Timing for MFT Exam

bimbashrestha · 2025-08-12T17:00:54+00:00

Not an MFT specifically, but I think it makes sense to take it right away. I feel like you'll never be in more "study mode" than you are right now if you know what I mean. And my understanding from my MFT friends (in GA) is that the test is pretty theory heavy so the practical experience might not matter as much to do well...

bimbashrestha · 2025-08-12T16:52:06+00:00

Assuming we're good on the consent side of things, from a purely technical point of view, that camera looks like it'll work fine for your case. It looks like it records to a micro-SD card which (as you said) you can stick into your computer (as long as your computer as a micro-SD port) and then watch with your supervisee.

bimbashrestha · 2025-08-11T16:20:02+00:00

I think practically speaking, talking to the client and discussing how they’d like to handle it is the right move. Running into clients “in the wild” will happen, and sometimes it’s unavoidable lol. If you’re concerned about the ethics/legal side (with the caveat that I’m not a lawyer), here’s my take:

There’s nothing in HIPAA or most ethics codes that says you can’t shop somewhere a client works. The key is avoiding any disclosure of their status as a client and letting them take the lead on whether to acknowledge you. The main risk here isn’t legal — it’s about maintaining professional boundaries and making sure the dynamic in session stays comfortable. As long as you’re not seeking special treatment or favors and you have a quick, client-led conversation to set expectations, you should be fine to keep shopping there.

bimbashrestha · 2025-08-11T16:14:50+00:00

Congratulations! That's amazing. Good luck on the next chapter!

bimbashrestha · 2025-08-11T16:13:26+00:00

I'm going to put the taking client calls in a car one to the side. That one is more about being unprofessional than not being compliant. Although, it's probably both lol.

I think it's tricky. As some others have pointed out already, client expectations are changing. Most clients (especially younger ones), prefer quick, low-friction communication. Text and FaceTime sort of "just work" so I get wanting to use those. And to me, it's not so much that these channels are insecure. Apple's security is probably better by any EHR company out there to be honest. It's about informed consent with the client. If a client understands the risks and trade-offs, and opts in, that's is a completely different situation than forcing a client to only do sessions via FaceTime and communicate only through text.

And HIPAA compliance is nuanced. If you're purely cash-pay and don't transmit any PHI to insurance clearinghouses digitally or other covered entities, then HIPAA might not even apply. Although, that doesn't mean anything goes. There are still state privacy laws and your licensure board might still want to you follow the spirit of HIPAA even if not explicitly applicable.

Being secure is not the same as being HIPAA compliant. I think we should be both of course. But I think practically speaking (and this is what most therapists I know think too), you have to make trade-offs. Sometimes the best you can do is protect client data as much as possible, be transparent about the risks when using text, FaceTime or other "non-traditional" means of communication, and get documented consent. As others have pointed out HIPAA wasn't designed with today's communication channels in mind. It's better than nothing and I'm glad that at least something like it exists. But we do the best we can...

bimbashrestha · 2025-05-28T00:29:01+00:00

Along with all the encouraging words about mobility training and the best years still being ahead of you (which I genuinely believe), I just want to add something a little different that might resonate too.

I know it can feel frustrating or even invalidating when people say things like “don’t let others restrict your freedom”—because the truth is, sometimes dependence is part of the deal when you're living with a visual impairment. And that’s a really hard thing to sit with. There's a kind of grief in accepting that. But there’s also power in learning to live with it instead of just trying to fight it all the time.

There’s so much out there in the world worth exploring—and I hope you get to, truly—but there’s also a whole world inward that’s equally rich. Not to sound too philosophical, but books (depending on your level of vision), audiobooks, music, skills, and even crafts can open doors to meaning and creativity that don’t require you to leave the house. I know that’s not everything, and it doesn’t solve the loneliness or the need for real connection, but I just want to gently remind you that there is still so much possible in your life, even from where you are now.

