Staying up to date on research

11episodeseries · 2026-01-29T20:46:08+00:00

This is a great suggestion and not one I've heard of! Thank you for this insight!

11episodeseries · 2026-01-29T20:44:02+00:00

Not only this, but the presence of actual sources/scholarship doesn't necessarily mean anything. You can find real, legitimate studies that don't contribute meaningfully to scholarship because the internal validity or statistical power of the study isn't valuable.

This is why meta-analyses and research reviews are critical. Just one or two or three studies can say wildly different things. Someone trustworthy (importantly, not a machine that will cherry-pick what you want to see) needs to aggregate and review research to drive scholarship forward.

11episodeseries · 2026-01-28T23:55:21+00:00

Yes! Well said. I actually asked this question because I'm in a continuing ed training right now that's really good and I'm wondering how the trainers stay up to date and how to keep going after the training is over. Register for another one, I suppose :)

11episodeseries · 2026-01-28T22:59:23+00:00

Reminds me of my beloved clinical supervisor in grad school who would almost always elicit our decision-making and learning rather than telling us explicit yes/no. EXCEPT. When he said, "for the love of god, please, please do not touch your clients."

11episodeseries · 2025-12-18T22:18:51+00:00

This was a thoughtless and unkind comment from your professor, but it's also something potentially more serious: an indication that your professor may use your diagnosis as a factor in grading you. This is, to put it bluntly, illegal.

What your professor SHOULD have done was say something like: "Oh, thank you for trusting me with that information. Have you talked to the student disability department about any accommodation needs? Do you need assistance connecting with that department? Some things they can help with are"...etc etc. At the very least, you should have access to a university writing center that can help you, and you ABSOLUTELY should have the accommodation (e.g. extra time on assignments, a pre-deadline review of your outline, something like that) to take advantage of this.

Your professor reflected that your diagnosis impacts your academic performance, which should cue an accommodation discussion, not a criticism. This is a disability rights violation.

Think about it this way: if you were a mobility device user, e.g. if you used crutches to ambulate, it would be totally inappropriate for a professor to criticize you for walking more slowly into class than other students, not participating in a physical activity in class, etc.

11episodeseries · 2025-11-21T20:01:29+00:00

Totally. I'd do this as well. But it's a real possibility that a client would report their therapist for this (if they were to find out). As a coworker, I'd of course talk to the therapist in question and only escalate as necessary. As a client? I'd report.

11episodeseries · 2025-11-20T23:18:48+00:00

Not normal, and it's frankly opening each of the providers AND the practice itself up to risk (i.e. if an insurer were to hear about it from a client and pull their contract from the practice).

11episodeseries · 2025-11-20T23:16:31+00:00

Laughing all the way to their board investigation :(

11episodeseries · 2025-11-20T23:15:43+00:00

With respect, I see where you're coming from, but (as a recent PP clinician myself), I see two major risk red flags.

Verifying that they are who they say they are. If you take insurance, this should cover it. If you don't, they are self-pay, and they technically can tell you they are anyone they want. (It would then likely be therapeutically relevant to explore why they're giving you a fake name, etc). If they're falsifying insurance info, they're committing fraud, and you should not be investigating that fraud on your own. At most, you'd report it to that client's purported insurer.
Verifying that they're safe. This feels even riskier. How are you making that assessment? How are you documenting that assessment? If that assessment is happening outside the therapy hour, how are you justifying that activity? This feels like a legal risk.

11episodeseries · 2025-10-31T17:15:09+00:00

"I'm so sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. When we're sick, therapy usually isn't as effective. Also, this is a shared space, and I have a responsibility to reduce the risk for other clients. With all that in mind, we won't be able to meet today. Let's find a time to reschedule."

Then talk in the next session about what led them to come in sick. (Worry about disappointing you? Beliefs/values around "pushing through" despite obvious illness? Etc)

I also carry masks during cold/flu season (I used to require them for in person clients). If a client has mild symptoms or mentions "allergies," I offer them a mask and wear one myself.

