Ways to Practice

Video Transcription

Welcome back. In this lesson, we'll be discussing various ways that counselors can practice, including by themselves, in a partnership, or part of a group. So there are the pros and cons to each type of practice. It's not uncommon to change the way one practices, but it can be expensive to do so. Now, it's advantageous to be fairly confident and informed in your decision about the way you want to practice from the get go. So in this lesson, we'll cover practicing alone, partnership practice, group practice, making a decision.

So working alone allows a counselor a large degree of freedom to work as they please, including developing one's own schedule, choice of client specialization, enforcement of office regulations and policies, choice of dress, choice of office and office design. Now, in contrast, working alone can have a higher degree of liability because you work in isolation, and the situation does not involve supervision or consultation opportunities on site. So working alone can also be lonely, as there are limited individuals with whom you can discuss work and cases. It also may pose risk and safety concerns depending on the client population.

So a positive example of working alone for me is that I have my office to myself and can create my own schedule. One liability I don't face is seeing clients at night. If I did, though, I'd be concerned about the new clients and also ones I didn't know or potentially volatile clients. Also, there could be a risk for false malpractice claims if no one else is present. Walking out to your car alone after hours could be hazardous depending on the location of your office as well. Now, while these risks are relatively low, they are things that you do need to think about.

So a partnership can be several people working together. Being a part of a partnership may mean working with one additional person, or it can mean working with a few different individuals, all identified as a part of the partnership. In a partnership, all members are owners. Now, this can help with finances and can provide opportunities for consultations. Partners can also pull together different yet compatible skill sets.

An important consideration is that it is possible to be in a partnership in only one aspect of the partnership business. So for example, it's possible to be in a partnership to own a building, yet work alone as a sole proprietor for one's counseling business. A vital point is to know and trust your partners, as partnership disagreements can be devastating personally as well as professionally.

Client population matters when working in a partnership. So if you see elderly clients and your partner sees children, there could be conflicting waiting room and client office needs, which may pose a challenge. A well-matched partnership may be a marriage and family therapist, let's say, joined with a psychologist who specializes in testing for learning disabilities. A three-person partnership may be the professionals that I just stated along with a counselor who's, let's say, a play therapist. Now, disagreements can arise, and you need to be able to negotiate these. What if you were concerned about the amount of recent flooding in your area, and you want to add flood insurance to your existing policy, and your partners do not?

A counselor can either work in a group or own a group. These are very different experiences. Unlike a partnership, not all group members are owners. Working in a group can be defined as a counselor working with other counselors under one of several agreed situations, including a counselor working for the group owner, or the counselor is their own owner, with all other counselors being their own owners with all sharing costs.

Owning a group can be defined as a counselor owning a business and having others work in the business in several different ways, including independent contractors or employees. Working in a group can be helpful for supervision and consultation. However, it can be legally complicated, and clients may be unclear who they are receiving services from. For example, will I be getting counseling from a business, a bunch of different people, or from an individual?

Working in a group may help with business costs and expenses. However, it may make it difficult for securing individual clients due to the other group members seeking clients as well. It may also make it challenging to differentiate how one's business is unique or special from the other group members since the counselor is affiliated with the group.

You definitely need to consider your values, vision, mission, and strategies when determining how you would like to practice. Different approaches will be a good fit for different individuals based on their needs and preferences. So working alone may be a great fit for a person in a part-time practice like me. Working in a partnership may be a good fit for someone looking to own an office yet maintain their own independent practice. A group setup may be good for those seeking to be a part of a larger practice setting with a wider array of professionals around and more colleagues sharing expenses.

So here's what we covered in this lesson-- practicing alone, partnership practice, group practice, making a decision.