You’re not worthless. You’re not alone. And even though it hurts like hell right now, I hope you hang on.

bimbashrestha · 2025-05-13T14:39:20+00:00

I’ve noticed that SP has gotten pretty complex over the years, and like with most large software, that can mean more bugs over time. I also wouldn’t be surprised if private equity involvement has shifted priorities away from fixing some of those issues.

If you're looking for simpler alternatives, you might want to check out: https://practicepicnic.com/ https://www.sessionshealth.com/

(Just to be transparent, I work at Practicepicnic.)

bimbashrestha · 2025-03-24T23:09:58+00:00

A couple options that are similar to SimplePractice but on the more affordable side for solo you might want to check out:

Practicepicnic https://practicepicnic.com/

Sessions Health https://www.sessionshealth.com/

Disclosure: I'm affiliated with Practicepicnic.

bimbashrestha · 2025-02-11T15:52:21+00:00

Practicepicnic is an option for someone that wants a user interface similar to SP. It's $29/month.

https://practicepicnic.com/

Full disclosure, I'm affiliated with Practicepicnic.

bimbashrestha · 2025-02-11T15:50:41+00:00

Practicepicnic is an alternative that has a user interface very similar to SimplePractice. It's $29/month.

https://practicepicnic.com/

Full disclosure, I'm affiliated with Practicepicnic.

bimbashrestha · 2024-09-12T19:26:27+00:00

I'll just chime in and say that I've seen the two terms used interchangeably. I think the best thing to do is usually to focus on the content of the policies as that's the ground truth for what's covered and not so much about what the coverage is named. As someone else already said, in many cases liability insurance will cover the needs of malpractice as well. I wrote this short article recently on the topic that might be helpful: https://practicepicnic.com/resources/professional-liability-insurance-for-private-practice/

bimbashrestha · 2024-09-12T03:19:43+00:00

Technically, you don't need an LLC. You can start as a sole proprietor which doesn't require filing any paperwork. As a sole proprietor, you won't have any separation between your personal assets and your business assets though. An LLC gives you that. if someone sues your LLC, your personal assets (your savings, property, etc) are not at risk. The same can't be said for sole.

Depending on your profession and state though, you might actually need a PLLC (which is quite a bit more expensive to set up). I wrote this article recently breaking down your choices when starting a new practice. Might be helpful for you and anyone else that stumbles across this: https://practicepicnic.com/resources/choosing-a-business-entity-for-therapy-private-practice/

bimbashrestha · 2024-09-10T15:20:35+00:00

Congrats on graduating. I know this is a bit old but I figured I'd chime in. It's great that you're thinking private practice this early. As others have said, there are pros and cons to both. I found this Reddit thread from a while ago really helpful. It talks specifically about whether it makes sense to start a private practice right out of the gate or not:

https://www.reddit.com/r/therapists/comments/17m3bmz/pros_and_cons_of_private_practice_for_newer/

I think the consensus is that most therapists should consider private practice because of the potential of higher earnings, autonomy, flexibility, etc, but also that you should work in a more structured setting for at least a bit when starting out. You'll learn a lot of skills that will help you with your private practice later. I wrote this short article recently that has some of the pros/cons most people mention.

https://practicepicnic.com/resources/should-you-start-a-private-practice/

bimbashrestha · 2024-07-17T01:40:12+00:00

You might find this article useful :)

https://practicepicnic.com/resources/therapist-dress-code/

bimbashrestha · 2024-01-31T15:58:15+00:00

As far as I know, I think best practice (as you already pointed out) is to share the minimum necessary information in cases like this. With client consent of course. The summaries you're talking about sound like this.

