Jeffrey Zimmerman

Steven Walfish

Jeffrey E. Barnett

The Ethics of Private Practice helps mental health professionals understand the essential ethical issues related to the many challenges of being in independent practice. Seasoned clinicians Barnett, Zimmerman, and Walfish offer readers astute insight into building a practice that is designed to minimize unintended ethics violations and reduce associated risks. Each chapter focuses on a major aspect of the business of practice and incorporates relevant standards from the ethics codes of four mental health professions. Topics addressed include planning and successfully managing a practice, documentation and record keeping, dealing with third parties and protecting confidentiality, managing practice finances, staff training and office policies, advertising and marketing a practice, continuing professional development activities, and the closing of a private practice. Full of practical tips that can be readily implemented, this handy guide will be the go-to resource for all mental health clinicians in private practice.

A Practical Guide for Mental Health Clinicians

The Ethics of Private Practice

Psychologists are increasingly dissatisfied with managed care companies. While many practitioners would prefer to develop a fee-for-service practice to improve clinical care and income, there is limited available information on how to establish one. This book illustrates 50 strategies for growing a practice that is not managed care or insurance dependent. Contributors describe how they successfully carved out a niche in areas as varied as family and divorce counseling, teaching and supervision, healthcare, product development, and organizational consulting. In each vignette, the author describes his or her practice arrangements, training experiences, primary activities, pros and cons of this career path, effective business approaches, and also recommends professional resources, including books, journals, web sites, and societies. This book provides plenty of ideas for early career psychologists and graduate students interested in starting a private practice as well as seasoned practitioners who want to develop alternative income sources to minimize dependence on insurance companies.

50 Ways to Expand Your Practice

Earning a Living Outside of Managed Mental Health Care

"For many independent mental health practitioners, having a profitable business and being an empathic clinician may seem mutually exclusive. In graduate training, little emphasis is placed on learning, refining, and mastering the business aspects of private or group practice. In fact, very few clinical doctoral programs provide any business or financial management training for future practitioners. In this volume, Steven Walfish and Jeffrey E. Barnett provide a comprehensive tool kit for practitioners to develop their business acumen and fully complement their extensive clinical training. The authors skillfully demonstrate that top-notch clinical expertise along with sound business practices is the winning combination for long-term success. Financial Success in Mental Health Practice shows readers how to market their practice, ensure its profitability, provide quality client service delivery, manage office overhead, implement effective accounting practices, handle commercial taxes and business expenses, navigate insurance claims and reimbursements, and plan for retirement. Written in an accessible and engaging style, this volume offers sample forms, letters, and fee schedules, as well as interviews with highly successful entrepreneurs and executive managers. This complete resource will equip the early career or seasoned clinician with the tools and strategies needed for a rewarding and fruitful career"--Jaquette (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Essential Tools and Strategies for Practitioners

Financial Success in Mental Health Practice

Handbook of Private Practice is the premier resource for mental health clinicians, covering all aspects of developing and maintaining a successful private practice. Written for graduate students considering the career path of private practice, professionals wanting to transition into private practice, and current private practitioners who want to improve their practice, this book combines the overarching concepts needed to take a mental health practice (whether solo or in a group) from inception, through its lifespan. From envisioning your practice, to accounting and bookkeeping, hiring staff, managing the practice, and running the business of the practice, a diverse group of expert authors describe the practical considerations and steps to take to enhance your success. Chapters cover marketing, dealing with insurance and managed care, and how to choose your advisors. Ethics and risk management are integrated throughout the text with a special section also devoted to these issues and strategies. The last section features 26 niche practices in which expert practitioners describe their special area of practice and discuss important issues and aspects of their specialty practice. These areas include assessment and evaluation, specialized psychotherapy services, working with unique populations of clients, and more. Whether read cover-to-cover or used as a reference to repeatedly come back to when a question or challenge arises, this book is full of practical guidance directly geared to psychologists, counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists in independent practice.

Steven Walfish

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