Where Making Money and Making a Difference Come Together

I just heard from a colleague that she is signing off of all managed care panels effective September 1. She says she can’t grow a practice with her reimbursement rates declining and is ready to go with a managed care free practice. While I applaud her biz savvy-ness for knowing that she needs to change [...]

As our population gets more and more “plugged in” how do we treat their mental health? With millions of people meeting romantic partners online, how do we help them sort out issues of meeting a partner, courtship, cultural differences and possible separation? When someone who is happily married can find their high school sweetheart and [...]

Can I be honest?  Some therapists are satisfied with “good enough.”  They are “good enough” clinicians, with “good enough” training and a “good enough” salary. I don’t want you to be one of those people. Why? Because in today’s culture and economy “good enough” is not enough. Not enough to fill your clinical hours. Not [...]

I was at a meeting of psychologists last night and we got the news that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will be lowering our reimbursement rates starting in September 2010. Oh, and they are eliminating payment on some consultation codes, too. Super. But, to pat my own back, I predicted this last week. What [...]

This is a question I ponder daily: Can mental health treatment be  moved online or into a virtual space (via phone, video chat, second life) effectively and ethically? Then the questions really start rushing in.  I ask: What does virtual mental health treatment look like? How does it work? How do people benefit? What pieces [...]

Recently there has been a lot of talk in the psychotherapy community about the appropriateness of Googling a client when one is concerned about him/her.  Some argue it is a good way to help someone in distress when they have not divulged information to us personally, others argue it is an invasion of privacy. You [...]

I just got off the phone with a client who tells me some of  her colleagues are vehemently against her becoming innovative in how she structures her private practice business.  Their reasoning, “It’s not the way we do things.” Hm….if Freud stuck with the established way of doing things, he would have continued working in  [...]

If you are a physician, therapist or any other helping professional whose business model relies on third party manged care reimbursement you are engaged in the World’s WORST business model (and that’s not hyperbole…keep reading to see what I mean.) Let me start with a story to set the stage: Imagine you are a bright, [...]

Hey, have you seen the most recent Newsweek article by Sharon Begley?  It seems antidepressants don’t work. Apparently, 82% of the improvement people feel is placebo effect.  If you are a mental health professional, you know this, whether or not we want to admit it. Let’s face facts, folks. When it comes to curing mental [...]

I started my career working with gang bangers, sexual offenders and grand theft auto convicts.  All of them were under the age of 18.  It was one of the best jobs I have ever had. In no particular order,here is what those kids taught me about life, work and business. 1.  People want to be [...]