When you decide to become a therapist, it is important to consider your finances. You need a plan for how to make ends meet. Ben made the point in Saving Psychotherapy that our field is mostly comprised of wealthy people, in part because those are the people who can afford to take on the financial burden of grad school and the years of low income while working toward licensure. One of the main reasons people drop out of our field before licensure is that same financial burden.
Some of us are fortunate to be able to lower our cost of living by moving back in with family or having a spouse’s support to draw from. The rest of us aren’t so lucky. We need side income to make it through to graduation.
So, uh, yeah, it’s pretty much all in the headline! We’ve updated our essential guide to California law for master’s-level mental health professionals. Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs (6th edition) is now available on 
We’ve all been dropped by clients at some point in our therapy careers. It may be due to scheduling, payment for services (or lack thereof), your specialty or theory of choice, your interventions, or just your own unique personality. That is all OK. It is OK to lose a client. In fact, there are a number of situations when losing a client may be beneficial. When a client drops you after you were challenging them in session, it may make more sense — at least sometimes — to consider it a success than a failure.
Here’s a quick and easy lifehack for California mental health professionals working under supervision: Get automatic email notifications if your supervisor’s license lapses or changes status.
When a piece of technology works well and makes life easy, that doesn’t mean that the building of it went well or that the lives of the builders are easy. Many in the technology industry struggle with symptoms of anxiety and depression. In fact, they struggle with these symptoms 
I get really passionate when talking about data and using data to direct clinical decisions. Although I’m aware that I am often alone in that passion, it’s worth acknowledging that we all use data to direct all of our decisions. We’re not just guessing in the dark. We may not always directly attend to the data available to us, but I have yet to meet anyone who makes a decision without using some form of information to guide them. 
I’ve been doing couple therapy (
I can hardly believe that Psychotherapy Notes has been around now for a decade! For 10 years, we’ve challenged you (and ourselves) to think differently, reconsider professional boundaries, and actively work to improve the field of psychotherapy. Since long before I started here, Psychotherapy Notes has had a positive impact on my professional career and the way that I interact with both clients and colleagues.
Looking for holiday gifts for therapists and counselors in your life? Don’t get them another therapy-themed card game. Here are some gift ideas that counselors and psychotherapists of all types might find fun and useful, organized by cost.