Ethics of Private Practice

Mental health professionals in private practice strive for clinical and financial success. Yet, there are myriad ethical issues and dilemmas awaiting every practitioner that serve as challenges to being successful for even the most clinically competent and savvy business persons. Some ethics issues are obvious while others are more subtle and can undermine the best intentions of practitioners who have not prepared for these challenges. Graduate training programs inthe mental health professions offer courses in ethics for their students, but few offer practical training in the application of ethics to the business of practice. A resource focusing specifically on these challenges has been sorely needed.The Ethics of Private Practice helps mental health professionals understand the essential ethical issues related to many of the challenges of being in independent mental health practice. Seasoned clinicians Barnett, Zimmerman, and Walfish offer readers astute insight to help them build a practice that is designed to minimize unintended ethical violations and reduce associated risks. Each chapter focuses on a major aspect of the business of practice and incorporates relevant standardsfrom the ethics codes of four mental health professions. Topics addressed include planning one's private practice, successfully running and managing one's practice, documentation and record keeping, dealing with third parties and protecting confidentiality, managing practice finances and making financialdecisions, staff training and office policies, advertising and the effective marketing of one's practice, continuing professional development activities, and the closing of a private practice. The authors discuss important questions such as: What do you do as a practitioner when your best referral source wants to become your client? What is appropriate use of social media? How should you respond when a managed care company denies authorization for treatment for a client that you know is inobvious need of further treatment? Full of practical tips that can be readily implemented, The Ethics of Private Practice is sure to be a handy, go-to resource for mental health clinicians in private practice.

Barnett et al. clearly explain how to put ethical principles into private practice. The authors do a great job of organizing practical tips integrated with a scholarly review of relevant literature... Barnett, Zimmerman, and Walfish's book is such a good idea that one must ask why it wasn't written earlier. It would have saved many of us from having to learn best practices the hard way... Their wisdom is relevant to practitioners at all stages of career development, ranging from emerging professionals who are beginning their careers to seasoned practitioners who are beginning their retirement - and all those in between.

Jeffrey E. Barnett, PsyD, ABPP, is a licensed psychologist with 30 years of experience in independent practice. He also is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Loyola University Maryland, where he teaches courses in ethics and professional practice. He is a past Chair of the APA Ethics Committee and has published and presented widely on ethics and professional practice issues for mental health professionals. Jeffrey Zimmerman, PhD, ABPP, has been in private practice since 1981. From working solo to managing a large multi-site inter-disciplinary group, Dr. Zimmerman has dealt with the complex challenges faced by clinicians who are trying to run a successful mental health practice in an ethically responsible manner. He is also a Founding Partner of The Practice Institute, LLC.