Northern California

The Northern California region starts at the Oregon border and continues south to include Fresno and Monterey. There have been two AIRT groups in this region. The first and continuing one is the Bay Area Association of Imago Therapists (BAIRT), which has formal bylaws, a president, vice president, recording secretary, corresponding secretary, and treasurer. BAIRT usually charges $25 in dues, but in the last year, we have waived fees due to low overhead.

We gather for formal meetings and clinical presentations every two months. Members give the presentations, and CEU’s are granted. On the alternate month, a personal sharing group is held to offer peer support. While we have approximately 20 members, only six or seven regularly attend meetings.

As a group, we hosted the SF (Concord) conference. Dale Bailey spearheaded this committee, and there were several others on the steering committee. Lia Anisgard organized at least one training by Hedy and Yumi that was loosely supported by our region.

BAIRT has its own website, which was created by Dale who also produced pages for any members who asked. The regional website has links to our individual sites and, I believe, to the national site. Conference tapes and some Imago videotapes have been purchased and are lent out to members.

For approximately two years, a Sacramento AIRT association existed, which was not officially affiliated with AIRT. We had monthly meetings and members presented clinical material or a case for discussion. At first, about 10 therapists attended regularly and then interest waned. The association disbanded about three years ago.

One of the biggest challenges in this region is the distance between therapists and the isolation that some therapists feel. Two very rural sections include the area north of Sacramento, which only has one large city, Redding, and the central part of northern California south of Stockton.

At the present time, there are nine workshop presenters, 58 Certified Imago Therapists, and no clinical instructors in our region.