Succeeding as a Therapist

This user-friendly, practical guide summarizes everything therapists need to know about setting up, growing, and protecting their independent therapy practice.

In this book, a team of experienced psychologists with diverse experiences and perspectives guides readers through the common and not-so-common challenges inherent in managing an independent practice. Given that the COVID pandemic has changed therapy from a service typically delivered in-person to one often conducted via teleconference, therapists need to ensure that their practice meets the changing needs of their clients as well as themselves.

The chapters flow from initial preparation for successful independent practice and creating a business plan, to closing or selling a practice, and everything in between, including:

• helping clients find you
• preparing for emergencies
• self and community care
• legal, insurance, and financial issues

The authors also provide key resources including professional guidelines relevant to therapists, recommendations for responding to subpoenas and submitting records testimony, providing information to professional will executors, and semi-structured interviews and assessments with different types of clients.

Preface
Our Personal Journeys
Acknowledgments

Part I: Initial Preparation

1. Creating a Practice That Matches You, Your Values, and Your Vision
2. Creating a Realistic Business Plan
3. Finding the Right Attorney
4. Finding the Right Professional Liability Insurance
5. Finding the Right Office
6. Finding the Right Accountant
7. Finding the Right Software and System for Scheduling, Billing, Forms, Client Communication, and Documentation

Part II: Finding Clients and Helping Clients Find You

8. Creating a Website, Business Cards, and Stationery
9. Advertising Ethically, Efficiently, Effectively, and Economically
10. Getting Onto Insurance Panels—But Do You Want to Do That?
11. Building and Maintaining a Presence on Social Media

Part III: Records

12. Creating a Thoughtful and Useful Client Record
13. Privacy, Confidentiality, and Privilege
14. Responding to a Subpoena and Dealing With Law Enforcement

Part IV: Preparing for Urgent and Emergency Situations

15. Office Safety Measures and Precautions
16. Suicide Risk
17. Clients Who Pose a Risk of Danger to a Third Party
18. Assessing and Responding to Interpersonal Violence
19. Reporting Child Abuse and Reasonable Suspicions of Child Abuse
20. Assessing and Responding to Possible Abuse of Older, Vulnerable, and Dependent Adults and Adults With Disabilities
21. When the Therapist is Stalked, Targeted, or Threatened by a Client or Someone in the Client’s Life

Part V: Taking Care of Yourself & Your Practice

22. Keys to Thinking Clearly and Making Good Decisions About Your Practice
23. Eight Common Missteps That Can Lead to Disaster
24. Navigating Boundaries
25. Addressing the Hazards of Loneliness
26. Addressing the Hazards of Vicarious Trauma
27. Navigating and Nourishing Personal Relationships
28. Asking for Help When We Need It
29. Creating a Practice Grounded in Human Rights
30. Creating, Embracing, and Serving Communities
31. Applying for American Board of Professional Psychology Certification

Part VI: Managing the (Sometimes) Unexpected

32. When the Therapist Becomes Pregnant
33. When the Therapist Becomes Ill
34. What to Do When You've Made an Error
35. What to Do (and Not Do) When Facing an Ethics, Licensing, or Malpractice Complaint

Part VII: Endings—Planned and Unplanned

36. Successful, Unsuccessful, and Incomplete Terminations
37. Closing or Selling a Practice
38. Creating a Useful Professional Will

Afterword: Creating Our Dream Practice in a Changing World
Resource A: Professional Guidelines Relevant to Practitioners
Resource B: The Clinical Interview with Immigrants
Resource C: Strategies for Private Practitioners Coping With Subpoenas or Compelled Testimony for Client/Patient Records or Test Data or Test Materials
Resource D: Sample Professional Will Published by the American Psychological Association
Resource E: Information for Professional Executors: Files, Passwords, and Contacts List
Resource F: The No Surprises Act: Frequently Asked Questions and Responses
References
Index
About the Authors

Hector Y. Adames, PsyD, received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Wright State University in Ohio and completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Boston University School of Medicine's Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology (CMTP). Currently, he is a licensed psychologist and a professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago Campus and the codirector of the IC-RACE Lab (Immigration Critical Race and Cultural Equity Lab). He has earned several awards including the 2018 Distinguished Emerging Professional Research Award from The Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race, a Division of APA. Follow Dr. Adames on Twitteropens in new window and Instagramopens in new window, or visit the IC-RACE Labopens in new window.

Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD, received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She is a Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) where she serves as the faculty coordinator for the concentration in Latinx Mental Health in the Counseling Psychology Department. She is the Co-Director of the IC-RACE Lab (Immigration Critical Race and Cultural Equity Lab). Her research focuses on colorism, skin-color differences, parenting styles, immigration, unaccompanied minors, multiculturalism, and race relations. She has earned a number of awards including the 2018 American Psychological Association (APA) Distinguished Citizen Psychologist Award. Follow Dr. Chavez-Dueñas on Twitteropens in new window and Instagramopens in new window, or visit the IC-RACE Labopens in new window.

Melba J.T. Vasquez, PhD, ABPP, is in independent practice in Austin, Texas. She served as president of APA in 2011 and is the first Latina and Woman of Color of 120 presidencies of APA to serve in that role. Dr. Vasquez also served a term on the APA Board of Directors. She obtained her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1978. She is a coauthor of a book, Multicultural Therapy: A Practice Imperative, and is coauthor of six editions of Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Practical Guide. Dr. Vasquez has also published about 100 book chapters and journal articles in the areas of professional ethics, ethnic minority psychology, psychology of women, counseling and psychotherapy, and leadership. She has served on numerous editorial boards.

Kenneth S. Pope, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed psychologist. A fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), he served as chair of the Ethics Committees of the American Board of Professional Psychology and APA. He received the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public Service, the APA Division 12 Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Clinical Psychology, the Canadian Psychological Association's John C. Service Member of the Year Award, and the Ontario Psychological Association's Barbara Wand Award for significant contribution to excellence in professional ethics and standards. To learn more about Dr. Pope's work, visit his websiteopens in new window.

Four diverse psychologists have written a comprehensive and indispensable practical guide for novice and experienced practitioners. Simply superb!
—Lillian Comas-Díaz, PhD, Past President, Psychologists in Independent Practice, APA Division 42; George Washington University, Washington, DC

New clinicians will benefit from the authors’ collective wisdom and extensive resources on the basics of planning, starting, and developing a practice ethically, safely, and joyfully. The book is replete with guidance.
—Jana N. Martin, PhD, CEO, The Trust, Rockville, MD

An accessible guide to preventing and overcoming common challenges. The authors illustrate clear pathways to creating a thriving practice by attending to values, business strategies, boundaries, self-care, and life transitions.
—Thema Bryant-Davis, PhD, 2023 APA President; Pepperdine University, Encino, CA

An indispensable resource. Why hasn’t anyone written this book before? I am glad that these peerlessly qualified experts are the ones who chose to do so.
—Eric Y. Drogin, JD, PhD, ABPP, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Past Chair, APA Committee on Professional Practice and Standards

The most comprehensive overview of everything you need to know. The stunningly practical guide walks us through therapists’ personal needs by illuminating critical topics—therapist loneliness, vicarious trauma, and human rights. I wish such a text existed when I started my practice!
—Maryam M. Jernigan-Noesi, PhD, CEO and Founder, Jernigan & Associates Psychological and Educational Consulting, Atlanta, GA