Governance

The Center for Restored & Center for Restored & Connected Families

• Delivers relationship based Behavioral & Mental Health services to children together with their parent/caregiver to foster the child's development while building positive and secure relationships between children and their parents/caregivers;
• Offers affordable behavioral and mental health care to families, couples, and individuals of all ages and stages funded by low-cost, private pay and managed care within the state of California ethically integrating Christian theology with clinical care when appropriate to the client; and
• Provides supervised clinical hours and mentoring of pre-licensed MFTs who are either in the process of completing Masters and Doctoral degrees--or have registered with the CA Board of Behavioral Sciences and are accruing supervised clinical hours in preparation for full licensure.

Founded in November 2019, originally as Connected Families--and not affiliated with  Connected Families of MN--the IRS determined the organization to be tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) on April 10, 2021 and is also tax-exempt in California.  The Center for Restored & Connected Families is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. Dr. Toni Dunning functions as President and CEO.  Dr. Joseph De Luna serves as Secretary and Kathleen Shanahan serves as CFO/Treasurer.  Other Directors include Bob Stuard and Dr. Douglas Huenergardt. Except for Toni and Kathleen, all directors are independent of day-to-day operations.

Behavioral & Mental Health Services: Family, Couple, and Individual Therapy

We acknowledge and respect the importance of every member of the family and offer family, couple, and individual therapy that promotes healthy roles and responsibilities, adaptive coping skills empowering and equipping people to achieve their highest potential.  

Development of Mental Health Professionals

Becoming a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, or a Licensed Psychologist in California is a serious personal and professional commitment that minimally requires completion of a qualifying Masters or Doctoral Degree plus 3000 hours of supervised mental health practice before qualifying to test for full licensure. Trainee therapists are in the process of completing a qualifying degree, are enrolled in a practicum class at their university, and receive weekly supervision by a licensed supervisor in proportion to their clinical hours.  Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapists, Registered Associate Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists are governed by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS). Registered Psychological Associates are governed by the California Board of Psychology (BOP).  The Center for Restored & Center for Restored & Connected Families offers pre-licensed therapists opportunities to engage in clinical practice, receive supervision, and gain clinical hours needed to test for licensure.  Supervision typically includes managing crisis and mandatory reporting requirements, case reviews, treatment planning, discussion of theory and techniques, and management of transference and countertransference with the goal of fostering the development of the person of the therapist.  In keeping with standard practices for the profession, pre-licensed therapists video record sessions to promote professional development and to share with the supervisor.  It is a privilege to contribute to the support and development of fellow therapists and to provide services to our clients in this collaborative way.