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Chapter 13
Professional Relationships, Private Practice, and Health Care Plans
FOCUS QUESTIONS
1. What types of interactions and relationships do counselors have to other mental
health professionals who practice in their community?
Points instructors may want to make:
2. What kind of help does a counselor need in order to set up a private practice?
Points instructors may want to make:
3 How would you respond if you were a provider of counseling services for a managed
care organization and you believed your client needed additional counseling sessions,
but the case manager told you that no more counseling sessions would be provided?
Points instructors may want to make:
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
Title: Opening a Private Practice
Learning
Goal: To learn the basic requirements and pros and cons of opening a private practice.
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Procedures: Students will divide into groups of three or four to discuss and draw up a
business plan for a fictitious private practice. Upon completion of the activity,
the groups will share with the entire class what they have learned and major
questions and/or concerns that still persist.
Discussion
Questions: What are some of the important considerations in opening a private practice?
What did you learn that would encourage or discourage you to open a private
practice?
What factors and considerations might restrict you from opening a private
practice?
Title: Ideal Mental Health Care Benefits
Learning
Goal: To explore the issues of mental health care plans.
Procedures: Put students into small groups. Assign each group the task of developing a
national health care plan that would be free for all citizens in the United States.
Ask them to give details of the benefits that would be available for mental
health care. Ask them to predict how much taxes would need to go up to pay for
the plan.
Point/Counterpoint (Debate) Topic
Title: Going into Private Practice
Learning
Goal: To consider the benefits and risks of establishing a solo private practice versus
joining or establishing a group practice.
Procedures: Assign (or allow students to volunteer) 2 groups of students (preferably 3-5
students per group) to each take one of the positions described below and
prepare a 5-minute argument in favor of that position. Have each group present
its argument. Next, allow the groups to confer for 2 minutes and then have each
group present its rebuttal to the other group’s argument. Lastly, have the class
members who served as the audience vote for which side was most persuasive.
Point: It is best for counselors who want to be private practitioners to establish their
own, solo practice.
vs.
Counterpoint: It is best for counselors who want to be in private practice to join with
an established practice or establish a partnership or group practice.
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OUTSIDE CLASS ACTIVITIES
Title: Professional Development Interviews
Learning
Goal: To participate in a hands-on activity to acquaint students with actual counseling
clinicians and other professionals to discover what it is really like to practice
counseling.
Procedures: Students will interview someone about what is involved in opening a new
private practice in counseling. They can choose to interview a counselor or
social worker in private practice, either in person or over the telephone.
Students will turn in their interview questions and their interviewee’s responses,
along with a couple of pages reflecting on what this interview taught them.
Title: Interviews with Counselors who Accept Third Party Payments
Learning
Goal: To learn about the challenges of dealing with health care plans.
Procedures: Ask students to interview a counselor who works in an environment in which
third-party payers reimburse clients for their mental health care services. Such
counselors usually can be found in private practices, hospitals, substance abuse
treatment programs, or sometimes in community mental health care facilities.
Have students ask the counselor how the reimbursement process works and
about the primary problems associated with accepting their-party payments.
Topic for Self-Reflection/Journaling
Topic: Imagine that you are a professional counselor working in a school, community
agency, hospital, employee assistance program, the court system, or some other
organization. Assume that you are aware that some individuals in the organization—
not fellow counselors, but administrators or other personnel—routinely act in ways
that you believe to be unethical and that you believe diminish the effectiveness of the
services delivered to clients. What would you do about this problem? What would be
your fears and concerns about taking action?
CASE STUDY
Jim has just been hired as a school counselor. Mary, a five-year-old female student, is
referred to Jim by her teacher due to her recent behavior problems. Mary reveals to Jim, after a
couple of play therapy sessions, that her stepfather has been touching her in private places. Jim
reports the suspected abuse to the proper authorities in his state. Jim then meets with Mary’s
mother and decides to refer Mary to a very well-known specialist for young children who have
been sexually abused. Incidentally, this specialist also happens to be a close friend of Jim’s. Jim
is worried about the ethical principles involved with referring Mary to his friend. What should
Jim do?
Case Study Discussion
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Jim is not violating any ethical principles by referring to his good friend, especially since
Jim knows that his friend happens to be one of the top specialists in the sexual abuse field;
however, Jim should look into providing referrals to more than one counselor?
SHORT PAPER OR ORAL CLASS PRESENTATION TOPICS
1. Current Information Regarding Managed Care and its Impact on Counseling
2. Suggestions for Establishing and Maintaining Appropriate Relationships with Mental
Health and Other Professionals (e.g., physicians, law enforcement officers, probation
officers, and teachers)
3. A Business Plan for Opening a Private Practice