GAMHPA Listserv Messaging Service

The Glendale Area Mental Health Professionals Association (GAMHPA) offers it’s members a free exclusive member-to-member e-mail discussion group or “listserv.”

What is a "Listserv"?

A "listserv" is a method for a group of people to communicate as a group via e-mail. Any member of the group can send a message to a central e-mail address, and then software automatically sends that e-mail to all of the members of the group. All members can view the original e-mail and respond to it. Responses are also viewed by all members. This creates an open communication network among members, or, quite literally, a group discussion.

Two Separate Benefits of Membership

Two separate, free benefits of membership are the GAMHPA searchable online directory at gamhpa.org and the GAMHPA online listserv at gamhpa.topicbox.com. Our directory is a subscription-based service provided by a company called Wild Apricot. Our listserv is a subscription-based service provided by a company called Topicbox. The GAMHPA listserv is not linked to the GAMHPA website, GAMHPA directory, or GAMHPA member profiles. Modifications you make to your either your GAMHPA member directory profile or your GAMHPA listserv account do not update the other.

Listserv Membership

Anyone who is not a member of GAMHPA may join the listserv only after joining GAMHPA. Not all GAMHPA members are participating in the GAMHPA listserv. Only GAMHPA members who have opted in to the GAMHPA listserv are subscribed to the GAMHPA listserv. All GAMHPA listserv subscribers are GAMHPA members. Currently we have 220 GAMHPA members and 190 GAMHPA listserv subscribers. When a GAMHPA member does not renew their annual membership, they are unsubscribed from both the GAMHPA directory and the GAMHPA listserv after a grace period.

Joining the Listserv

If you are a GAMHPA member but not yet a subscriber to the GAMHPA listserv, if you wish to join the listserv, ask to be included by sending an e-mail request to the moderator at jjdesantis@aol.com, and we will add you to the listserv. Once you have been added, you can start sending and receiving email messages from the GAMHPA community.

Sending a Message

To send a message to everyone on the listserv, just send a standard e-mail directly to the following address, and it will be broadcast immediately to all mental health professionals in the association who have also subscribed to the listserv.  It’s that easy!

          gamhpa@gamhpa.topicbox.com

Responding to a Message

If you are responding to a listserv message that you do not want broadcast to everyone but delivered only to the original sender, then be sure to "backchannel" your reply to the sender’s e-mail address only and not to the listserv’s e-mail address.

Delivery of Messages

When you post an e-mail message to the listserv, it is sent out to all participants within moments. If you send a message originating from an email address that has not be entered into the system beforehand, that message will be held until a moderator can personally review it. This is intended to prevent non-members from sending messages to the group, such as advertising or solicitations.

Types of Information

This service will accept messages for:

- Office rentals

- Jobs & internships

- Groups & workshops

- Specialized services & resources

- Clinical & ethical questions

- Case consultation

- Sharing of techniques

- Events & activities

Accounts

Every GAMHPA listserv subscriber has one and only one account which is under their email address. You can submit more than one email address to your account. One email address must be designated as your “primary” email address. Topicbox will send messages to your “primary” email address. Replies are accepted from any of the addresses you have submitted.

Changes

If you wish to adjust the features of your GAMHPA listserv account, we unfortunately cannot toggle these on or off for you. You must do this yourself within your personal listserv account.

To change your account settings, you must:

1. Go to gamhpa.topicbox.com in your internet browser.

2. Enter your email address when asked to do so.

3. The listserv will send a single-use login code to your email address for 2-factor authentication.

4. Enter the code sent to you into the topicbox listserv page.

5. You can now make adjustments to your personal subscriber settings within your personal listserv subscriber account, including the following.

Delivery Options

In the right margin of your personal listserv account are several delivery options. Click on the choices you prefer. You can modify these settings at any time; they are not permanent.

1. When a message is sent to the group:

___ Email it to me

___ Include it in my daily summary

___ I’ll view it on the web; don’t email me

2. When I send a message to the group:

___ Email me a copy

Not Receiving a Copy of Your Message to the GAMHPA Listserv: Known Issue with Gmail

Some of our listserv subscribers have experienced an issue not receiving back a copy of their messages sent to the listserv despite having requested this feature in their listserv account. This may occur if you send a message to the Topicbox listserv e-mail address directly from a Gmail account. This is a known issue with Gmail. Gmail sometimes automatically silently deletes all email that is forwarded from your Gmail account back to your own Gmail account. The only copy of your message you will find will be in your Sent Mail folder.

If you experience this issue, log in to the GAMHPA listserv via the web interface at gamhpa.topicbox.com and send your message from there. If you send a message from the web interface instead of sending your message from your Gmail account, you will receive a copy of your message. This is advice directly from Topicbox technical support.

Add a Photo to Your Account

There is no feature to add a photo directly to your listserv account. To add a photo to your topicbox listserv account, do the following:

1. Go to myaccount.google.com.

2. If you do not already have a Google account, set one up.

3. In your Google account, go to Personal info.

4. Upload a photo of your choice under Profile picture, and save.

5. This will be migrated to your Topicbox listserv account in a few days.

Adding Contact/Clinical Information to Your Account

There is not any other information you can add to your listserv account. Your main GAMHPA account is located under a different and separate location: Your GAMHPA directory account, contains your searchable online member profile—all your contact and clinical practice information. To modify your member profile:

1. Go to www.GAMHPA.org.

2. In the upper right hand corner of the home page, enter your email address.

3. Click on "change password" to set up a first-time password by following the online instructions.

4. Re-enter the home page and re-enter your email address and new password to login to your account for the first time.

5. Go to "view profile" and upload a photo of your choice in the space provided.

6. Enter any new information or changes you wish to make, and save.

Opt Out of the Listserv

You can opt out of this service anytime by clicking the "Unsubscribe Now" link at the bottom of any listserv e-mail.

Additional Questions

If you have any questions, please call or e-mail a listserv co-moderator:

• When making requests for resources for your patients, please note that having the word “referral” in a listserv request may create a responsibility or liability on the part of GAMHPA.  Therefore, we request that you utilize a title such as “Seeking Group for Women in Transition, Burbank.”

• Please limit descriptive characterizations of a client only to those elements that are necessary, but that would not inadvertently violate confidentiality.

• Please include descriptive information in the subject so that those disinterested may delete without reading, such as "Looking for Office Space in Glendale" or "Seeking Individual Therapist for 14 Year Old Male, AD/HD, Burbank Area.”

• Whenever possible, please include your message in the body of the e-mail rather than as an attachment.  Attachments over 1.0 Mb may be rejected.

• We will not accept messages for general self-promotions, address changes, etc.

• A message for a given topic can only be submitted once per month.  If you need your message to run more frequently, you can place an ad in our newsletter.

• GAMHPA reserves the right to edit, screen, or deny posts that do not meet these guidelines.