California Archives - Psychotherapy Notes

By not pursuing an interstate compact for MFTs, AAMFT is making a big mistake

June 21, 2023 by Ben Caldwell

In April, I wrote about AAMFT’s decision not to pursue an interstate compact for MFTs. You can see them discuss the issue and their rationale in this video. Their logic came down to two things: 1) since more than half of MFTs are in California and New York, and these states would almost certainly not join such a compact, the benefits to the MFT profession would be limited; and 2) the cost of such an effort, which would require resources to be pulled away from other initiatives, would not be worth it, especially given #1.

I think they’re wrong on both counts.

Why there isn’t an interstate compact for MFTs

June 26, 2023April 12, 2023 by Ben Caldwell

Telehealth-based mental health care is now the norm. Many clinicians have sought to expand their telehealth practices by getting licensed in multiple states. Psychology, counseling, and social work have all pursued interstate compacts to expand telehealth opportunities for professionals in participating states. This has led many marriage and family therapists to wonder: Why isn’t there an interstate compact for MFTs?

California AB1758 signed, making video supervision legal across work settings through 2025

August 29, 2022 by Ben Caldwell

The bill was tagged as urgency legislation, meaning it took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature. In addition to making video supervision legal across all work settings, it also newly requires supervisors (in all work settings, not just private practice) to assess a supervisee’s appropriateness for video supervision. I’ve created a form for that, modeled after the specific requirements in the bill. It’s available on my Resources page at the Ben Caldwell Labs site.

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

August 19, 2022 by Ben Caldwell

On 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.

California MFT program costs vary — by more than $100,000

July 25, 2022July 25, 2022 by Ben Caldwell

piggy bank As I’ve covered here before, it can be quite difficult to get a real sense of how much your MFT graduate program will cost before enrolling. Universities have a habit of being opaque about MFT program costs. And the end result is that financial planning around graduate education can be a serious challenge. New data shows that MFT program costs vary even more widely than I had suspected, with full program tuition cost estimates ranging from less than $15,000 to more than $120,000.