughout the state. We fully embraced Zoom during the pandemic.
Looking to the future, we expect to continue with a variety of training opportunities. Upcoming trainings include Jim Worling, creator of the PROFESOR, and Michael Seto, developer of the CPORT. We are also working on other training opportunities, such as one on porn literacy.
A few other initiatives have been implemented in the past year. We now have a Facebook page you can join and stay informed on current events related to our field, upcoming training opportunities, legislature changes, and clinical resources. We have taken some steps regarding development of the MI-ATSA “brand,” including development of a merchandise store, which will be available soon. Some of you may have won some of the promotional products at the Powell conference. We have also developed options for increasing our membership and are developing options for sponsoring research in conjunction with state universities. We are committed to providing members with communication about our field on a regular basis.
We rely on you, our members, to help give us direction about your training needs and other directions for MI-ATSA. Have you seen a speaker recently that you think others would benefit from? Feel free to message us at info@miatsa.org. Or you can email me directly at Berghuis1@aol.com.
We look forward to what 2021 can bring us.
Sincerely,
Dave Berghuis
MIATSA Board Pres.