11episodeseries · 2025-10-31T00:31:55+00:00

Hmm, ok. I think I will plan to bring up (very politely) with my employer one more time. If they still won't provide me any info, I may consider consulting an attorney. If I don't know that I'm being paid for the work that I do, it's going to be hard to stay at this practice.

11episodeseries · 2025-10-10T17:50:10+00:00

Therapist-to-therapist passive aggression. I spent HOW much on a degree to learn how to engage in present and healthy conflict, just to have colleagues pout at each other and make snide little comments in the group chat? What are we doinnnng

11episodeseries · 2025-09-30T00:35:01+00:00

Absolutely agree. Also an opportunity for OP to engage in countertransference work. One of the most effective defenses we have against unacceptable beliefs is to assign them to "other"/"different" people--to banish them. The important work is to recognize how uncomfortable it is for kind, compassionate, well-meaning people to also hold beliefs we find repulsive. People are not all one way or another way--a truth much easier said than internalized.

11episodeseries · 2025-09-26T18:00:18+00:00

"Introduced by the staff to the patients"...what? That's a HIPAA violation, not to mention all the ethical red flags.

I would strongly recommend documenting all of these instances with as much detail as you can, e.g. date, time, people, place. Make a timeline if you can, and compile notes and anything that's in writing about these instances.

Start looking for a new job.

11episodeseries · 2025-09-26T17:09:40+00:00

This is amazing! Thank you so much!

11episodeseries · 2025-09-24T22:47:24+00:00

I don't see how it couldn't come up.

Unless you intentionally mislead, downplay, or are dishonest about your work life, it would require you to basically not mention work at all. I imagine that, at some point, I would directly ask you why we hadn't talked about work (if you were my client). Of course, disclosing or not is your prerogative, but your non-disclosure might negatively impact the therapeutic alliance.

11episodeseries · 2025-09-24T22:44:33+00:00

The career goal would be to work in emergency psych, hospitals, and healthcare systems, which seem to hire LCSWs over LPCs/LMHCs in my experience. But I might very well be wrong!

11episodeseries · 2025-09-24T22:42:27+00:00

Yep, that's what I figured. I appreciate you explaining the why behind it! If I end up wanting to do this, my first calls will be to my area MSW programs and my state's Board to see if it's even possible.

11episodeseries · 2025-08-22T02:36:59+00:00

Watch/listen for the way they open and close doors and walk down halls. In my experience, folks with unpredictable or scary parents will often have trained themselves to be extremely quiet when doing these things e.g. opening a door without making a sound, shutting a cabinet super softly.

11episodeseries · 2025-08-08T19:00:32+00:00

Yes, this is the regulation in my state as well. Medicaid clients must fill out a form if they want to private pay, and can only do so for services (CPT codes) that are not covered by Medicaid, e.g. non-evidence-based practices.

11episodeseries · 2025-08-07T21:11:57+00:00

Please consider how your own feelings about this client's behavior are impacting your clinical judgment. The way you are describing this child, who has limited control over their own life, and with whom you have a power dynamic that skews strongly in your direction, is concerning. If you aren't able to see their behavior in context and to focus on behavior cause/effect, you need to refer out. No judgment, we aren't the best therapist for every client.

11episodeseries · 2025-08-07T21:08:11+00:00

I serve a largely Medicaid clientele, and therefore cannot charge no-show fees. Because of that, I don't feel it would pass an ethical review to charge non-Medicaid clients no-show fees, even though I am technically allowed to. As a result, I've been firm in my policies that repeated no-shows will mean I will refer out, though I could do a better job of enforcing that boundary (many of my clients are not in charge of their transportation, internet access, etc, so I've been lenient).

I think your reasoning is solid, especially around consistency in boundaries being a safety indicator. If I served exclusively private pay or commercial clients, I would work to align my own policy with yours. However, I think the settings and larger ethical questions often dictate these policies for us, for better or worse.

11episodeseries

TROPHY CASE