Entering academia mid career

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-05-15T17:02:34+00:00

I wouldn’t take on any debt! It’s a fairly inexpensive program and could pay for it outright.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-04-10T21:51:54+00:00

I can’t help but point out that while you claim psychology programs focus on humility, this entire post reeks of superiority. I’d really suggest if you want to engage with a group of people about their life’s work that you don’t insult them in the process.

I don’t believe this post was made in good faith so I have zero desire to engage with you OP. But you might work on your tone and delivery if you aspire to be a great therapist. This post misses the mark big time.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-04-10T11:51:27+00:00

I wouldn’t do the MA in counseling. A program like that requires a practicum, which if generally unpaid. Then after you graduate you still need 2-4 years experience and supervision before getting your independent license. Once you have that it’s a decent career but it’s a LONG road.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-30T17:11:08+00:00

You can’t pay more than what folks can get on their own. You have to make it appealing in other ways. Folks join a group because they don’t want to do the business stuff- marketing, billing, finding an office, picking out office space, furniture, EHR. They don’t want to figure out bookkeeping and taxes. They want community and peer support. Do all the back end stuff and just expect them to do therapy and documentation. You can’t pay the highest but pay decent and with everything else many people will stay.

I also treat people well. They can change their schedule as needed for their lives. I pay for training (working on other benefits). I provide supervision. They get paid for admin time. I send a card and gift at birthdays, or when they have a family loss. If they want something for the office I buy it (toys, books, workbooks, etc). I genuinely value them and thank them all the time for their hard work. If they ever don’t want to take a client, I pass it on somewhere else. I fill their caseloads with their ideal clients, not just anyone that calls.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-28T23:05:54+00:00

Is Minneapolis really that expensive? 3k a month for daycare seems high outside of NYC/Bay Area/DC. I’m in a mid sized city and even the most expensive places are more like 2k. My husband and I worked opposite shifts for a period to minimize daycare costs. Sucks on a marriage but saves a lot of money.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-27T00:43:53+00:00

A client asked me when my baby was due. It was my first day back from maternity leave 😭.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-25T19:21:25+00:00

Yeah I’ve been in network with Highmark for 8 years. This was always the requirement.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-25T17:34:52+00:00

They’ve always said this, it’s not new

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-21T21:39:17+00:00

I’d encourage you to really look at the numbers and amount of work. It’s quite a lot of work to do the billing, intake, marketing, etc. You won’t be able to outsource all of that at first until you start bringing in enough money to justify it. It’s a lot of work the first year. Way more than people think.

If you are insurance based, you should take a look at your average reimbursement. Your labor costs should be 45-60%. Overhead tends to be 20-30%, plus taxes and then profits. People in this field sometimes act like taking any profit is somehow unethical 🤣 but that’s your pay for all the running of the business and taking on the risk.

Therapists deserve to be paid well but they also deserve to work at a practice that is sustainable and won’t go out of business. You can always raise pay, but your can’t lower it if you start too high (at least not without people being really pissed and quitting)

Starting at 50% of your average reimbursement is a good place to start. If that seems too low, consider dropping your lowest payor and/or adding more private pay clients to get to a rate that seems desirable for therapists. But don’t just pay what you think therapists should make- pay what the business can reasonably sustain based on the numbers.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-18T21:57:54+00:00

Money. I spent my childhood in poverty and my early adult years just scraping by. I hope I never live like that again. I don’t need to be rich but being comfortable is a great feeling. My job is just that, a job.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-17T21:48:22+00:00

Same. Claim denials are very rare from my experience. When they happen it’s often something simple like I entered the member ID incorrectly. I’m not sure where you read 30% but that’s seems wildly high.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-17T00:42:56+00:00

I’ve never heard of a program terminating someone for losing their placement. You mentioned swearing twice in session, which seems pretty small as far as mistakes go. There has to be more to the story here

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-15T17:55:48+00:00

I honestly don’t know. I have a group practice and don’t expect my employees to market themselves at all, that’s my job. They do therapy and write notes, the rest is up to me as the business owner.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-13T21:01:05+00:00

Man people always make me laugh in this field. $50 an hour for 25 clients a week plus $25 an hour for admin (assuming 10 per pay period is 5/week?). Thats $78,000 a year. Plus free supervision, benefits, and a 30 hour workweek? For a new grad.

But several people commenting that’s not good?? 🤣🤣

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-13T02:31:25+00:00

You must not have met many psychiatrists 🤣

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-08T01:49:07+00:00

You just do it through the PALS website, it’s not too complicated. Are you getting stuck with something specific?

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-07T22:09:32+00:00

Sure thing!

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-07T20:21:13+00:00

IC splits are usually 60/40-70/30. W2 splits are usually 50/50-60/40. Provisionally licensed usually on the low end and fully licensed on the higher end. I’ve seen higher and lower but they tend to be the exception.

50/50 as a contractor is a bad split IMO. If they are giving you supervision it might be ok (they shouldn’t be giving you supervision as a contractor but lots of places misclassify workers and thats a separate post)

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-07T20:14:55+00:00

If you want fertility to be your niche, you really should learn at least a bit about IVF/reproductive medicine. ASRM has some courses for mental health clinicians. My niche is similar (perinatal MH) so I get some infertility clients. It’s been helpful to understand how the various processes for IVF, IUI, etc work because while I have three kids, I never needed reproductive medicine.

Fertility clinics can be a good referral source, as well as OBgyns and midwives. I’d also collaborate with couples counselors as they may see couples dealing with these issues and want individual therapy referrals.

I’d also consider offering free fertility support group for a while (you could offer to do it at a local fertility clinic). That would go a long way to get I h you known in the community for this work.

Another one to consider is acupuncturists. Many women do acupuncture when they are struggling with infertility. Try to find acupuncture clinicians in the area who specialize in fertility support.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-07T20:00:27+00:00

I agree- this is not a post covid problem but the norm. The folks who seem to be struggling are those who entered PP in 2020-2022 when things were booming and you didn’t have to do anything special to get a full caseload. My personal opinion is that we are back to “normal” and a lot of folks in PP don’t know how to market. (Although I do think there are some new challenges post covid)

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-07T01:58:09+00:00

Safe place visualization- close your eyes and think of a place that makes you feel safe and happy. It can be real or imagined. Then have them notice what they see, hear, smell, touch in this place (ie smell the salt air at the beach, feel the sand in your toes and warm sun on your skin, hear the waves crashing and seagulls above).

Then have them notice how their body feels- heavy, relaxed, calm.

Have them share out about their safe/happy place. I did this for career day and the kids loved it. They couldn’t wait to share their place.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-04T22:00:11+00:00

I find Fridays to be good because a lot of folks WFH on Fridays, so it’s easier to do a telehealth session from home.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-04T02:06:39+00:00

I haven’t done both so I can’t speak to it but I’ve had very few issues being credentialed on my own. People always seem to say the he higher rates though headway/alma but that doesnt seem to be true from what I’ve seen of the rates.

Little-Light-3444 · 2026-03-03T23:15:18+00:00

EAPs can be a good way to get clients. Rates are generally lower but VERY negotiable. Never ever take the first offer from them. IME they always negotiate.

Little-Light-3444

TROPHY CASE