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Psychology

California sets new rules for therapists writing ESA letters

December 27, 2021November 17, 2021 by Ben Caldwell

Sleeping pug / Matthew Henry / Burst / Used under licenseEmotional support animals (ESAs), and therapists writing ESA letters for clients, are frequent topics around here. After years of overuse, the FAA allowed airlines to ban ESAs from passenger cabins early this year, and every major domestic airline has done so. Now California has developed new rules for therapists wanting to write ESA letters, most commonly for clients who want an ESA in a housing situation that does not allow pets.

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A therapist directory with the scale — and killer feature — to challenge Psychology Today

June 23, 2021June 23, 2021 by Ben Caldwell

binocularsA couple of years ago, I wrote about some smaller therapist directories who were trying to take on Psychology Today’s directory. Now, there’s a new therapist directory with the scale — and the killer feature — to challenge PT’s dominance.

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This change in California child abuse reporting took 20 years

March 25, 2021March 25, 2021 by Ben Caldwell

California flagAlmost eight years ago, I wrote about how California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act was naive and discriminatory. By applying one set of child abuse reporting mandates to consensual heterosexual intercourse, and a very different, stricter set of reporting mandates to other forms of consensual sexual activity, the law plainly discriminated against LGBT adolescents in same-sex relationships. It also failed to address typical adolescent sexual development, making intercourse non-reportable in many instances where other activities adolescents would engage in during the run-up to intercourse were mandated reports.

That law has finally changed.

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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.

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How coronavirus is affecting the California BBS [Updated 6/2/20]

June 3, 2020March 16, 2020 by Ben Caldwell
BBS logo

I’ve gotten a lot of questions in the past few days about how COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) is affecting the California BBS, or how it is likely to. I’m rounding up those questions here in hopes of making it easier to find the information you need. This post most recently updated on June 2, to include information about new BBS waivers.

Exams

Will license exams be cancelled or postponed?

The BBS-contracted testing provider Pearson VUE closed all of its US and Canada testing centers in March, and has been gradually reopening them since May. All exams scheduled while centers were closed have been cancelled and you will need to reschedule.

If your registration expired or is scheduled to expire between March 31 and June 30, 2020, see the information below on Law & Ethics Exam rule waivers.

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Is therapy more effective when people pay a fee for it?

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020 by Ben Caldwell
Matthew Henry / Burst / Used under license

The idea that clients should pay at least a small fee for therapy in order for therapy to be effective has been around for a long time. But it doesn’t hold up as well as you might think. 

This is one of those things that I learned in grad school and simply accepted as truth for a long time. And then I was startled when I actually looked into it. Not only does forcing clients to pay even a small amount for therapy not help outcomes, some evidence suggests it makes outcomes worse.

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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.

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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.

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Why you shouldn’t share an exam prep login

April 16, 2019 by Emma Jaegle

Sarah Pflug via Burst / Licensed under Creative Commons ZeroWe all want to pass our licensing exams. If we don’t pass, we may prolong our progress to licensure by several months. Preparing for exams takes a lot of time and money. One way people have sought to save money is by sharing an exam prep login. In other words, letting a friend or colleague access license exam test prep material under your username and password.

Paying half (or less) of the price feels a lot better than paying the whole price, and sharing an exam prep login provides a sense of community around your study experience. But before offering your password to someone else or using someone else’s account, here are some things you should consider.

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Self-care is great, if you can afford it

April 9, 2019April 9, 2019 by Ben Caldwell

Matthew Henry / Burst / Used under licenseFrom the time you were in graduate school, your instructors and supervisors have likely emphasized the importance of self-care. Burnout is a real risk in the world of counseling and psychotherapy, and you have to be able to take care of yourself in order to avoid it.

These messages come from a good place. But they ignore reality for many therapists, especially those early in their careers. And those messages often come with dangerous assumptions and a dark undercurrent: If you’re having a hard time, it’s your own fault.

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Saving Psychotherapy
Saving Psychotherapy: How therapists can bring the talking cure back from the brink
An action plan to improve your practice while helping the whole field. An unflinching, data-driven, and ultimately optimistic look at where we are and how your practice matters to all of our shared futures.
 
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People are reading

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  • California sets new rules for therapists writing ESA letters
  • Major changes are coming to California BBS supervision rules in 2022

Recent Posts

  • California sets new rules for therapists writing ESA letters November 17, 2021
  • Major changes are coming to California BBS supervision rules in 2022 November 2, 2021
  • Prologue: A poem for new grad students August 30, 2021
  • A therapist directory with the scale — and killer feature — to challenge Psychology Today June 23, 2021

Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs – 9th ed

Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs - 9th edition front cover (c) Copyright 2022 Ben Caldwell LabsNinth edition (2022). A concise, digestible summary of vital elements of state law for master’s level therapists and mental health professionals.

Online California MFT Law & Ethics Exam Prep

Matthew Henry via Burst / Used under licenseBe ready for your test in 7 days with our study plan, video lectures, and practice questions. All for less than half of what competitors charge.
 
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Preparing for the 2021 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam

Preparing for the 2021 California MFT Law & Ethics ExamThe easiest way to get ready for California’s MFT Law & Ethics exam. Includes a study guide and more than 100 practice test questions with rationales.

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  • Exam Prep
    • California MFT Clinical Exam Prep
    • California MFT Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LPCC Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • National MFT Exam Test Bank
  • Advocacy
  • Books
    • Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs (9th ed)
    • Saving Psychotherapy
    • Preparing for the 2021 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam
    • Preparing for the 2021 California Clinical Social Work Law & Ethics Exam
  • Blog
    • Blog home
    • Psychology
    • Professional Counseling
    • Family therapy
    • Clinical social work
    • Law and ethics
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Licensure
    • Public policy