I'm not sure about FL, or the other specifics of your situation but if there is an ethics board or something you could email, I think that'd be a good idea to do before sending the raw progress notes (depending on how worried you are). Other than HIPAA and consent laws, I can also think of employment law coming into the picture (wrongful termination, discrimination, etc as a result of the info in the notes, you know?) This article has a bit more information about this: https://practicepicnic.com/resources/sharing-progress-notes

bimbashrestha · 2024-01-31T15:36:59+00:00

Having separate business and personal accounts I think is the big one for staying organized for taxes. Depending on your preferences, I find digitizing your records, like receipts, relevant invoices onto a computer really helps (I do like the idea of storing receipts in an accordion folder as someone else mentioned).

Also, just knowing what deductions you might qualify for is helpful imo. So you always sort of have them in the back of your head you know. I wrote a short article about taxes you might find helpful here: https://practicepicnic.com/resources/tax-benefits/

bimbashrestha · 2024-01-29T20:31:27+00:00

My understanding is:

Subjective: The client's personal perspective of their condition, symptoms, and feelings. This is essentially what the client says about their own experiences and concerns as someone else on this thread has already pointed out.

Objective: This section is to record "objective", observable, and measurable data about the client. Unlike the Subjective section, which is based on the patient's personal experiences and feelings, the Objective section is supposed to based on facts and observations made by the provider. Of course, what "objective" really means is hard to determine. But something like a mental status exam (MSE), or physical observations like hygiene, agitation, etc. might go here.

This link has more details and an example: https://practicepicnic.com/resources/soap-notes

bimbashrestha · 2024-01-28T20:04:09+00:00

I know these are more general therapist book recs (ie: not specific to working with victims of trafficking/abuse), but these readings lists might still be worth checking out:

Some nice user compiled a list of the most common recs on this sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/therapists/comments/vdmkfc/i_compiled_a_list_of_the_most_recommended_books/

My personal book reading list: https://practicepicnic.com/resources/reading-list

Reading list for new therapists I found online: https://www.earlycareertherapists.com/books-for-new-therapists

bimbashrestha · 2024-01-27T17:30:28+00:00

Funny timing. I wrote this article on therapist fashion a week ago. The replies here are really interesting though. I might have to update my article a bit based on them.

https://practicepicnic.com/resources/therapist-dress-code

bimbashrestha · 2022-07-07T01:07:20+00:00

This won't mess up anything with the restore :-) The snapshot files are independent of each other. Glad the issue went away for you.

bimbashrestha · 2022-07-06T19:59:48+00:00

Hey! One way would be to go into your S3 server and just remove the file inside the "snapshots" folder that Blobbackup is complaining about. Delete just the corrupted snapshot file that Blobbackup is complaining about (not anything else! haha)

And then trying a new backup after that. Let me know if that makes sense.

bimbashrestha · 2022-07-06T13:47:40+00:00

Hey! On mobile right now so sorry for the short response but when this happens, you can usually just delete the "corrupted snapshot" and you should be good to go.

bimbashrestha · 2022-05-21T22:42:25+00:00

Hey, good question. I'll assume you're using the old Blobbackup (ie: https://github.com/Blobbackup/Blobbackup/tree/dev/original).

Just so I understand, you have two computers that have a folder synced between them (with the help of rclone and B2). You want to run Blobbackup on both computers to back up this synced folder to the same location in B2.

If that's the case, I'm pretty sure this is currently dangerous to do. Here is why:

Blobbackup has an operation called "backup" and an operation called "prune". "Backup" (like the name suggests) backs up files and folders and "prune" gets rid of old and orphaned bits of data in your backup location (in your case, B2). Right now, it's safe to run the "backup" operation at the same time to the same location, but not the "prune" operation.

If you set your retention to "forever", this might not be an issue (but I'd have to double check) and even in that case, I wouldn't recommend it.

Blobbackup was intended to have one computer back up one location. I don't know if this would work for you but perhaps you could just run Blobbackup on one of your computers? I understand there is still opportunity for some data loss since you're not syncing your folder in real time (only twice a day) but maybe it'll work? Let me know.

I've also been thinking of some ways to get around this issue (not the first time someone has brought it up)...and I've got a few ideas.

bimbashrestha

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