Skip to content
Psychotherapy Notes
  • Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Clinical Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LPCC Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LCSW Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • National MFT Exam Test Bank
  • CE Courses
    • California Law & Ethics for BBS Associates (AMFTs, APCCs, and ASWs) – 2023
    • Telehealth for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs
  • Books
    • Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs (10th ed)
    • Saving Psychotherapy
    • Preparing for the 2023 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam
    • Preparing for the 2023 California Clinical Social Work Law & Ethics Exam
  • Resources
  • Blog
    • Blog home
    • Psychology
    • Professional Counseling
    • Family therapy
    • Clinical social work
    • Law and ethics
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Licensure
    • Public policy

Employment

Kaiser to therapists on strike: We’re not abandoning patients, you are

August 19, 2022 by Ben Caldwell

person in suit pointing at viewerOn Tuesday, mental health clinicians for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California went on strike. While Kaiser and the union representing the therapists appear to have reached agreement on wages, the sides remain in dispute on issues related to staffing, working conditions, and client access to care. Kaiser reps have responded by calling the strike itself “unethical.” They have said that union leaders were asking therapists to “walk away from people who need help.” Suggesting that your own employees are unethical when they are striking to force Kaiser to improve patient access to mental health care is, as they say, a choice. It’s one that would seem destined to only worsen Kaiser’s ability to recruit and retain therapists in the future.

Read more

15 years of therapist salary data for Psychologists, counselors, social workers, and MFTs

July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 by Ben Caldwell

bills on woodgrainHow much does the average Psychologist, counselor, MFT, or social worker make? Are salaries rising or falling relative to inflation? Therapist salary data can tell us a lot about the overall health of the professions. I’ve gathered 15 years of therapist salary data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to see what insights can be gained from it.

Read more

Mean salary data for Psychologists, Counselors, MFTs, and Social Workers [interactive chart]

December 29, 2020September 9, 2020 by Ben Caldwell

bills on woodgrainHow much salary are you likely to make as a Psychologist, counselor, MFT, or social worker? Are salaries rising or falling relative to inflation? The following chart shows 13 years of therapist salary data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read more

California’s AB5 signed. How will it impact therapists’ work as independent contractors?

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 by Ben Caldwell

California flagDespite what you may have heard, the passage of AB5 will not cause the sky to fall.

California’s independent contractor bill, Assembly Bill 5, was described in media reports as an effort to regulate the gig economy, more specifically Uber and Lyft drivers. It actually impacts many, many more workers than that. But it doesn’t change anything for master’s-level mental health professionals in the state. The change that matters for us happened more than a year ago, and most employers have already adapted to it.

Read more

Why the Kaiser mental health strike matters

June 3, 2019June 3, 2019 by Ben Caldwell

Nicole De Khors / Burst / Used under licenseThousands of California mental health professionals working for Kaiser plan to begin an open-ended strike on June 11. They are protesting the company’s ongoing failure to staff up their mental health operations, resulting in Kaiser patients waiting several weeks between appointments. More than 700 stories of the human impacts of these wait times can be found at kaiserdontdeny.com.

I initially posted about Kaiser’s mental health labor force struggles late last year, when therapists staged a five-day walkout. Kaiser has told its workforce that they believe progress has been made since then on a new contract, but Kaiser’s NUHW workers have been working without a contract since September, and are clearly tired of waiting. The dispute hasn’t fundamentally changed since the December walkout. In April, NUHW workers staged a one-day work stoppage in Pasadena.

My original post, published December 12, 2018, follows:

On Monday, roughly 4,000 mental health professionals employed by Kaiser Permanente in California began a planned five-day strike. The therapists (and nurses, who also walked out in solidarity) say they are protesting the massive and continued failure on Kaiser’s part to provide adequate mental health care to its own patients.

This strike is, in some ways, like other strikes you’ve heard about. While the therapists are highlighting client care issues, Kaiser itself notes that those therapists also are demanding better pay and working conditions — common demands to strike over. But this strike is also deeply unusual in the mental health world. Even when therapists are in a union, strikes are very rare. For that reason, this strike is uniquely important.

Read more

Older posts
Page1 Page2 … Page11 Next →

📈 Trending 📈

  • Decoding counselor alphabet soup: LPC, LPCC, LMHC, and more
  • California sets new rules for therapists writing ESA letters
  • What's the difference between an MFT (or LMFT), an LPC (or LPCC), and an LCSW?
  • Major changes are coming to California BBS supervision rules in 2022
  • Therapists should not write Emotional Support Animal letters

📣 New Posts 📣

  • Write a letter to the editor: Drop the ASWB exams March 7, 2023
  • The mental health workforce shortage solution is right there February 14, 2023
  • The ASWB Clinical Exam reckoning has begun February 7, 2023
  • CareDash shuts down February 3, 2023
  • How to diagnose telehealth connection problems January 18, 2023
Ben Caldwell Labs

Psychotherapy Notes is the official blog of Ben Caldwell Labs

All content and images © Copyright 2009-2023 Ben Caldwell Labs unless otherwise noted.
Some images are used under Creative Commons licensing (information embedded).

Ben Caldwell Labs, the Ben Caldwell Labs logo, and Psychotherapy Notes are registered trademarks of Ben Caldwell Labs Inc.

The opinions expressed on posts on this site are solely those of the author.
While this blog does sometimes cover legal issues, unless otherwise noted authors are practicing clinicians and not attorneys.
Nothing here should be interpreted as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for consulting with a qualified attorney.
  • Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Clinical Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LPCC Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LCSW Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • National MFT Exam Test Bank
  • CE Courses
    • California Law & Ethics for BBS Associates (AMFTs, APCCs, and ASWs) – 2023
    • Telehealth for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs
  • Books
    • Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs (10th ed)
    • Saving Psychotherapy
    • Preparing for the 2023 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam
    • Preparing for the 2023 California Clinical Social Work Law & Ethics Exam
  • Resources
  • Blog
    • Blog home
    • Psychology
    • Professional Counseling
    • Family therapy
    • Clinical social work
    • Law and ethics
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Licensure
    • Public policy

Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs – 10th ed

Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs - 10th edition front cover (c) Copyright 2023 Ben Caldwell LabsTenth edition (2023). A concise, digestible summary of vital elements of state law for master’s level therapists and mental health professionals.