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Public policy

California sets new rules for therapists writing ESA letters

June 28, 2022November 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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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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Is therapy more effective when people pay a fee for it?

February 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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Preparing for the 2025 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam

Preparing for the 2025 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam - front coverThe easiest way to get ready for California’s MFT Law & Ethics exam. This paperback includes a study guide and more than 100 practice test questions with rationales.

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  • 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
  • CE Courses
    • California Law and Ethics 6-Hour for LMFTs, LPCCs, & LCSWs
    • California Law and Ethics for BBS Associates (AMFTs, APCCs, & ASWs) – 2025
    • Telehealth for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs
    • Supervision of California BBS Associates
    • Supervision for Clinical Effectiveness
  • Books
    • Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs (11th ed)
    • Preparing for the 2025 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam
    • Preparing for the 2025 California Clinical Social Work Law & Ethics Exam
    • Saving Psychotherapy
  • Resources
    • Think Like the Test™ Podcast
    • Exam Prep Articles
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