From the President's Desk

Spring has finally arrived, and there is so much to look forward to as a member of AASECT!

Our annual conference, June 4 - 8 2014, in stunning Monterey, California, is right around the corner. Attendance is already through the roof. If you haven't registered, do yourself a favor and hurry on over to the AASECT website, as this conference is shaping up to be full of incredible learning opportunities.

The conference aside, spring is all about change, growth, and renewal, As presidential terms end and new ones begin, it's exciting to look back at all of the hard work the recent boards have done on behalf of the membership and the organization, and to look forward and think about continued growth within AASECT. 

In observing the changes that have occurred throughout my term as president, I feel we are doing what many thought would be impossible — we're being inclusive, maintaining a rich and diverse membership of sexuality professionals, and maintaining high standards of professional practice. How do we manage to do this? Simple. Our membership alone represents different aspects of what it means to be sexuality educators, counselors, and therapists and — through our meetings, our online discussions, and more — we are constantly sharing our rich and varied viewpoints. This only serves to strengthen us as professionals, and those who seek our services end up having access to a wide spectrum of expertise. 

There are many roads to Rome, and this is evidenced every day on our listserv (soon to become the forum on our website), where we discuss various and sometimes disparate approaches to different educational, counseling, and therapy situations.

Behind the scenes, we have worked hard over the past two years to be a board that listens to you, and that also maintains transparency and democracy. We strive to keep politics out of the running of the organization, and to focus on what is best for the membership and for AASECT. 

A committed president and board of directors can't be afraid to help out any member who is having a problem with any aspect of their experience. It seems to me that the heart and soul of AASECT IS our membership, so we have worked hard to be responsive to you, our members. We love hearing constructive criticism and feedback. How can we improve our performance and make AASECT the best it can be without that mirror of truth being held up to us? 

Of course, it is important to remember that, unlike many other professional organizations, AASECT has a very limited budget. We work close to the bone as a 501 (c) (3), and much of our work is done by generous volunteer committee members. Sometimes, because of this, things move more slowly, but the fact that AASECT functions at all is because of our volunteers' dedication, time, love, spirit, and knowledge. THANK YOU to all of our volunteer committee members who keep the heart of AASECT beating. And any time any of you care to help AASECT by making a donation, even a small one, know that we appreciate your wonderful gift. It helps us become stronger.

In June, this column will guide you through all of the forward movement the board has worked on over the past two years, and that will be continued by your wonderful incoming president, Konnie McCaffree. 

In the meantime, I'd like to extend my gratitude to some of the many who have given their unflagging volunteerism to AASECT:

Russell Stambaugh, Bylaws Committee Chair; Peggy Kleinplatz, Ethics Advisory Committee Chair; Patti Britton, Nominating Committee Chair; Dennis Sugrue, Awards Committee Chair, Cathy Ravella, Personnel Committee Chair; Gina Ogden, Chair of Ad Hoc Committee on SAR QA; brilliant and deeply helpful advisors which include all of the aforementioned, and Beverly Whipple, AASECT Past President; Sandra Cole, AASECT Past President; Thomas Gertz, AASECT Past President, and Gretchen Fincke, Practitioner Supervisor Certification Committee Chair.

Many other amazing members will be mentioned in the next column, including our board members. You cannot imagine the amount of work done by this board! 

Last but not least, AASECT has benefited immensely from the tremendous business expertise and phenomenal wisdom of our current treasurer, Triste Brooks. She is self-effacing and low-key but has brought her vision, knowledge, and professionalism to our organization in ways that will forever strengthen AASECT. Deep bow!

And to all of you, our members, who make AASECT the wonderful organization that it is, I thank you for being a part of THE gold standard in sexual health organizations!

Warmly,
Michele
msugglcsw@gmail.com