Questions I Wish I Had Asked Before I Started in Practice

Reviews the book, How to survive and thrive as a therapist: Information, ideas, and resources for psychologists in practice (see record 2005-01049-000). The reviewer asserts asserts that the authors have recognized that the greatest difficulty in starting any task is to know how to begin. Whether starting a practice or changing an established practice requires knowing one's self and accepting circumstances and the therapist, as they exist today. Pope and Vasquez gently and successfully lead the readers through a series of questions to help therapists find a comfortable fit for their goals in the changing market for psychological services. The book begins with a chapter titled Who Are You and What Is Important to You? as the key to a meaningful practice. The rest of the 15 chapters focus on developing a business plan, self-care strategies, liability coverage, and other essentials of building and maintaining a practice, such as finding an office, finding an attorney, and formulating business policies and referrals. In addition to these 15 useful chapters, there are 15 appendixes of standards and guidelines adopted by the APA or the Canadian Psychological Association. According to the reviewer, How to Survive and Thrive as a Therapist is a refreshing book of empowerment for therapist colleagues. It is a demonstration of the value of giving. Although the book is a quick read, it is worth keeping close at hand to digest the wisdom of questions to ask one's self in quiet moments of reflection. It also supplies many resources for guidance from the standards of the profession of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)